Nuns Are Not Weak, But Strong Women for Service, says Leading Human Rights Activist
Mumbai: Addressing a group of nuns in Mumbai on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life (International Day of Nuns) on February 2, Sr Jessy Kurian said, “We are proud to be nuns, not with blind obedience, blind submissiveness, blind faith but with reason and liberty rendering service to humanity beyond race, religion, caste, sex and place of birth upholding the tenets of Jesus and the Constitutional values.”
Sr Jessy is a member of St. Anne’s Providence. She is a former member of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions and a lawyer at the Supreme Court of India.
In 1997, Pope Saint John Paul II established the annual observance of World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life in the Catholic Church. It is celebrated on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple.
Quoting Pope Francis, Sr Jessy, said, “I invite them to fight when, in some cases, they are treated unfairly, even within the Church, when they serve so much that they are reduced to servitude….at times by the powerful men of the Church.”
According to her, “Nunhood is a lifestyle like marriage as held by Kerala High Court. A nun is a voice of the voiceless, she is an angle to protect the weak, and is the heart and soul of the church.”
Nuns’ contribution to nation-building cannot be disputed. They render service to the nation in various capacities like doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, engineers, film producers and journalists.
They work mainly in remote areas of India. They are in the public and private sectors.
Some of the outstanding nuns who served in the public sector are Sr. Mariola who was the Member of the Rajasthan Minority Commission; Sr. Sneha Gill served as a member of the Delhi Minority Commission and Sr. Jessy Kurian is the former member of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions.
More than 400 nuns are advocates rendering legal assistance and pro bono services.
They work among Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, children and weaker sections of society. Among them, there are social and human rights activists
Sr. Jessy is the president of an NGO called “Citizen’s Rights”. It promotes women empowerment, human rights and legal literacy.
She educates the masses law of the land through books, articles, seminars and webinars. She has written more than 300 articles in various magazines and authored 20 books and booklets on various laws
In her address, Sr. Jessy urged the nuns to raise their voices against injustice.
Congratulations to the consecrated religious who really are inspiring ladies inthe servic of the church we sre proud of Gheorghe sacrifices they face to keep up the values they have taken god bless all religious