THE IMPACT OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS IN
NIGERIA
The
impact of women religious in the church is a very visible one, because of the
roles of men and women in the church are more clearly stipulated than in the
Secular World. This is because the church seems to have more ideas than in the
secular life where women are sometimes taken for granted. The role of the women
religious in the church cannot be ignored. To this effect, the saintly Pope
John Paul II in his post synodal apostolic exhortation Vita Consacrata says “the church fully reveals her varied spiritual
richness when she overcomes all discrimination and welcomes as a true blessing
the gifts lavished by God upon both men and women, considering them in their
equal dignity.[1]
The
church is the home of communion. Each individual within the church is linked to
the other, because its Gods will to make the faithful into one people according
to Jesus’ prayer: ‘that they maybe one’. To this effect both the hierarchy of
the church are co-responsible in building up the church and furthering her
mission. However, the impacts of the women religious to the church cannot be
undermined, even though they lack the clerical competence, there impact to the
church is massive and unique. Women have been prominent in the church and the
church in Nigeria is not an exception. The impact of the women religious can be
considered in the light of their specific apostolate.
The
women religious have impacted so much in Nigeria generally by being signs of
God’s tender love towards the humanity and they have borne special witness to
the mystery of the church. The impacts of the women religious in the different
sectors of the society and the church in particular cannot be denied. The
self-awareness of the women religious have impacted on the men by triggering
them to reconsider their way of looking at things.
The
women religious have worked so hard in impacting the basic human values to the
system of Nigeria. These human values bother majorly on human dignity and the
dignity of labour. In the areas of human dignity, they have been able to bring
to the consciousness of the people, especially the ignorant one, that each
individual person deserve and ought to be treated with dignity. The women
religious have worked out this goal in a tangible way that goes sometimes
unnoticed; some of the women religious congregations raise and manage
motherless baby’s homes and a special care for the destitute, feeding and
caring for them. Some of these religious women engage in prison apostolate too.
One
of the greatest impacts of the women religious in Nigeria is in the field of education.
Majority of the women religious in Nigeria had taken upon themselves the
responsibility of improving the education standards from the grass roots. Many
of the women religious groups in Nigeria instituted schools, ranging from
primary to secondary school, and many more are managing already instituted
schools. These women religious who institute or manage schools ensure that the
standard and quality of education imparted on the pupils or students are the
best. Some of these women religious also lecture in different tertiary
institutions there by contributing to the improvement of the standard and
quality of education in the country.
The
women religious in Nigeria have impacted so much in the areas of health. Many women religious run the apostolate of
health caring, making health facilities available, especially to the remote
places, where there is little or no hope of proper medical attention. The
religious sisters provide standard hospitals for health maintenance, and they
go to the extent of giving free medical care and check-ups to the ones that
can’t afford it. Health is wealth, and the women religious in the country have
made serious impacts on this area. Some of the women religious seriously
working towards the improvement of health includes the daughters of divine
love, handmaid sisters, ola etc when facilities for good and basic health care
is provided and afforded to the people, mortality rate reduces.
The
impact of the women religious to liturgy cannot be underestimated. Many of them
many of them actively participate and help out in the liturgy. A good number of
the religious in Nigeria have their little ways of making their contributions
to the liturgy of the church. Some do some by their production of liturgical
materials, like vestments for mass and production of host for while many others
help out in different ways in the church; impacting the faith by way of
teaching the children catechism and so many other ways.
With
the establishment of their different apostolic centers, the women religious
have massively provided job opportunity in the country. The apostolic centers
established by some of the women religious include hospitals, schools, host
making units, production of clerical wears etc. The sectors in these apostolic
centers have individual working in them and earning their living there.
As
a crown of their impact, the women religious have gone a long way in fostering
ecumenism in the church in Nigerian with their individual and communal efforts in
the apostolic and mission field. They impact morality and sensitivity within
the youths, this is with special reference to the apostolate of the university
sisters of assumption, who counsel the youths and guides them; helping them out
with some difficulties of their daily lives.
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