In India some Catholic nuns open a refuge for young transgender away from families

Text by Phoebe Carstens*, published on New Ways Ministry (United States) on 3 April 2025. Freely translated by the volunteers of the Gionata project.

In India, a group of Catholic nuns has chosen to set off next to the transgender people, opening a refuge designed to welcome them and support them in a moment of profound vulnerability. It is a story of listening, of concrete love and of faith that becomes gesture.

The refuge is called Jyothis Bhavan, which in Sanskrit means "bright house", and was founded by Congregation of Carmelo's mother. It rises in the city of Kochi, in the State of Kerala, where a research by the local government conducted in 2014 detected the presence of about 25,000 transgender people. Despite this significant presence, many of them continue to be excluded, derise, abandoned. According to that same study, 90% of transgender students left school due to harassment, discrimination or humiliations.

It is from this reality, so raw and painful, that the commitment of the nuns is born. Already in 2016 they had given birth to a alternative educational center For those who had been forced to abandon their studies. But it was a meeting, one of those occasions that touch the heart, to change everything.

Sister Teslin, one of the religious in service in the center, saw a young transgender person sitting alone at the bus stop, in tears. He had been there for two days, without any place to go. Without hesitation, Sister Teslin welcomed her and proposed an idea to her superiors: to create a refuge where these people could find dignity, security and hope. "I never imagined that the answer would arrive so quickly," he said.

In 2022 the dream was made to reality: Jyothis Bhavan has opened its doors. "We added food and love, because they feel at home," he explained Sister Amal Rose, describing the natural evolution from the educational center to place of reception.

Today the refuge hosts transgender people of all ages, even if most are between 18 and 25 years old. Many have been refused by families or society after sharing their gender identity. Currently, the structure welcomes nine people but can go until twenty -one. Each resident has six months to get the necessary documents and look for a study path or employment.

The nuns do not just offer a roof. They accompany each carefully, looking for a work and relational stability together. They work side by side with public officials to facilitate the release of the necessary documents, and promoting a cultural change in the territory.

They sensitize bus drivers and rickshaws, talk to neighbors, ask to treat transgender people with respect and humanity. And something is really changing. Tells it S. Prabhakaran, a driver of rickshaw: "We first made fun of them. But thanks to the nuns, today they are passengers for us like everyone else."

Gopika, one of the residents, a freelance make -up artist, joyfully testifies this change: "Today we can walk freely, get on any means. We no longer even receive a hostile look."

In recent years, India has made some steps forward, such as the 2019 law that protects the rights of transgender people and provides for dedicated services. But Sister Teslin He knows well that the road is still long: "We still have many people to reach. We want more and more people to find a refuge here and start building a new life."

For the three nuns who manage the house, all this is simply living the Gospel. It is to make Pope Francis' invitation concrete: "God is a father who never denies his children. And our mission is to experience it."

"Transgender people are also their children of God," Sister Rose said. "If we don't take care of it, who will do it?"

*Phoebe Carstens is a New Ways Ministry collaborator, an American Catholic organization who, since 1977, has been working to build understanding bridges between LGBTQ+ people and the Catholic Church.

Original text: Catholic Nuns Open Shelter for Transgender Young People in India