By Tara Rippin • Published: 21 Feb 2019 • 16:22
LLUC SANCTUARY: Spiritual centre of Mallorca. CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons
THE Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are to leave the Lluc Sanctuary after 128 years as custodians of the spiritual centre of Mallorca. Known as the ‘coritos’, the congregation has now dwindled to just six priests aged 73 and over. This has apparently made their functions ‘untenable’, and last month the decision was made to return Lluc Sanctuary building to the Bishophric of Mallorca, which also owns the Blavets school, restaurants and the car park. The Bisophric has expressed ‘surprise and pain’ at the announcement, but assured that the Lluc will continue to be the island’s spiritual heart, as it has been since the thirteenth century. After the Cathedral, Lluc is the second most visited religious site in Mallorca, and the Bisophric wants it to remain a place of pilgrimage. The exit of the ‘cositos’ will not be immediate. The transition is expected to take place within six months to a year.
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Tara Rippin is a reporter for Spain’s largest English-speaking newspaper, Euro Weekly News, and is responsible for the Costa Blanca region. She has been in journalism for more than 20 years, having worked for local newspapers in the Midlands, UK, before relocating to Spain in 1990. Since arriving, the mother-of-one has made her home on the Costa Blanca, while spending 18 months at the EWN head office in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol. She loves being part of a community that has a wonderful expat and Spanish mix, and strives to bring the latest and most relevant news to EWN’s loyal and valued readers.
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