By María Alicia Alvado and Walter Pérez.
Mónica Astorga Cremona, the sister superior of the Convent of Discalced Carmelites of Neuquén, told Télam that Pope Francis responded to the email where she told him about the recent inauguration of the housing complex for trans women where she worked for the last three years, telling her that "God will repay you abundantly"
"Dear Monica, God who did not go to the seminary or study theology will repay you abundantly. I pray for you and for your girls. Don't forget to pray for me. May Jesus bless you and the holy virgin take care of you. Fraternally, Francisco,” the Supreme Pontiff wrote to the nun last Wednesday, as she related to Télam.
Monica's "girls", as she always calls them, are neither more nor less than the trans women she accompanies.
“He never opposed what I do and for me it is a great support," she said. “When he was in Neuquén in 2009 as archbishop of Buenos Aires, he told me 'don't abandon this border work that the Lord gave you and, for whatever you need, count on me,'" she added. The nun explained that "the term 'border' at the church level has a lot of meaning" and implies working with people "discarded" by society, "with whom few want to get involved."
Three years ago, the agency Agencia Católica de Informaciones (ACI Prensa) had released another email sent by the pope to Astorga Cremona where he told him that "I have you and the convent close to my heart, as well as people with they work. You can tell them. " Read more via Telam
They inaugurated the first trans neighborhood in the world and at the initiative of a nun
The first housing complex for trans women in the world was inaugurated this week in the city of Neuquén at the initiative of a nun on land ceded to her monastery by the municipality and with funds provided by the provincial government, an experience that deserved words of congratulations even from Pope Francis.
This "Social Tutored Condominium for trans women" has 12 studio apartments that represent a permanent housing solution for a dozen trans people between 40 and 70 years of age in vulnerable situations, who received them in loan format and will be transferred to other partners in case of death.
The houses were built by the Provincial Institute of Housing and Urbanism (IPVU) in the Confluencia neighborhood and handed over for their administration to the Order of Discalced Carmelites, based on the original idea of Mónica Astorga Cremona (53), the so-called "nun of the trans ". Read more via Télam