Fife Carmelite Sisters welcome Ukrainian refugees

The prioress said she felt that God was asking them to open their doors.

Dysart Carmel convent in Fife, which welcomed Ukrainian refugees at the beginning of the war, is welcoming more as the previous residents have been given accommodation.

Rev Mother Sr Francis, Prioress at Dysart, said the Carmelites in Lithuania had served as inspiration.

“The Carmelites in Lithuania were being asked to take in refugees as they were passing through for a few days,” she said.

“We have a cottage used for guests here. It’s in the grounds but not part of the convent. It’s got three bedrooms, we could offer that.”

With the convent being enclosed from the cottage, Sr Francis said that offering the accommodation was made simpler.

Through Fr Vasyl Kren, parish priest at Our Lady of Pochayiv and St Andrew’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Edinburgh, a pregnant mother and her daughter arrived the convent.

Sr Francis said they were ‘lovely, very gentle people.’

The two have now been given accommodation by the local council, freeing up the cottage for other refugees arriving in Scotland.

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