Sr. Maria Caritas Lawrence is a

Sister of Mercy A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

and 2012 recipient of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

bestowed by Queen Elizabeth, for her lifelong and varied contributions to Belize. SCA Petition

A graduate of

St. John's College, Belize St. John's College (abbreviated as SJC, and locally known as St. John's or John's) is a private Catholic selective secondary school for boys and private co-educational university college, located in Belize City, Belize. Founded in 1887 by the S ...

Sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

Caritas entered the Mercies and had further studies in the United States. She then taught sociology and philosophy of education at University of Belize from 1968 to 1973, residing in St. Ignatius parish from 1970 to 1973 and directing the choir there. A promoter of women’s issues, she actively supported Sr. Consuelo Torres’ decision to allow girls to remain at St. Catherine Academy after having a child. The photo shows her (center) and Sr. Yvonne Hunter receiving a petition from Charles M. Woods Sr. after a peaceful protest parade in Belize town over this issue. Maria Caritas went for further studies in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

, returning in 1976 to become principal of San Luis Rey School in rural Toledo. While there she assisted with the translation of the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

and sacred music into

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

, and established literacy programs and a high school scholarship fund for the

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

children of the

Toledo District Toledo District is the southernmost district in Belize, and Punta Gorda is the District capital. It is the second most developed region in the country (according to the Human Development Index (HDI)). The district has a diverse topography whic ...

. She also served in Canada and at the sisters’ infirmary in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. In 1984 she became principal of St. Catherine Academy for 11 years, handing over this position to the first lay principal of SCA in 1995. She went on to serve as a senior officer in the Ministry of Education, resigning in 2015 at the age of 75 but continuing in her prison ministry and church-related works.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Caritas (Mercy Sister) Belizean Roman Catholics Sisters of Mercy Members of the Order of the British Empire Belizean academics Clergy and religious in Belize Belizean women