https://www.narrative.ly/it-takes-a-village/the-disappearing-nuns-of-italy/

ITALY – THE AGEING & DISAPPEARING NUNS OF ITALY

By Francesca Manolino

The number of nuns in this staunchly Catholic country is reducing so rapidly that there may be almost none left by 2050.

At a cloistered convent in Turin, ageing sisters worry who will care for them, and who will continue their unwavering mission.

Sister Zenaide

will care for them, let alone continue their unwavering mission.

Sister Zenaide celebrated her 101st birthday last February.

There are almost no new Italian nuns joining the Sant’Anna convent in Turin, Italy. The nuns who have joined recently are primarily Indian nurses such as Kerala-born Sister Evangelina, who came to help the fading Italian sisters.

Every year the Agency FIDES (Agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of People) provides data about nuns all over the world. In 1997, sisters in Europe numbered nearly 400,000; in 2015 they were less than 300,000. Every year, the number declines by 8,000. The data collected in North America and Australia shows a similar decline. (In Asia and Africa it is less bleak; many girls enter the convents for their studies.)

Sister Gesualda helps Sister Giustina. S.Giustina believes it is impossible to become a nun quickly- only in silence and meditation is it possible to find the right way.

Being a nun is a vocation, and Sister Gesualda, 95, emphasizes the importance of being a good example for younger women who chose this lifestyle. She remembers the difficulty, but also her tenacity, in taking the vows years ago, against her father’s will. Meanwhile, sister Ernesta, 92, crochets decorations for a simple Nativity scene. She radiates serenity. After becoming a nun during World War II, she was evacuated to Turin with other sisters. Now, she is celebrating her 70th year of taking her vows; it’s a jubilee.

Sister Clotilde, 92, believes the decline in nuns is related to the falling birth rate and, in particular, the “millions of abortions happening in the world.” She adds, however, that through Pope Francis and the Jubilee of Mercy — a yearlong period of prayer that began last month — it is possible to obtain forgiveness and avoid purgatory.

Sister Ermelinda, 91, knows that, like the others, she will not be able to go to Rome to celebrate the Holy Year. She is too old and tired, but she was relieved to see the pontiff offer a promise of forgiveness worldwide. Considering that part of their vows and mission is to educate future generations, the biggest worry of all of these aging nuns is, who will take care of the young ones when we are gone?

But as reiterated by Sister Ernesta: “Every vocation is happiness.”