JOHANNESBURG – Sister Janice McLaughlin, a Maryknoll Sisters nun who was jailed and later deported by white minority-ruled Rhodesia for exposing human rights abuses, has died.
She was 79. In a life dedicated to social justice, McLaughlin supported the African nationalist struggle that ended Rhodesia and brought Zimbabwe to independence, and she later contributed to the country’s education system.
She worked in Africa for nearly 40 years and later became president of the Maryknoll Sisters. Born and educated in Pittsburgh, McLaughlin joined the Maryknoll order in 1961.
After working elsewhere in Africa for several years, McLaughlin went in 1977 to the southern African country then known as Rhodesia, which was embroiled in a war by Black