Sister Lucía Caram at 59: “Older people have prevented social collapse by caring for grandchildren and sustaining family economies”

As she approaches 60, Sister Lucía Caram says she may be living the best period of her life. The Argentine-born Dominican nun, who has lived in Manresa for more than three decades, remains a prominent voice for vulnerable people and a critic of some aspects of the Catholic Church.

“I am impressed by the change of decade, but it is a gift to reach it discovering that I am possibly at the best moment of my life,” she says. She points to her health, strength and the projects that keep her moving. When she was young, she believed she could change the world. Now, she says, she understands that her responsibility lies in remaining committed to the part of it within her reach.

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I am impressed by the change of decade, but it is a gift to reach it discovering that I am possibly at the best moment of my life.

Caram attributes her energy to community life, early mornings, silence and the intensity of her work with people. “I cannot save the world, but if I stop doing certain things, there are people who will be left behind,” she says. The lives of mothers caring for sick children also give her strength, she adds, because their energy comes from love and the determination to help another person.

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I cannot save the world, but if I stop doing certain things, there are people who will be left behind.

Her faith in change is not based on easy optimism. “We do not have to wait for change to come from outside, but from within,” she says. Hope, in her view, means getting up and continuing to fight even when the results are not yet visible. She believes the challenge is to draw more people into the projects already under way.

Caram entered volunteer work with immigrants and terminally ill patients at 18. A personal crisis later led her toward contemplative life, and she eventually moved to Spain after her congregation assigned her there. She stayed after discovering the Dominican community at the Convent of Santa Clara, near Montserrat Abbey, and its work with people in need.

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We do not have to wait for change to come from outside, but from within.