World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations"

Sister Emmanuelle has passed away in the French town of Callian at the age of 99. For many French people she was the symbol of self-sacrifice.

A Nun who died less than a month before her centenary belonged to the Congregation of Notre Dame de Sion which she joined in 1931 already having a degree in philosophy and theology. A year later, having decided to become a missionary, she leaves Europe.

Her journey takes her to Turkey, Tunisia, Egypt. In 1971, at the age of 63, Sister Emmanuelle (born Madeleine Cinquin) settles down in Ezbet el Nahl, a slum in Cairo. Here, she will spend a whole 20 years, helping to build schools, kindergartens, clinics and assisting the poor. She did her best to promote a dialogue between Jews and Moslems.

In 1980 she founds the Association – Asmae-association Soeur Emmanuelle which to this day is still actively helping children in the developing countries – Egypt and Sudan, Lebanon and the Philippines, India and Burkina Faso… The Association has helped thousands of children.

Sister Emmanuelle returns to France in 1993 at the age of 85, and since then, she published several books, including “The Wealth of Poverty” (2001), “Secrets of Life” (2000), “Heaven is the Others” (1995)… Political leaders often tried to win her over to their side, but she conscientiously avoided politics and public life in general. “I do not want to either on the right or the left,” declared the Nun. By a special decree, the ex-president of France, Jacques Chirac, decorated her with the Legion d’Honneur.

In August of 2008, Sister Emmanuelle published a book-testament: “I am 100 years old and here is what I want to tell you.” In the book, she draws the outlines of the main lessons that she learned for herself as she crossed through the roaring 20th century.