Lebanon: Sr. Wakim on importance of highly-educated religious sisters

By Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik & Tomasz Zielenkiewicz

Sister Suzanne Wakim is one of many nuns who teach at Catholic universities in Lebanon.

She teaches philosophy at four universities and her students include people of different faiths, including Muslims. She is an expert on the anthropological and philosophical thought of Pope Benedict XVI, and her work on the subject is the first on the late pope to be written in Arabic.

Responding to a question about her students' reactions to her classes, Sister Wakim shared that after one of her first classes, they told her, “Thanks to you, sister, we understand philosophy for the first time.”

“Some students from other groups even look through the classroom windows to listen to my lectures, as was the case for the lesson on Christ in philosophy,” Sister Wakim told Vatican News, adding that she allowed them to 'enter the classroom for lessons. .

Sr Wakim started teaching in 2021. She has a sense of mission and wants to do something good for the Church.

“I also want to contribute to the training of future priests, given that I had the opportunity to teach seminarians of the Maronite Church,” she said, emphasizing that she is very busy, since She currently works two full-time jobs.

She has written four academic publications over the past three years. She explores, among other things, the theme of teaching ethics in universities.

As the nun pointed out, today it is important to read and study, to educate yourself.

“I also encourage young nuns to develop their interests and broaden their horizons; people need educated sisters,” she said. “We cannot concentrate only on our religious duties; today we come in contact with many educated people, that's why it is important to grow in our education as well.

It also changes the image of the congregation. Sister Wakim added that when she submitted one of her articles for publication, someone asked her who would read it. “Today, we read too little and we don’t educate ourselves enough, often simply out of laziness,” she adds.

The nun speaks Arabic and English and is learning Italian. For work, she also tried Greek and Syriac.

With her family, she also speaks Aramaic. “The biggest challenge is finding a balance between all my responsibilities,” she says.

Sr Suzanne Wakim belongs to the Salvatorian Sisters of Our Lady of the Annunciation. She teaches at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, the Antonine University of Baabda and the Saint Paul Institute of Philosophy and Theology of Harissa, Lebanon.

She also teaches in a school run by her same religious congregation: the High School Department of Our Lady of Deliverance of Hadath.