It's a case of nuns helping nuns.Three Roman Catholic nuns who were going to be displaced from their convent because the building would be sold to help cover church abuse settlement costs have been offered a temporary home by an order of Episcopal nuns.
The Sisters of Bethany will move around Thanksgiving to St. Mary's Retreat House, an Episcopal center near the Santa Barbara Mission.
The center is a ministry of the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity, an order based in Wisconsin.
"They've been told they are welcome to stay as long as need be," said Rosemary Escalera Gutierrez of Hacienda Heights whose sister is the Catholic nuns' local superior, Sister Angela Escalera.
The Catholic nuns received a letter in August from the Los Angeles Archdiocese telling them they had until Dec. 31 to move out.
The convent would be sold to help pay for the $660 million settlement between the archdiocese and clergy sex abuse victims, the letter said.
The letter offered no recourse for the nuns.
The convent, which sits on a quarter of an acre, is valued at $97,746, though the county assessor's office said it will likely sell for more.
Sister Abigail, the nun in charge at the retreat house, said she welcomed the Bethany sisters. As to why she offered the nuns a place to stay, the nun had a ready response.
"They are my sisters," she said.
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