"Pope tells nun helping transgender women, ‘God will repay you’"

"ROME – In the latest sign of papal outreach to the transgender community, Pope Francis has written to an old friend in Argentina to say that he is praying for her and the women who will move into a new condo complex she built to help transgender women living in poverty.

Formally called the Costa Limay Sustainable complex for transgender women, the new building has 12 studio apartments and is part of a permanent housing solution for around a dozen transgender individuals between the ages of 40-70 who are currently in situations of poverty.

It was inaugurated last week in Neuquén, Argentina, by a Discalced Carmelite nun by the name of Mónica Astorga Cremona, who serves as the superior of her community in Neuquén.

Speaking to Argentine news agency Telam, Astorga Cremona, who has ties with Pope Francis going back to his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires, said she received a letter from the pope backing the initiative.

According to the nun, she had written to the pope telling him about the inauguration of her new housing complex, and received a reply telling her that, 'God who did not go to the seminary or study theology will repay you abundantly' for the work she has done.

In the brief response, Francis told her that he is praying for her and the transgender women she is assisting, adding, 'Don’t forget to pray for me. May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin guide you.'...

Since his election to the papacy in 2013, the two have stayed in touch. Astorga Cremona said that when the pope responds, she usually receives an email with a picture of his hand-written letter, as Francis does not personally use a computer.

In a letter received from Francis in 2017, the pope had told Astorga Cremona that he was praying for her and her convent, and on another occasion, he wrote expressing opposition to discrimination against transgender individuals, saying, 'at the time of Jesus, lepers were discarded like this.'

'Sometimes I ask him how to do it when they say ugly things to me,' she said, noting that Francis repeatedly tells her not to stop praying and to continue with her work, and assures her that he is accompanying her.

This is not the first time the pope has offered personal or material support to a transgender community.

In May, through the intervention of the papal almoner, Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, a group of transgender prostitutes in Rome became the beneficiaries of the pope’s charity as Italy suffered though its own strict coronavirus quarantine."