Thanks to intervention — divine and otherwise — two dozen retired nuns will be allowed to remain in their St. Francis convent.

That Tuesday decision reversed an announcement earlier this month that the sisters would be forced out of their decades-long Manoa home and into a senior assisted-living facility in Pearl City come March.

The New York-based Sisters of St. Francis of Neumann Communities made the initial decision to close the convent citing financial reasons.

But it quickly proved unpopular, with an outpouring of support for the nuns — retired nurses and teachers — coming from St. Francis School alumni and others. On behalf of the sisters, prayers indeed were answered.

More light added to PUC hearings

In the interest of transparency, it was an enlightened decision to require NextEra Energy Inc. and Hawaiian Electric Industries to refile for public consumption about 70 pages of documents previously marked “confidential” in the proposed $4.3 billion sale of the state’s largest electrical utility.

Also, no portion of the state Public Utilities Commission hearings — scheduled to conclude today but likely to extend into January — will be closed to the public unless it serves a compelling interest, would otherwise cause harm and no alternative exists, said Randy Iwase, PUC chairman.

The public previously had to clear the hearings on at least two occasions because confidential information was being discussed.