Ben Pawlowski
A COMMUNITY of cloistered nuns are in desperate need of new members with the Vatican threatening to close the convent.
The convent of the Discalced Carmelites of Ronda, Malaga, need urgent sign-ups before their greatest treasure, the incorrupt hand of Saint Teresa of Jesus, is returned to Castilla y Leon.
The group need two new sisters “as soon as possible” to persuade the Vatican, who have not given a timescale to find the willing nuns, to keep the convent open.
Just two years ago the congregation was home to nine nuns, but the Covid-19 pandemic and a succession of deaths have left just four sisters, one of whom is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
The Vatican states that cloistered congregations must have a minimum of six nuns.
The resident sisters have guarded their prized relic, Saint Teresa’s left hand, since 1924, the year the convent opened.
In 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, Republican soldiers took the limb away – following General Franco’s death in 1975, the artefact was returned to the nuns.
Several young women have enquired about the availability, but the prioress of the convent has stated that prospective nuns must have a CV including substantial previous experience.
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