An 80-year-old nun was last night cloistered in a southern Italian nunnery after the removal of the other members of her convent amid claims of fierce - even violent - clashes between them.Callers to the Santa Chiara nunnery at Bisceglie, north of Bari, were told that the mother superior, Sister Liliana, was sunk in prayer having dispatched a letter to Pope Benedict begging him to intervene in the unholy row that has led to her isolation.
The local bishop has also written to the Vatican suggesting the convent be placed in other hands because of "repeated acts of insubordination on the part of the mother superior".
A statement issued by the diocesan authorities of Trani revealed that the bishop had ordered Sister Liliana's two remaining fellow nuns to move out because it was "impossible to guarantee a tranquil pursuance of monastic life".
That would seem to be putting it mildly. Italian media quoted locals as saying the three members of the order of Poor Clares had come to blows.
The diocesan statement said a doctor had been called to the nunnery to attend to Sister Liliana.
"The problems have been such," the statement said, "that, following careful and attentive reflection, a decision has been reached to ask the holy see for clarification on the governance of the convent."
A woman speaking on behalf of Sister Liliana told an Italian news agency: "She is not going to leave the convent. She will stay here until she dies. In the meantime, she has written to the Pope. She has already sent off the letter to the pontiff."
The Santa Chiara community, founded in the 1960s, was reduced to three members following the death of the original mother superior and another nun.
The diocesan authorities have argued that the absence of new vocations was another reason for closing it down.
The anonymous spokeswoman said there was a plan to turn the convent into a church-run hostel for priests and members of religious orders.
"But this is a place of perpetual eucharistic adoration, and Sister Liliana does not want the character of the convent to be changed," the woman said.
According to some reports, the bad feeling at Santa Chiara had its origin in a dispute over who should be the new mother superior.
But a diocesan spokesman said the affair blew up only at the end of July "when Sister Liliana wanted to call the press and kick up a fuss about the convent."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce