ASIA: INDIA: SISTER ALLOWED TO STAY AND CARE FOR LEPERS

ASIA NEWS REPORT: Sister Jean: "Crazy with joy." A "mistake" committed by the immigration office, and the Interior Minister P. Chidambaran has renewed her visa as "indefinitely". Thanks to the Global Council of Indian Christians and the lepers of the centre where the English missionary works.

Mumbai (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The "Mother Teresa" of Bangalore will remain with her leprosy sufferers in India: the Indian Minister of the Interior P. Chidambaran yesterday renewed Sister Jacqueline Jean McEwan’s visa "indefinitely". At the news, the nun said she was "overjoyed" to be able to stay with her patients, from whom she has cared for 29 years. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) has thanked the Government Minister for having responded to the complaints of the Christian minority and patients at the Sumnahalli Society, where the religious works.

Sister Jean was to leave the country within a month, because the government had denied the annual renewal of her visa. Immediate reactions of the GCIC and Fr. George Kannanthanam, director of the centre where the English missionary works (see AsiaNews, "Mother Teresa" of Bangalore, thrown out after 29 years).

Minister Chidambaran admitted that the warning to leave India issued by the Foreign Regional Registration Office (Frro), was a mistake, perhaps caused by the lack of some documents.

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