AFRICA/BENIN - At last Natitingou diocese has its own convent of women religious: “ the nuns are a resource for our diocese ”

Natitingou (Agenzia Fides)-“Joy in heaven, let the earth exult! At last the diocese of Natitingou has its own convent” the local Bishop, Bishop Pascal N’Koué, informed Fides.
The Convent of Our Lady of Listening was inaugurated on 13 June. “We have wanted for a long time to have a convent in our diocese, ever since our first Bishop, Bishop Patient Redois" said Bishop N’Koué. After knocking on several doors “at last advised by Mgr. Robert Aliger, Vicar General in Aix en Provence, I turned to the Benedictine nuns at Jouques (Aix-En-Provence). And now they have a community here, these nuns are a resource for our diocese. They are a gift from Divine Providence. No one has any doubts that their presence here, their daily prayers and sacrifices will strengthen the ties between the dioceses of Aix and Natitingou” the Bishop says recalling that the many “wonderful nuns and excellent catechists come from Benedictine convents”.
“A convent is like a saltcellar whose salt is inexhaustible. The place for salt in not in the saltcellar but in food to give it taste. And the food is our families, our places of work, place of formation, the world. The convent, our saltcellar is here to prevent spiritual decomposition” the Bishop concluded. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 5/7/2007 righe 21 parole 2320)