Religious Sister Escapes Afghanistan

ACN recently interviewed Sister Shahnaz Bhatti of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne-Antide Thouret. Up until recently, Sr. Shahnaz had been serving in Afghanistan.

By ACN Staff

Taliban fighters in Kabul. (Public domain)

Up until the 25 August, Sister Shahnaz Bhatti of the congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne-Antide Thouret was serving in Afghanistan. Sr. Shahnaz is from Pakistan and was interviewed by Massimo Tubani for Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Sr. Shahnaz was evacuated out of Afghanistan by the Italian Army.

Sister Shahnaz Bhatti, a Pakistani nun of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne Antide Thouret, worked in Afghanistan until 25 August 2021, when, escorted by the Italian army, she managed to leave the country. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

Sr Shahnaz explains why her congregation was in Afghanistan:

“Our congregation took part in the project “For the Children of Kabul”. This project was initiated in 2001 in answer to the appeal of Pope John Paul II “Let us save the children of Kabul”. The congregations in Italy were generous in their response to the call through the Italian Union of Major Superiors (USMI, Unione Superiori Maggiori d’Italia).

I spent the last two years in Kabul together with two other religious sisters, Sister Teresia of the Sisters of Maria Bambina (Sisters of Holy Child Mary) and Sister Irene of the Missionary Sisters of Consolata. The members of the Kabul community came from a number of different congregations. We ran a school for children aged 6 to 10 with intellectual disabilities and Down’s syndrome and got them ready to attend public school. Local teachers, caretakers and cooks worked with us at the school.

With the assistance of the Italian authorities, we managed to take not only these members of our staff with us to Italy as, but also all their 15 families. At this time, they have been taken in by religious orders, all of whom are truly generous and hospitable. But the families of the children whom we taught there keep calling us to ask for help and remained in their homes. You can imagine the grave danger these people are currently facing.”

 Sr. Shahnaz details how she was able to go to Holy Mass at the Italian embassy in Kabul:

“Sunday is not recognised as a day of worship and rest but is considered a day like any other. At the Italian embassy, we were able to discreetly celebrate religious feast days and Holy Mass.”

Work in Afghanistan was difficult for the sisters as they they were often not able to travel alone. When asked if she had the freedom to freely practice the Faith, Sr. Shahnaz said:

“No, because the Afghans consider all foreigners from the West to be Christians. We were constantly being monitored and were not permitted to display any religious symbols. We religious sisters had to clothe ourselves like the local women, without the cross that symbolises who we are.”

The sisters had a dramatic escape from Afghanistan. Sr Shahnaz gave more details:

“It was a very difficult time: we were locked up in the house and were afraid. For more than a year, there had been only two of us. As soon as it was possible, the religious sister who had been with me left and I stayed by myself until the end. I helped our neighbours, the Sisters of Mother Theresa, and their 14 children with severe disabilities get on the last flight to Italy before the attacks. We would not have left if it had not been possible to save these children.

We are indebted to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Red Cross, which helped us get to the airport, and the presence of Father Giovanni Scalese, the representative of the Catholic Church in Afghanistan, who did not leave our side until we left. The journey to Kabul airport was arduous, it took us two hours and there was shooting, but in the end we made it.”

Sr. Shahnaz hopes that she will be able to return to Afghanistan. If it was possible to return, she said she would return straight away:

“I would be the first to return to them. In these times of distress, we would be there for them in the refugee camps that have been set up in neighbouring countries. We could keep the little ones from dying of hunger and thirst and from diseases that are actually easily treatable.”

Let us pray for the future of Afghanistan. The people there have gone through a lot. Let us also in particular keep the Afghan Christians in our prayers.