A Maltese nun, who has been elected president of a worldwide union of general superiors, is urging people to help her congregation’s fight against slavery, poverty and human trafficking.
“We have a lot of ongoing projects and would like to invite people who would like to work with us for some time and offer their services,” Sr Carmen Sammut, 61, Superior General of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa told The Times of Malta.
I feel that the Pope was encouraging us to be even more daring in the gift of ourselves
“My dream is to help build a real school in Deli, Chad, where the secondary school has only three classrooms. The rest of the classes are held outside, under a grass roof. They also have hardly any books.”
In May, Sr Sammut was elected president of the International Union of Superiors General, an umbrella group for some 600,000 Catholic nuns worldwide.
The union she will lead for the next three years offers a forum for superior generals, where by bringing together their different charismas, cultures and experiences, they find support in their specific ministries.
The role of the executive is to organise a worldwide meeting once every three years in Rome. Last May’s meeting saw more than 800 superior generals from 76 countries.
For the first time in recent history, Pope Francis met them at a private audience.
“He told us: ‘What would the Church be without you’? I particularly liked his comparison of living religious life as an exodus – a continuous going out of ourselves in order to adore the Lord and serve others.
These two attitudes cannot be separated. Our life of prayer and adoration is verified in our service and nearness to the poor and the needy, those on the periphery of society.
“I feel that the Pope was encouraging us to be even more daring in the gift of ourselves,” she said.
The Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa she leads works in 15 countries in Africa, and some in Europe and the Americas.
“We work with street children, in schools in poorer areas, we run health centres for women, children and Aids patients. We visit prisoners, stand with women who have been raped or thrown out of their families falsely accused of witchcraft.
“We try to fight human trafficking. Our houses are open to people of all ethnic groups present in the region, and we make no exception because of tribe, colour, language or belief. This is the way we work for peace and justice.
“We also try to enhance inter-religious dialogue, especially by our way of living in mostly Muslim milieus as in Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania,” she said.
Sr Sammut left Malta in 1974 to start her formation in London. She continued in Ottawa and Rome, where she followed Arabic and Islamic studies. She served in Algeria, Mauritania and Tunisia for some 30 years, mostly as a teacher, often the only Christian in an all-Muslim school.
In Tunis she was a librarian for secondary school girls who had nowhere adequate to study. She would advise them what to read, while listening to their stories, in their struggle from adolescence to young adulthood.
“It was for me a time to recognise the deep desires of each person and the great goodness that inhabits us all.
“I was challenged by their questions to live more authentically myself,” Sr Sammut said.
Her next event as president is an executive meeting this month to plan the union’s work for next year.
More information about the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa on www.msolafrica.org.