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Cardinal Dolan led prayers at the burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne April 25 for two Missionaries of Charity sisters who died of Covid-19 within a day of each other last month in the Bronx, where they both served.
Sister Francesca, M.C., 89, who was one of first group of sisters to serve with Mother Teresa of Calcutta when the future saint founded the Missionaries of Charity, died April 23. Sister Gertrude, M.C., who was 71, died a day earlier.
A third sister, Sister Mary Talbot, M.C., 77, died April 24. She had suffered from cancer but also had contracted the coronavirus.
As Cardinal Dolan led prayers also present were Father Pablo Gonzalez, the pastor of St. Rita of Cascia and St. Pius V parish in the Bronx, and Missionaries of Charity Sisters from their two convents in the Bronx.
Father Gonzalez told CNY that the Missionaries of Charity are “one of the most important parts of the parish and the neighborhood.”
Sister Clare, M.C., who serves with the Missionaries of Charity in the Bronx, said each of the sisters who died were “very faithful to their religious vocation.”
“They showed great love serving Jesus in the poorest of the poor,” she said.
Sister Francesca and Sister Mary Talbot were members of their religious community’s active branch, while Sister Gertrude belonged to the contemplative branch.
