The conflict has been ongoing since May last year when the nuns publicly declared that they no longer recognize the pope's authority.
In a 70-page manifesto, they criticized the Vatican – which they believe is in free fall – and called the church leaders contradictory and corrupt.
The nine sisters of the St. Clare order believe that their attempt to buy another monastery in the Basque Country was sabotaged by church authorities. They have instead joined Pablo de Rojas, a formerly excommunicated ultra-conservative priest who claims that all popes after Pius XII (who died in 1958) have been appointed illegally.
The Archbishop of Burgos is demanding that the nuns leave the 15th-century monastery they have lived in, since they no longer have the right to use church property after their excommunication.
The court is now following the church's line: the sisters must leave the monastery, or they can be evicted by force.
The nuns' lawyer says that the decision will be appealed. One of the sisters, Paloma, claims that the monastery is theirs and that they, as a nun order, own it.
