The Covid-19 Emergency Fund established by the Pontifical Mission Societies guarantees the necessary support for the maintenance of the Poor Clares community of the monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Casablanca (archdiocese of Rabat), whose existence has been placed in serious difficulty due to the lockdown caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. This is what Father Simeon Stachera ofm, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies of Morocco, reports to Agenzia Fides.

The community of five Poor Clares of Casablanca, of Mexican origin, has long supported itself thanks to the production of hosts for the Eucharistic celebrations and food products (jams, savory pies, tortillas) placed on the market in the restaurant network. The quarantine due to the pandemic led to the suspension of these small initiatives aimed at guaranteeing the monastery’s economic self-sufficiency: the Eucharistic liturgies coram populo are suspended (so there is no consumption of hosts) and restaurants are also closed. A salaried factotum employee also works at the monastery, and ordinary community living expenses, such as those related to electricity consumption, must be sustained.

The amount requested from the Emergency-Covid Fund of the Pontifical Mission Societies is three times the monthly income guaranteed by the monastery’s small economic activities before the pandemic crisis and will contribute to the livelihood of the Poor Clare community in these difficult times.

In the letter requesting economic support for the monastery of Casablanca, the Cardinal, Cristóbal López Romero, Archbishop of Rabat, points out that he has urged priests and religious communities of his archdiocese to generously join the donation campaign for the Covid emergency Fund established at the Pontifical Mission Societies, and reports that the fruit of this campaign was the payment of a donation of approximately 13 thousand euros by the Catholic communities of the archdiocese of Rabat and Tangier.

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