BURGOS, Spain (EWTN News) – Archbishop Mario Iceta of Burgos, Spain, lifted the excommunication of two former Poor Clare nuns of Belorado on Ash Wednesday. They will return to full communion with the Catholic Church as laywomen and would need to re-profess their vows to be considered nuns again. The Belorado community published a sedevacantist manifesto on May 13, 2024, claiming the papal office had been vacant since Pius XII. After the schism, one sister left the convent, denouncing the schismatic maneuver. This left fifteen in the community, including five elderly sisters, one of whom died earlier this year. On June 22, 2024, ten nuns were excommunicated, among them the two who were forgiven at the beginning of this Lent. The Catholic Church considers the legitimate community of Belorado to subsist in the sister who left and the four elderly sisters who are still living. Iceta said that excommunication “is a legal action considered by the Church as a medicinal measure, intended to encourage reflection and personal conversion.” He called for Catholics to “rejoice for these sisters who are returning home.”