How to liberate threatened life?

Education is not only academic in the mind of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (SNJM). Inspired by the values of their founder, Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, who had at heart the development of the full potential of each person, the SNJM found in the 20th century, different ways to liberate life threatened by a then emerging neo-liberal world.

Following Pope John XXIII’s call to work in Latin American countries, the Second Vatican Council and the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, the SNJM developed new approaches. They wish to join efforts with other congregations and organizations to counterbalance a world where power oppresses and leads to exclusion and destruction of the person and the planet.

By becoming involved in the lives of impoverished people, the SNJMs have continued their educational work. They collaborate with these people in the creation or operation of organizations dedicated to helping the less fortunate in various ways, including community action.

After successively answering calls for Peru (1961), Brazil (1962) and Haiti (1975), the SNJMs founded the Mission Sector, bringing together the missionary sisters in South America around the same vision. They committed themselves to :

• Promote greater integration with the economically poor
• To stand in solidarity with women and children
• To work for the transformation of unjust structures
• To deepen spirituality and ecofeminist theology according to the environments of inculturation

This affirmation serves as a guide to the actions taken since then by SNJMs around the world according to the orientations of the congregation’s general chapters, especially those of the 34th General Chapter held in 2016.