Overwhelmed. That’s how Sister Mary John Mananzan felt when she was informed that she had been named one of the top 100 inspiring people in the world, alongside US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
A Missionary Benedictine sister, Sr. Mary John Mananzan is one of the extraordinary people who are being honored on the international list that has been put out by Women Deliver, the leading global advocate fighting for women’s rights and maternal health. The list of the 100 most inspiring women and men who have improved the lives of girls and women worldwide was launched as “Women Deliver 100” on March 8, the 100th International Women’s Day. The list was assembled to honor individuals who have accomplished concrete change for women—and also to raise awareness of the continuing struggle for women’s rights around the globe. While the list includes well-known advocates like Hillary Clinton, its real focus is the unsung heroes on the front lines of the women’s rights movement worldwide, such as feminine activists like Mananzan.
Sr. Mary is the Prioress at St. Scholastica’s Priory and Founder and Executive Director of the Institute of Women’s Studies at St. Scholastica’s College. According to Women Deliver, Mananzan delivers for women in the following ways: As a Missionary Benedictine sister, Mananzan has led the way in integrating feminist activism into Catholic faith. She was a pioneer in the field of women’s studies, founding the program at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila, one of the Philippine’s most prestigious and progressive colleges for women. She has been instrumental in developing a feminist and a third-world theology within the Catholic Church, criticizing the Church for being hierarchical and male-dominated. In her writing, she has highlighted the particular oppression of third world women through violence and gender discrimination. In her groundbreaking career, Mananzan has worked to empower women and to combat injustice and oppression wherever she finds it—whether within the political system, or at the hands of the church. She has led the way in integrating feminist activism into the Catholic faith and pioneered in the field of women’s studies by founding the program at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila.
Born in Dagupan, Pangasinan on November 6, 1937, Guillermina “Jill” Mananzan studied in St. Scholastica’s College since high school (1949-1953) and college ( magna cum laude, AB-BSE major in History 1953-1957). Upon graduation, Jill joined the Benedictine order and became Sister Mary John.
Mananzan admitted that when she first joined the Benedictine order at 19 years old, she thought that she could not participate in social work for the poor unless she was a nun. “I always say, ‘Do not ask me why I entered. Ask me why I am staying,’” she said in an earlier interview. “It is because I found more reasons to stay.”
When Sr. Mary told her mother of her decision to become a nun, her mother was speechless. “The next day, she told me ‘It was OK if I really wanted to be a nun.’ She was very proud of me,” Mananzan said.
The intelligent nun was able to go on to graduate studies abroad. In 1970, Sr. Mary was a magna cum laude graduate in Missiology from Wilhelmsuniversitaet in Muenster, Germany. The following year, she received her Licentiate in Philosophy (again, magna cum laude) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy.
In 1974, Mananzan earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy, Major in Linguistic Philosophy, holding the distinction of being the first woman to graduate summa cum laude from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
Upon her return to the country in 1973, Sr. Mary John was entrusted with a number of positions, including the deanship and subsequently the presidency of St. Scholastica’s College, and the leadership of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines.
Mananzan’s return to the Philippines was during the peak of President Marcos’ martial law regime. The fearless nun gotinvolved in political rallies, either urging her fellow citizens not to pay the oil price increases or supporting 600 workers on strike against unfair management practices of La Tondeña, a Filipino distillery.
When a plainclothes policeman asked her why a nun like her was involved in political rallies, she said that he would not have understood if she had told him about her practice of ‘total and complete salvation.’To Sister Mary John, preaching the Gospel included preaching against injustice, defending human rights and engaging in effective action.
“One cannot talk of total human transformation if half of society is oppressed,” stressed Mananzan, who was often seen in rallies with former President Cory Aquino.
Mary John’s involvement in political militancy gradually evolved into a passion for the struggle of women against gender oppression, including oppression committed within the institutional church. She spearheaded the social and women’s orientation in St. Scholastica’s College. She founded the Institute of Women’s Studies, Life-Long Learning and Wellness Center, Women and Ecology Wholeness Farm. She also established the Benedictine Volunteer Program, and initiated the founding of the Consortium of Women’s Colleges (CWC). Mananzan also co-founded various organizations like, Institute of Women’s Studies, GABRIELA, Women’s Crisis Center, Citizens Alliance for Consumer Protection (CACP), Socio Pastoral Institute (SPI), Center for Women’s Resources (CWR), Institute of Religion and Culture (IRC) and the Women Historians of the Philippines.
