Lease dispute prompts Holy See to dissolve St Peter’s Monastery in Mdina

The Holy See has dissolved Mdina’s St Peter’s Monastery, it announced on Friday, appointing a Benedictine abbot to take control of “administrative matters related to the property”.

The monastery is home to Mother Abbess Sr Maria Adeodata dei Marchesi Testaferrata De Noto, the last Benedictine nun in Mdina.

In 2024, she told Times of Malta she was concerned over the future of the building and the order, saying the monastery would “attract anyone in this money-driven world,” with people “dying to get their hands on it” once empty.

The monastery occupies a large footprint at the entrance to Mdina and once housed as many as 60 nuns. Part of it opened up to the public three years ago to give a glimpse into Malta's oldest female monastery. 

However, in a statement on Friday afternoon, the Holy See accused Sr Maria Adeodata of having “unilaterally signed, without authorisation, two 50-year leases on the property to private individuals – each for a fee of less than €2,000 per month”.

According to the Holy See, “occupants were required to seek authorisation from the administrator before assigning any part of the monastery or any property associated with it”.

“Not only did the nun fail in this duty, but she also withheld information about the contracts she had signed,” the statement said.

The statement said St Peter’s Monastery, along with other monasteries, had been centralised by then-Archbishop Joseph Mercieca in the 1980s, with the Curia taking control of its administration. In turn, it paid the order a monthly sum of €4,000 to cover expenditure, aside from salaries and other expenses.

The monastery occupies a large footprint at Mdina's entrance. File photo

The Holy See informed the Archdiocese of Malta that the leases signed by the nun are invalid “due to non-observance of the regime of canonical authorisations”.

Attempts by Archbishop Charles Scicluna to settle the matter “were rebuffed by the nun, leaving the Archdiocese, as authorised administrator, with no choice but to inform the Holy See”.

The Holy See said “no solution remains other than to suppress the said monastery,” effectively dissolving it. Sr Maria Adeodata will be transferred to “another Benedictine Monastery,” it added.

“All administrative matters concerning the monastery have now passed from the Archdiocese to Fr Jeremias Schröder, OSB, Abbot Primate of the Order of Saint Benedict, who will oversee the property and its administration,” the Holy See said.