In recent years, visitors to French churches and cathedrals may have come across Belarusian nuns selling matryoshka dolls, religious icons and honey. They come from the Saint Elisabeth Convent in Minsk and present these sales as a means of funding their charitable work. However, the convent openly supports Russia’s war in Ukraine and has helped collect supplies for Russian soldiers.
“The nuns at the convent look after orphaned children, who are usually abandoned because they have a physical or mental disability. The orphanage is home to 200 children. The sisters are involved in other social work – in particular, they look after the homeless, alcoholics and drug addicts at a shelter 30km from the convent," notes the announcement of a sale organised by the sisters of Saint Elisabeth Convent at the Sacred Heart parish in Val d’Or, central France, in July 2022.
