Veronica Openibo (born January 17, 1951) is a Nigerian

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and ...

and the Superior General of the congregation of the

Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus The Society of the Holy Child Jesus is an international community of Catholic sisters founded in England in 1846 by Philadelphia-born Cornelia Connelly. History Born Cornelia Peacock in Philadelphia, she was raised a Presbyterian. In 1831, sh ...

Life

Veronica Openibo was born on January 17, 1951, in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. She grew up as the second of twelve children in a devout

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family. She joined the

in September 1973. In 1975, she made her first

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, many different kinds of r ...

and continued her studies. Veronica graduated in English in 1979 and pursued further religious studies in

Jos Jos is a city in the North-Central region of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. The city is situ ...

. When the African province of the congregation of the

was established, Veronica became its first African president, serving from 1986 to 1992. From 2001 to 2010, Veronica played a role in the formation of her Nigerian community and served as a teacher of trainers in

. She also organized and hosted conferences on affectivity and sexual education.. One of her main focuses is raising awareness about the suffering of women subjected to male domination. In 2010, Veronica was elected as the superior general of her congregation, marking a significant milestone in her career. She was re-elected to serve a second six-year term in 2016.. Currently based in the mother house of her community in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Veronica leads alongside six other sisters.

Advocacy for transparency and truth

Veronica gained international attention for her strong intervention during the summit at the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

for the protection of minors on February 23, 2019. In her speech, she passionately called for increased transparency in the Church and urged a shift "from scandal to truth."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Openibo, Veronica Nigerian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns 1951 births Living people