Originally uploaded by Cl☼s ... des dunes ! à l'oeuvre de Soeur Emmanuelle ...
This picture and comment was posted by Cl☼s ... des dunes ! on Flickr and being Belgian I was at first* a bit ashamed I never heard of her...She died October 20, 2008 at the age of 99. I never understood what really drives these people so I here's a closer look...
Sœur Emmanuelle (November 16, 1908 – October 20, 2008), born Madeleine Cinquin, was a Belgian nun living in France. She was born in Brussels, Belgium, the daughter of a family of lingerie manufacturers. At the age of six she saw her father drown. She was educated at the Sorbonne, earning a degree in philosophy. In 1929, she took her religious vows and became a nun. She worked in Notre-Dame de Sion high school in Istanbul in the 1930s.In 1971, she witnessed the impoverished conditions of the trash collectors in Cairo, Egypt, and decided to live among them. She remained there until 1993, when she returned to France. It was upon her return that she gained the status of a media sensation in France, as she was well received by audiences and talk-show hosts. In addition to her charity work, she is known for her unorthodox religious views, including approval of the use of contraception and favouring the idea of allowing priests to marry. She was voted one of the most popular people in France, and has been compared to Mother Teresa. (She regarded the comparisons with Mother Theresa as "ridiculous"). In 2003, French television broadcast Soeur Emmanuelle: An exceptional woman. In 2005 she ended on the 5th place in the Walloon version of Le plus grand Belge (The Greatest Belgian). She died on October 20, 2008 in Callian, aged 99, in her sleep from natural causes.[2] Les Amis de Soeur Emmanuelle (The Friends of Sister Emmanuelle) is a charitable organization based in Brussels.
*Correction: I did know her and even saw this on the news, I guess working on the computer and watching TV simultaneously does weird things with your memory...
*Correction: I did know her and even saw this on the news, I guess working on the computer and watching TV simultaneously does weird things with your memory...
Sources: Cl☼s ... des dunes ! & Wiki of course...
Links:
official site (she really deserves a better one, bad links and stuff)
youtube (her last interview, and other video's: Yalla! pas de stop!)
de morgen (newspaper in Dutch, about the funeral, good picture)
the guardian (review on her memoirs)
la provence (reportage on her funeral, in French)
Courageous, righteous woman, the kind the Church really needs I guess, and It should permit them to marry because : "L'Union fait la Force"! Also, now that I see again that drive it's truly amazing that these kind of persons also always tend to live this long (and in good shape!)
The Power of Belief is a strong medicine...
