New Province of El Dulce Nombre de María in Spain Holds First Chapter in Salamanca, Spain
The first provincial chapter of the Province of “El Dulce Nombre de María” was held from April 7-9, 2026, in the Centro de Espiritualidad «San Ignacio» in Salamanca, Spain.
This new province was erected on the April 7, 2026, and is the result of a combination of the Province of Aragón Castille and Valencia of Saint John of the Cross and the Province of Bética of “El Dulce Nombre de María.” The new province will not to be called a Spanish Province as it goes beyond Spain, having presences in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Spain, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.
Over the last three years, much work had been done to prepare for this moment including, most especially, a joint assembly of the members of both combining provinces held in Madrid in 2025. As a result, there was already much consensus about the decisions that the first chapter had to formally take.
The prior general, Desiderio García Martínez, O. Carm., concluded his opening address with the words that Brother Pablo María de la Cruz, O. Carm., a young Carmelite who made his profession in articulo mortis and died at the age of 21, addressed to Pope Francis on the occasion of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon: “In Carmel, the Garden of God, the antechamber of Heaven, Mary grows, the Sunflower of God, whom I like to call and imagine as the Virgin of Spring. I ask her to transform the deserts of pain into gardens of consolation, and in her hands I place the evangelization of young people.”
During the chapter, the forty-four gremiales participating at the chapter spent time considering the reports of the outgoing provincials, provincial councilors, delegates for the nuns, and the commission for the schools. Time was also spent considering the statutes for the new province and especially the statutes for the two provincial commissariats (Las Antillas, Venezuela), and the provincial project for the next three years.
Bishop José Luis Retana Gozalo, the bishop of Salamanca, presided at the closing Eucharist of the Chapter which was held in the Carmelite convent, of “El Carmel de Abajo” which is also the international novitiate house for Europe. Following the Eucharist, Bishop José Luis blessed the newly finished Carmelite Spirituality Centre “John of the Cross.”
During the Chapter of the new province, the following leadership elected or confirmed:
Prior Provincial | Prior Provincial | Priore Provinciale
Salvador Villota Herrero, O. Carm.
1st Councilor | 1er Consejero | 1o Consigliere
Fernando Millán Romeral, O. Carm.
2nd Councilor | 2do Consejero | 2o Consigliere
David del Carpio Horcajo, O. Carm.
3rd Councilor | 3er Consejero | 3o Consigliere
Francisco Javier Beauvais de La Motte, O. Carm.
4th Councilor | 4to Consejero | 4o Consigliere
Vicente Aranda Guillén, O. Carm.
Confirmed / Confirmados / Confermati
Commissary Provincial of the Antilles | Comisario Provincial de las Antillas | Commissario provinciale delle Antille
Jorge Rafael Betancourt Ramírez, O. Carm.
Commissary Provincial of Venezuela | Comisario Provincial de las Antillas | Commissario provinciale delle Antille
Alexio Enrique Ordóñez, O. Carm