Mananzan believes in ‘integral salvation.’ In the past, the idea of salvation meant nothing but the salvation of the soul—from death, sin and hell—and thus the task of ‘saving souls’ was linked to preaching the word of God and dispensing the sacraments. She said that the current understanding of salvation is “the liberation of the whole human being not only from ‘death, sin and hell’ but from everything that dehumanizes—exploitation, oppression, poverty.”
In her view, there is no integral salvation if there is no social transformation and that social transformation is incomplete if the gender issue is not addressed. What needs to be done, she said is: “organization, mobilization, education and feminist scholarship.”
“We need to transform the mainstream because it is largely malestream,” she has often declared.
Besides serving as the president of St. Scholastica’s College since 1996, Mananzan has held many significant positions which include: Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (1996-2001), International Board of Directors of CONCILIUM, Executive Committee Member International Association of Mission Studies (IAMS), Secretary General-Co Founder of Citizens Alliance for Consumer Protection, Founder and Executive Director of the Institute of Women’s Studies, Founder & Director of the Life Long Learning & Wellness Center, Founder & Director of Women & Ecology Wholeness Farm, Co-Founder and National Chairperson of GABRIELA, Co-Founder and Chairperson, BOT Women Crisis Center,
Board Member of KILOSBAYAN, Priory Councilor Missionary Benedictine Sisters, Manila Priory, International Board of Directors of the United Board of Higher Education for Asia (UBCHEA).
A prolific writer, Mananzan has also written countless essays, books, published articles, and manuscripts. She is the author of The Language Game of Confessing One’s Belief: A Wittgenstenian- Austinian Approach to the Linguistic Analysis of Creedal Statements; Woman Question in the Philippines; Challenges to the Inner Room; Women, Religion, and Spirituality in Asia; The Asian Women: Image and Status; Bible on Justice; Salvation: Historical and Total; There Shall be No Poor Among You; and Women Resisting Violence: Spirituality for Life.
A very articulate and dynamic speaker, Mananzan has been to at least 40 countries as facilitator and lecturer on the following topics: The Woman Question, Woman and Religion, Feminist Theology, Education for Transformation, Consumer Protection, Asian Religion and Spirituality, Globalization and Ecofeminism.
All of this nun’s work has certainly been recognized by the world in which she shines as a bright light. Among her many awards are: Hispanista Scholarship to Spain (1992), PAX Award, St. Scholastica’s College (1994), GABRIELA Special Award (1994), Dorothy Cadbury Fellowship, Birmingham, England (1994), Henry Luce Fellowship, Union Theological Seminary (1995), Golden Award for Women Achievers in the Field of Education, NCWP (1996), Vinta Award: Excellence in Social Change Management, given by Philippine Council of Management on September 26, 1997, One Hundred Women of the Century (2000), Woman of Distinction Award, given by the Soroptimists International on March 9, 2001, Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship, awarded by Nippon Foundation, Japan, March 11, 2002, Outstanding Woman in the Fight for Human Rights, National Commission of Women in the Philippines, March 21, 2002, Most Outstanding Daughter of Bayambang (2002), Bilib Kami sa Iyo Pinoy Award by ABS-CBN- March, 2005, Marie Claire’s Twenty Five Outstanding Women who Rock the World- November 2005, and the ABS-CBN Women of the Year Award, March, 2006.
And now as she made it to the Top 100 Inspiring People in the World, Sr. Mary John certainly has proven that her “ voice” has been heard. Women Deliver president Jill Sheffield said in a statement, “The list recognizes those who successfully navigated the corridors of power, along with those on the frontlines, who have worked to expand rights and choices for girls and women everywhere.” Women Deliver said that Sister Mary John was instrumental in developing a feminist and third-world theology within the Catholic Church, boldly challenging the Church’s hierarchical and male-dominated views, and introducing feminist activism into the country’s Catholic faith.
Despite the gains in the pursuit of women empowerment, she said there was still a long way to go. She noted that more women-friendly laws were being passed even if she found their implementation wanting. “In a matter of consciousness, we have achieved a lot. But we still have a long way to go. We have, after all, a population of 90 million. We have to reach out to mothers who are not conscious of these things so they would not continue to pass on gender-based subservience to their daughters,” she said in a report.
Mananzan added that the empowerment of a woman could not be complete without the spiritual aspect. “In empowering a woman spiritually, she must develop self-esteem in the sense that she is created in the image and likeness of God.”
With her life and her words, Sister Mary John Mananzan has truly shown how an empowered woman can live to her best potential.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek Mar 9-11, 2011 MDWK pg. 2)
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