‘Women in Prayer’ for their Muslim neighbours

The Sisters of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary of the Tiberias Fraternity started their activity in Clichy-Sous-Bois on the 13th floor of an HLM (Habitation à Loyer Modéré [moderate-rent housing]) building among mostly Muslim neighbours.

Sister Jola Nowosielska recalls when the community had to move out of the building in 2007. “Our Muslim neighbours were sad to see us leave. They said, ‘Who will protect us now?’. We were women of prayer for them,” she said.

The fraternity in Seine Saint-Denis, present in this suburb of Paris since 1994, is a faithful presence in a complex context that is multicultural and multinational, which is often a delicate subject in France.

The Sisters bear witness to this wave of social challenges through their solidarity with neighbours of different cultures and nationalities and through their prayers offered for the world—near and far. Thus, they are known as women of prayer by their neighbours.

Muslims make up the majority of the local population and are the most visible group in Clichy-Sous-Bois, as in many Paris suburbs.

The Fraternity of Tiberiade was founded to help Christians, who are a minority in this social context, and everyone, whoever they may be, providing them a place of welcome and encounter in the neighbourhood.

“Even though I did not see the Sisters every day, I knew they were there. I was comforted by their kindness, their closeness to people. They didn’t talk like the others,” said Bernard Péyrebesse, a Christian from Clichy-Sous-Bois, who has been close to the Franciscan Sisters since 1996.