Gaborone, 18 May, 2020 / 10:30 pm (ACI Africa).
With Botswana under a five-week COVID-19 lockdown, various activities in the landlocked Southern Africa nation have been affected, including those of the Sisters of Calvary, Bishops in the region have shared in a publication shared with ACI Africa, providing a highlight of how the members of the indigenous Religious Order are coping.
“Despite the situation, the sisters use the moment to intensify prayer (Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament), community life and have more time for silence and solitude,” the members of the Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) have written.
In their Monday, May 18 statement shared with ACI Africa, the Bishops indicate that the Gaborone-based nuns were forced to cancel all the planned programs during the month of April and May including their annual retreats and meetings.
The lockdown also forced the members of the 57-year-old Congregation to suspend their ministry to the prisons and to close down schools in order to adhere to the directives put in place by the government in a bid to curb the possible spread of COVID-19, the two-page report indicates.
Despite COVID-19-related restrictions, the nuns in the two-diocese nation are contributing positively to society in dealing with the cultural change and challenges posed by the disease through responses “diversified according to the giftedness and apostolic mandate of the sister.”
