Janice McLaughlin
Sister Janice McLaughlin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 14, 1942 United States of America |
| Died | March 8, 2021 (aged 79) |
| Nationality | American |
| Denomination | Christian |
Sister Janice McLaughlin was a Roman Catholic Church nun, author and an anti-Rhodesia regime activist. When she died in March 2021, the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) called for the conferment of heroine status on her.
Background
She was born on 14 February 1942. Sister Janice was originally from Pittsburgh in the United States but had been in Africa since about 1970, working in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. [1][2]
Education
Sister Janice obtained a doctorate in religious studies from the University of Zimbabwe in 1992. Her thesis, On the Frontline: Rural Catholic Missions and Zimbabwe’s Liberation War was published by Baobab Books in Harare in 1995.[3] She received honorary doctorate degrees from Marquette University and Albertus Magnus College.[2]
Career
Sister Janice first came to Rhodesia in 1977 just when the Second Chimurenga was gathering momentum.
Three months after arriving in Zimbabwe in 1977, she was imprisoned for writing reports on the country's liberation war. She was then put in solitary confinement after the then-colonial government raided the offices of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, where she worked as press secretary, for war reports the commission was compiling and publishing. She was in prison for three weeks before the government deported her to the United States.[1]
She returned to Africa in Mozambique. Sister Janice requested and was granted an exclusive interview with Josiah Tongogara. The interview was published for the outside world by Zimbabwe News and aired on the Voice of Zimbabwe Radio Mozambique.[4]
In 1979, Sister Janice became the projects officer for the Zimbabwe Project, a new initiative set up by a consortium of Catholic donors to assist refugees from the war in Rhodesia.
After Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, Sister Janice was invited by Robert Mugabe's Government to work as an education consultant in the President’s Office.
In her capacity, she helped to build nine schools for former refugees and war veterans and to develop a new system of education that linked academic subjects to technical training.
In 1985, Sister Janice helped to establish the Zimbabwe-Mozambique Friendship Association to assist displaced people in Mozambique.
In 1991, Sister Janice returned to Maryknoll, New York, to work as communications coordinator for the Maryknoll Sisters and returned to Zimbabwe in 1997 where she worked as a training coordinator for Silveira House.
She chaired the African Forum for Catholic Social Teaching, an association of justice and peace practitioners throughout Africa, and chaired the Counseling Services Unit, a group of doctors and counsellors who assist the victims of violence in Zimbabwe.
In 2008, Sister Janice was elected president of the Maryknoll Sisters at their General Assembly and in October 2015, she returned to Zimbabwe to continue her mission work. In 1995 her book On the Frontline: Rural Catholic Missions and Zimbabwe’s Liberation War was published by Baobab Books in Harare. [3] She also worked with the Catholic University Of Zimbabwe as a research adviser and helped organize conferences.[1]
Sister Janice was the first organizing Secretary for the Zimbabwe Foundation for Education. She testified before House and Senate Committees on African Relations. In 2010, Sister Janice McLaughlin received the top honour for a first-time author from the Catholic Press Association.[2]
Books
- On the Frontline: Rural Catholic Missions and Zimbabwe’s Liberation War (1995)
- Ostriches, Dung Beetles and Other Spiritual Masters [2]
Death
Sister Janice McLaughlin died on 8 March 2021. She died at the New York headquarters of the Maryknoll Sisters Catholic Order.[4] Upon learning of her death, the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) called for the conferment of heroine status on her.[3][4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Tawanda Karombo, Q & A with Sr. Janice McLaughlin, combating human trafficking in Zimbabwe, Global Sisters Report, Published: March 5, 2019, Retrieved: March 9, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Janice McLaughlin, Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania, Published: No Date Given, Retrieved: March 9, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Struggle activist McLaughlin dies, The Herald, Published: March 9, 2021, Retrieved: March 9, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chris Mutsvangwa, War vets mourn Sister Janice McLaughlin – Chimurenga’s woman of courage, The Herald, Published: March 9, 2021, Retrieved: March 9, 2021
