Nuns Invited to Help Poor by Drinking Tea

ROME, FEB. 3, 2009 (Zenit.org).- For nuns in Rome, doing a good deed this Lent might be as easy as having a cup of tea.

That's because religious of the Eternal City, and particularly communities who form the orders' general-direction sees, are being invited to purchase food products from Fairtrade, an organization that represents 4,000 production groups made up of thousands of poor workers worldwide.

The invitation is as concrete as urging the religious to buy tea and coffee sold by Fairtrade workers.

With a list of addresses where Fairtrade products can be acquired, the nuns are being encouraged to use their power as consumers to help the poor.

The campaign is being promoted by a commission of Franciscans and a group made up of representatives from various religious congregations.

"Springing from a financial vision and a commitment based on the values of the Gospel," the organizers explained, "new economic relations can arise, challenging men and women religious to make their choices as consumers, beginning with a critical conscience, with bases in the political, economic and social reality."

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On the Net:

Fairtrade UK: www.fairtrade.org.uk

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