Online Leadership for Catholic Nuns
The Catholic Mission at the Service of Mercy and Life in Pakistan.
"Online progress of Catholic Nuns means (1) better awareness of world issues, (2) pray over the social realities (3) improve the apostolate according to the needs of the hour (4) possibility of more vocations, (5) better understanding of the Catholic mission in the local level (6) the elevation of the dignity of women, (7) opportunity for dialogue in the modern world,(8) more support towards the Sisters concern in doing what they do, (9) consolidate the expression of Congregation's charism, and (10) explain the reason of our faith without preaching.
The Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne Antide in Pakistan after the seminar on "Online Leadership for Religious Sisters" on May 1, 2016 in Masson Road, Lahore.
Our day began with the Holy Mass celebrated at Sacred Heart Cathedral, asking for special blessings because a half-day seminar is too short to accomplish the objective of becoming online leaders.
After the Holy Mass, we proceeded to the Sisters convent. Although it's a short walking distance, we took a ride. The Sisters-participants came from their apostolic areas in Faisalabad, Shahdara and Yuhannabad where they run a school, and take care of a hundred people in Dar-Ul-Khrisma which is a home for the destitute.
As springboard to the discussion, Saint John Paul II was quoted:
"The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the Gospel message."
The replica of the above picture was written Blessed Pope John Paul II, and so the Sisters were asked if they noticed a mistake. Two hands were raised. A sister said: John Paul II is already a saint.
I corrected the mistake, taking the opportunity to say that there are many things in the internet that need to be corrected... The next question is what do we stand for? What are the principles of life that govern our existence? Are these objectively correct?
The 38 minutes documentary film "A Girl in the River: the Price of Forgiveness" by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was shown, which I hope the Sisters will watch again, for a better exposure to the reality that it is not easy to take a stand because of two strong opposite views.
To forgive or not to forgive? Will the 'Women Protection Bill' preserve the cultural values? For me, there is no easy answer. It takes a lot of wisdom to give a word or a statement on the matter. As Catholic nuns, our frame of mind is ideally the Gospel.
Blessed James Alberione led me this far of encouraging other Sisters to be online leaders. It took a lot of courage before I joined Facebook. It took six months after the Catholic Press Congress in Rome before I opened an account in Twitter. Much prayers preceded my social media accounts in YouTube, Vimeo, Wattpad, LinkedIn, Flickr, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, Instagram...
Facebook begins the journey in social media: the most common and most popular. Other social media sites offer features which are not on Facebook. Google search and you will be guided on how to open and maintain your account. Common sense and a properly formed conscience are needed in social media life. The 'virtual space' is also for Catholic nuns to inhabit to use for the apostolate.
At the end of the seminar, the Sisters of Charity of St. Jeanne Antide expressed their desire to create their own website.
For this, Miss Sonish Akmal and Saad Suleman who are experienced web-designers were recommended. They are among the 12 youth volunteers called Timothians who underwent an intensive course on web-designing at UCAT (University College Of Advance Technologies)
“We believe and so we communicate the joy of the Gospel and the beauty of our charism.”
-Daughters of Saint Paul
