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There are fourteen Sisters in 4 communities working in five different parishes - (VT) Ponzano, Treviso, (TO) - Collegno, Carmagnola and Candiolo. The Sisters are involved in the running of two nursery schools - one in Ponzano (Veneto) and one in Candiolo (Torino). Apart from the day to day training of the children, this entails also much contact, counselling and care of the young parents. Both schools belong to the parish, and so there is also an outreach into parish catechetics, preparation for First Communion and Confirmation, involvement in religious festivals, in short a deep insertion into the ordinary life of a Catholic community.
In Candiolo, besides the involvement in the parish nursery school, another Sister teaches catechetics in a nearby secondary school, and with occasional support from other community members is also very much involved in the parish Youth Club, sometimes also including summer holiday camps. Another Sister from this community works full-time in a home for mothers and babies at risk - an initiative of the Turin Marist Laity group. She spends two nights each week away from the community on 24-hour shifts. In another nearby parish, a Sister from this community works as a Catechist and parish visitor. As a retired nurse she often gives her services to families and in the Marist Brothers Retirement home.
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In
the third community in Treviso, a retired nurse still does a lot of visiting of
the elderly and sick, administering medicines and even giving injections still,
with all the pastoral care that such visiting demands. Another Sister in this
community is involved in a drop-in centre and shelter run by Caritas Italia in
Treviso.
The
most recent community, in Collegno in the suburbs of Turin, aims to be a
praying, loving presence. But of course, as they are living in a parish
flat involvement in the multiple works of the Parish is unavoidable. One
Sister teaches catechetics and both are involved in the Youth Club. Both
also do a lot of visiting among the old and sick residents of the high-rise
flats.
