Sister Elizabeth Maxwell, a Presentation nun from Carlow town, has been appointed the new secretary general of CORI (the Conference of Religious of Ireland). It represents 184 congregations, including 15,000 "order" priests, nuns, and brothers, many in developing countries but supported from Ireland.
Sister Maxwell said she had applied for the post because of her admiration for CORI's work, and because she saw it as "offering leadership in society which is an alternative to the prevailing mode - a gospel type of leadership . . . an advocacy for people on the margins".
CORI, she said, was "at the cutting edge, where needs are not being addressed by other agencies . . . where people did not want to go." She instanced work with travellers, drug addicts, and refugees.
Good things were happening, but she would like to see the perception of religious shift from that of service providers (of education, health care, etc) to a more accurate perception of what they do today. "To see us as a more prophetic people," she said, apologising for the religious word "prophetic".
Following Vatican II, religious orders had examined their original impetus and were once again tackling issues of justice. They were trying to get back to what they were intended to do, she said. It had resulted in such things as donating lands free for low-income housing, as had happened four times in Dublin already.
