Sister Emmanuelle, friend of the Cairo slums, dies at 99

Sister Emmanuelle, whose work in the slums of Egypt was often compared to Mother Theresa's, died yesterday in France. She was 99; only a few days from turning 100.

WASHINGTON, DC (Inside Catholic) - Sister Emmanuelle, whose work in the slums of Egypt was often compared to Mother Theresa's, died yesterday in France. She was 99; only a few days from turning 100.

Sister Emmanelle was born Madeleine Cinquin in Belgium to parents who worked in lingerie manufacturing. Tragically, her father drowned during a family beach vacation when she was six. Madeleine excelled in her studies and by 12 years old knew she wanted to be a nun. One of her inspriations was Fr. Damien, the Belgian missionary priest who worked and died among the lepers of Hawaii. Educated at the Sorbonne, Madeleine obtained a degree in philosophy. Although she was regarded as a free spirit who enjoyed her social life, she could no longer ignore God's call and took religious vows in 1929.

Sister Emmanuelle taught well-off children in convent schools in Istanbul, but always desired to serve the underpriveleged. In 1971, she moved to a garbage slum outside Cairo to live among the people called the "zabaleen," which means "filth or rubbish." The dump called Ezbet El Nakhl was home to not just the rubbish of Egypt, but the refuse collectors and their families who were considered the lowest of the low.

At 60 years old, Sister Emmanuelle was living in a small hut with few possessions among rotting garbage. She traveled into the city everyday at 5:00AM for morning for mass at the city convent. She lived with little food, putting up with the hardships of the zabaleen -- worms in food supplies, fleas and disease.

During her 22 years in Cairo's slums, Sister Emmanuelle did a great deal to improve life for zabaleen, opening a school for children and for men, and a facility for youth called the Salam Center. n the slum of Mokkatam, which was worse than Ezbet El Nakhl, she set up a composting factory, which turned rubbish into fertilizer.

Sister Emmanuelle returned to France in 1993 where she was well-received and loved. She dissented from the Church on a number of positions, most notably in her support of contraception. Still, she was widely regarded as a heroic witness of service and charity. May she rest in peace.

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