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World record nun dies after 86 years in convent

A 105-year-old Spanish nun has died after spending 86 years in a convent, a period of ecclesiastical retreat touted by the Spanish media as a world record.

World record nun dies after 86 years in convent
Sister Teresita, from the Basque Country in northern Spain, died on Tuesday night. Photo: YouTube

Sister Teresita, from the Basque Country in northern Spain, died on Tuesday night at the Roman Catholic convent Buenafuente del Sistal in the center of the country.

She was buried at the convent on Wednesday.

Sister Teresita had entered the convent in the municipality of Guadalajara on April 16, 1927, when she was 19.

She left the convent only once in the following 86 years, on August 20, 2011, during Roman Catholic youth celebrations, to meet with visiting Pope Benedict XVI, who was born on the same day she had joined the convent.

That meeting, held at the Vatican’s nunciature in Madrid, was “very short but very emotional,” the convent’s abbess, Sister Maria, told AFP.

During her long stay in the convent, Sister Teresita held posts of abbess, prioress and mistress of novices.

“She was very lucid and healthy but she got weaker because age does not forgive,” said the abbess.

Sister Teresita lived “an exemplary life,” she added.

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CHURCH

Denmark planning to reopen churches for Easter Sunday

Denmark's government is planning to open the way for limited church services over Easter, so that Christians can celebrate the resurrection, even during the coronavirus lockdown.

Denmark planning to reopen churches for Easter Sunday
In the Church of Denmark, those taking community traditionally drink from the same silver cup. Photo: Church of Denmark
If services go ahead, it will mark the first relaxation of the country's lockdown since it was imposed on March 11. 
 
“Easter is the most important celebration of the church year,” Denmark's church minister Joy Mogensen said in a press release. “This is especially the case during a sombre time when the Danes are looking for community and meaning, which is why the government is now working on a solution so that we can celebrate Easter in church in a responsible way.” 
 
Churches and church halls have been closed in Denmark since March 11, along with mosques, synagogues and other places of worship. 
 
 
But with the country set to begin gradually lifting its coronavirus restrictions after Easter, the leadership of the Church of Denmark is now holding discussions with the Danish Health Authority and the Church Ministry on how to safely allow services to proceed on Easter Sunday. 
 
The government gave no details on what a responsible church service might entail, or whether it would be possible for churchgoers to pray and sing together in church or to receive communion. 
 
In the National Church of Denmark, communion typically involves a long queue to go the alter where all who are receiving the sacrament drink sips of wine from the same cup. 
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