Spanish business leaders organize to support cloistered communities

Madrid, Spain, Apr 16, 2020 / 09:44 am

A group of businessmen in Spain have joined together to help cloistered religious communities that are unable to support themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During normal times, many cloistered religious communities support themselves by making and selling goods or producing agricultural products, in addition to receiving donations and investments.

But as the national lockdown continues in Spain, due to the ongoing threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, cloistered communities are cut off from their customers.

The "TuclausuramiClausura" (your closing/my Cloister) initiative was recently launched by a group of Spanish business leaders, under the theme, "the lung of our souls needs your support today."

"One out of three cloistered nuns lives in Spain," the group explained in a statement, "and the current situation is hitting cloistered monasteries hard, seeing their possibilities of direct sales of their handicrafts cut back, which, in most cases, is the main source of the income of convents and monasteries."

The campaign's goal is to "facilitate businesses, families, foundations and parishes to be able to help by contributing their time and work, or contributing financially to a way of life in many cases unknown to the world."

The campaign will channel all donations through the Declausura Foundation, which has been helping and promoting the contemplative life for 14 years. The campaign said 100% of all donations will go to the convents and monasteries in need.