Neighbours of Shanti Bhavan (home of peace), a Missionaries of Charity centre in Kerala’s Kottayam town, have expressed surprise at the closure of the centre that had served the poor and destitute for half a century. The centre, opened by Mother Teresa in 1974, was closed June 21.
“We do not know why they closed and left the place,” said Jolly Varghese, a social worker in Kottayam. “Before they left, the sisters transformed their 55 inmates to other centers,” the Catholic layman told Matters India June 23. He said he knew the nuns for 45 years. “I was born and brought up in Kottayam town and have seen them coming to our colonies for charitable works. They wiped the tears of the poor, giving them food and medicine,” Varghese recalled. He said people used to bring people they found lying helpless on the street to the nuns. “The sisters welcomed them with love. We have brought many destitute people here,” he add-ed. He said he was shocked to see the centre’s gate closed when he was “passing by un-expectedly this way. It breaks my heart.” He said the neighbours would have stopped the closure if they were informed early.
His wife Nimmy said they had experienced the nuns’ kindness many times. ”Once we were going to the church in an auto with our two children, when we found a man on the street in a very bad shape. We took him to Shanti Bhavan and requested the sisters to attend to him. They gladly offered to help, and after the Mass we took him to another centre. There are several cases when sisters cooperated with us,” she added. The nuns have apparently given the keys of the centre to the diocese of Vijayapuram.