26 nuns in 3 convents die from coronavirus

LIVONIA, Mich. — At a convent near Detroit, 13 nuns have died of COVID-19. The toll is seven at a center for Maryknoll sisters in New York, and six at a Wisconsin convent that serves nuns with fading memories.

Each community perseveres, though strict social-distancing rules have made communal solidarity a challenge as the losses are mourned.

Only small, private funeral services were permitted as the death toll mounted in April and May at the Felician Sisters convent in Livonia, Mich. — a spiritual hardship for the surviving nuns.

“The yearnings, throughout the pandemic, were to be with our dying sisters and hold our traditional services, funeral Mass and burial, to comfort each other,” said Sister Mary Christopher Moore, a leader of the Felician Sisters of North America.

For weeks the Livonia nuns went without Mass and dined in shifts, only one per table.

Those and other restrictions have eased in recent weeks as regular activities slowly resume.

But strict social-distancing rules remain in effect at the Our Lady of the Angels convent in Greenfield, Wis., which provides memory care for nuns of the School Sisters of St. Francis and the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

Nearly all communal activities have been suspended since March, and the 40 remaining residents are not allowed to see visitors, said Michael O’Loughlin, communications director for the School Sisters of St. Francis.

“The changes are confusing for the sisters — the loss of their religious activities has been very difficult, with no Masses or daily Rosary in chapel,” he said. “They do not understand the virus and find it difficult to stay confined to their rooms.”

At the Maryknoll Sisters’ center in Ossining, N.Y., as at the Greenfield convent, there have been no new coronavirus cases in recent weeks.

“Thank God things are stable,” said a Maryknoll spokeswoman, Chelsea Lopez. She said 177 sisters are still residing there and abiding by health officials’ recommended social-distancing protocols.

In several important respects, convents share some of the same health vulnerabilities as nursing homes, the hardest-hit sector in the U.S. in terms of COVID-19 deaths. In many cases, their populations are elderly and live in close quarters with one another.

“We realize that our communal lifestyle makes us, along with other religious communities, a target for this virus,” Sister Mary Christopher acknowledged in May.

In Livonia, some of the nuns who survived COVID-19 infections have continued to experience weakness and respiratory problems, according to Sister Mary Christopher. Though in-person Masses have resumed, some of the sisters continue to participate via closed-circuit television or other electronic devices.

The 13 deaths — more than 20 percent of the convent’s population — have been a huge blow for the surrounding community, where the nuns played important roles.

Those who died ranged in age from 69 to 99; they included a librarian, a nurse and several teachers.

The Felician Sisters “have been taking care of people in our community literally from cradle to grave,” said Livonia Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan. “Now we have less nuns that are available to work in the hospital, less nuns that are available in our teaching institutions, less nuns that are out there taking care of making sure our souls are protected.”