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Print This StoryOfficials Say Cloistered Nuns Are Security Risks
Immigration Service Says Sisters Don't Qualify For Visas
POSTED: 7:15 p.m. EDT September 19, 2003
CLEVELAND -- Two Cleveland nuns pray day and night, but it may not be enough to keep them from being deported.
NewsChannel5 reported that the Department of Homeland Security is ordering two Korean sisters out of the country, saying they don't qualify for visas. But the cloistered nuns are hoping a higher power will intervene.
The women live as cloistered nuns with the order of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. Inside, the nuns pray for the entire world 24 hours a day. They never leave the church except for when they need medical care, and they have almost no contact with the outside world.
But on Friday, they spoke with NewsChannel5 behind steel bars in the visitors' parlor. The bars are a symbol to their commitment to God, prayer and their separation from society.
Sister Mary Cecilia and Sister Mary Catherinia, of Korea, must now deal with the outside world. The Department of Homeland Security said the sisters are security risks. Both Korean sisters may be deported because the U.S. Immigration Service said they don't qualify for religious worker visas.
"I think it's very sad," said Sister Mary Joseph, a cloistered nun. "They're not going to hurt anyone at all."
But the immigration service said it is only following policy. The security policy applies to everyone, including cloistered nuns.
The Poor Clares have filed an appeal and are praying that help from above will intervene.
"Oh, we pray (that the) sisters will get their papers," Mother Mary James said.
The nuns will find out within the next three weeks whether they will be deported back to their home country of South Korea. They have written to President George W. Bush hoping they will be granted the visas. The story made the front page of Friday's Wall Street Journal.
NewsChannel5 reported that the Department of Homeland Security is ordering two Korean sisters out of the country, saying they don't qualify for visas. But the cloistered nuns are hoping a higher power will intervene.
The women live as cloistered nuns with the order of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. Inside, the nuns pray for the entire world 24 hours a day. They never leave the church except for when they need medical care, and they have almost no contact with the outside world.
But on Friday, they spoke with NewsChannel5 behind steel bars in the visitors' parlor. The bars are a symbol to their commitment to God, prayer and their separation from society.
Sister Mary Cecilia and Sister Mary Catherinia, of Korea, must now deal with the outside world. The Department of Homeland Security said the sisters are security risks. Both Korean sisters may be deported because the U.S. Immigration Service said they don't qualify for religious worker visas.
"I think it's very sad," said Sister Mary Joseph, a cloistered nun. "They're not going to hurt anyone at all."
But the immigration service said it is only following policy. The security policy applies to everyone, including cloistered nuns.
The Poor Clares have filed an appeal and are praying that help from above will intervene.
"Oh, we pray (that the) sisters will get their papers," Mother Mary James said.
The nuns will find out within the next three weeks whether they will be deported back to their home country of South Korea. They have written to President George W. Bush hoping they will be granted the visas. The story made the front page of Friday's Wall Street Journal.
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