A group of 10 elderly nuns in Thiruvananthapuram has sought pension meant for unmarried women above 50 years old.
This unusual request has come from nuns of St Anne's convent in Muttada and the Thiruvananthapuram city corporation has asked for advice from the state government regarding this. All the nuns who applied for the pension are above 60.
Aswin J Kumar reports for The Times of India that nuns took this step to make ends meet.
“All of us are aged above 60 and some of us are nursing various ailments and we are finding it hard to find money even to purchase medicines,“ Sister Agnes, 63, told The Times of India.
The pension of Rs 1,100 per month was given to unmarried women, who were not able to marry due to certain circumstances. So the corporation has sought advice from the state government as the nuns have opted to remain unmarried as part of their religious beliefs. The corporation has also stated that it cannot take a decision on its own and needs more clarification in this regard.
Usually the Church takes care of aged nuns and priests and this might be the first instance where they have applied for pension. However these nuns have told ToI that as per their congregation, they will have to earn themselves for all their expenses including the treatments.
As per the report, Eugine H Pereira, vicar general of Latin Archdiocese, Trivandrum, said nuns were misled by someone and the Church doesn’t allow such practices.
As per the Church rule, even if the nuns were working in some firms like hospitals, schools or colleges, usually remuneration goes to the concerned congregation and when the nuns retire, the congregation should take care of all the expenses.