SUESA, Spain (LifeSiteNews) — A priest celebrating Mass with a community of Trinitarian nuns in northern Spain altered the words of the Eucharistic consecration during Mass as the nuns stood around the altar with their hands extended in a gesture associated with priestly concelebration.
On August 20, Spanish outlet InfoVaticana published footage of the Mass at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Suesa, Spain, highlighting several alterations to the words prescribed by the Roman Missal.
“Take and eat all of it,” the priest said, using the feminine Spanish word “todas” instead of the grammatically inclusive masculine “todos.”
“Este es mi cuerpo , que será entregado por vosotras…” Así es la Plegaria inventada de la Misa femista con las monjas trinitarias en el altar simulando concelebrar. Suesa, Cantabria. pic.twitter.com/PF3XezbTgS
— InfoVaticana (@Infovaticana) August 20, 2026
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The priest continued introducing other serious alterations of the essential form of the words instituted by Christ: “Take and drink all of it, for this is the chalice of my blood … which will be poured out for you and for all humanity for the forgiveness of sins. Do this to remember that I am among you as one who serves.”
The video shows the nuns arranged in a circle around the altar and extending their hands during the Eucharistic Prayer, a gesture associated with the priestly invocation of the Holy Spirit during a Novus Ordo Mass concelebration. The ordained priest is positioned among the surrounding community of nuns rather than occupying a distinct position.
The priest also does not hold the Eucharistic host and chalice while pronouncing the words of consecration.
The priest changes several key elements of the formula prescribed in the Roman Missal for the most important part of the liturgy. The words addressed to the apostles are feminized, including “all” (todas) and “for you” (por vosotras), while “for many” is replaced with “for all humanity” (por toda la humanidad). The InfoVaticana report also notes that the phrase “he gave it to his disciples” is replaced by language saying that the chalice was “passed” to them (se lo pasó).
Furthermore, the priest did not use the Lord’s command, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Instead, the video records him saying: “Do this to remember that I am among you as one who serves” (Haced esto para recordar que yo estoy en medio de vosotras como quien sirve).
The video is not presented by InfoVaticana as an isolated incident. The report points to earlier public material from the Suesa community describing a similar approach to liturgical celebrations. In October 2022, a Basque scouting group published an account of a retreat at the monastery describing “a circular monastic choir, without hierarchical spaces,” an open circle formed by the female community, and “inclusive language” during Mass.
The nuns also publicly promoted experimentation with liturgical gestures. In 2016, the monastery hosted a workshop entitled “The Gesture in the Liturgy,” promoted through the publication Eclesalia. The community’s announcement argued that liturgy was moving beyond a period in which it was left “solely to priests” and invited participants to explore different gestures and symbols, including “communal dance.” The workshop was coordinated by Jesuit Father Carlos del Valle and a contemplative-dance instructor.
In June 2022, the same community discussed its contributions to the Synod on Synodality in the Spanish Catholic news outlet Religión Digital. The nuns criticized what they described as a “pyramidal and hierarchical” Church and called for movement away from a “patriarchal mentality” toward “relationships between equals.” They also argued that women’s participation in the Catholic Church “on equal terms” was a “structural issue.”
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The Catholic Church’s liturgical regulations do not permit individuals to alter the approved liturgical texts. Canon 846 §1 of the Code of Canon Law states that the approved liturgical books are to be followed faithfully and that no one may add, remove, or change anything in them on personal initiative.
Pope John Paul II’s Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004) addresses abuses involving the Eucharistic Prayer and prohibits lay faithful – including nuns – from adopting gestures proper to the celebrating priest in a manner that could create the appearance of concelebration.
According to Catholic doctrine, the validity of the Eucharistic consecration requires three essential elements: proper matter (wheat bread and grape wine), proper form (the words instituted by Christ: “This is My Body” and “This is My Blood”), and proper intention (the priest must intend to do what the Church does by the act of the consecration). If the celebrant deliberately alters the form of consecration – changing the words in a way that modifies their meaning – the sacrament becomes invalid, because the form no longer conveys the reality of Christ’s institution. In such a case, the transubstantiation does not occur, and what follows is not the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass but a mere simulation of it, deprived of sacramental efficacy and grace.