Consequences of Khamenei's comments on religious minorities: Iran expels Italian nun

The official Vatican media outlet has said that Islamic Republic authorities have asked a Catholic nun who served at the Tabriz leprosy hospital for nearly three decades to leave Iran.

Vatican News, which covers the official news of the Catholic Church, has said that Sister Giuseppina Berti, 75, who has worked at the Tabriz leprosy hospital for 26 years, will be forced to leave Iran due to the failure to renew her visa.

The nun is a member of the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, a group of women who dedicate their lives to helping others. The congregation was founded in 1633 and has been active in Iran since before the revolution.

According to Vatican News, the Catholic nun is currently in Isfahan and has been told she must leave the country.

Another nun, Fabiola Weiss, 77, an Austrian, has had her residence permit extended for another year. She has worked in a leper hospital for the past 38 years.

According to Vatican News, the two nuns have been forced to leave the residence built for them in 1937.

This group of nuns in Isfahan had dedicated themselves to educating and training young people for years.

They ran a school in Isfahan that was confiscated after the Islamic Revolution. According to Vatican News, these nuns have been inactive in recent years to avoid being accused of proselytizing.

Vatican News has said that there is a history of visa denials for Catholic clergy and staff in Iran.

The Catholic Church had previously expressed concern about the situation of Catholics in Iran.

In November 2010, Benedict XVI, the then leader of the world's Catholics, wrote a letter to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the then President of Iran, calling for the formation of a bilateral commission between Iran and the Vatican to address the legal status of the Catholic Church in Iran.

Benedict XVI also called at the time for the freer movement of Christian clergy in Iran “to serve the religious needs of the faithful.”

The Catholic Church has several thousand followers in Iran, but they are said to be facing a shortage of clergy, and the reason is that Iran does not grant visas to new clergy.

The constitution of the Islamic Republic recognizes Twelver Shia Islam as the official religion of the country, but also recognizes Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians as "People of the Book" and recognizes their religions. These religious minorities are allowed to conduct their own religious ceremonies within the framework of the law and have representatives in the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

At the same time, Islamic Republic authorities have cracked down harshly on Christian missionaries, especially Christian converts, and have imprisoned dozens of Christian converts.

In numerous cases, the “house churches” of converts in Iran have been targeted by security forces.