Death of 9 nuns highlights toll of coronavirus in convents
By MARY ESCHJanuary 9, 2021 GMT
LATHAM, N.Y. (AP) — Through the month of December, mixed in with joyful Christmas messages, death announcements filled the Facebook page of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet as a coronavirus outbreak took its toll in a residence for retired and infirm nuns.
“We have lost nine beloved sisters — wonderful, dedicated members of our religious community,” said Sister Joan Mary Hartigan, director of St.Joseph’s Provincial House in the Albany suburb of Latham.
The women were 84 to 98 years old when they died at the private residence for Roman Catholic nuns in the order of St. Joseph of Carondelet, which traces its roots to 1650 in Le Puy, France.