By Lidwin Fernandes
Mysuru, September 11, 2020: An Ursuline Franciscan nun has been appointed by Mysuru District Legal Service Authority as panel advocate for free legal aid clinic.
Sister Jenifer Pinto of the congregation’s of Mysuru Province will provide as a free legal advisor in the Taluk office at Mysuru, a city in southwestern Indian state of Karnataka.
She is the first person to be appointed as a free legal adviser in the newly started Free Legal Aid Clinic of Mysore Taluk.
Sister Pinto is a practicing advocate in Mysuru and Chamarajnagar District Courts.
She attended an interview to become a penal advocate in the District Legal Service Authority. She was on September 10 inducted as the first legal advisor at Mysuru Taluk in the presence of Assistant Commissioner, B P Devamane, District Legal Service Authority Judge and Rakshith K R, Mysuru Taluk Tashildhar.
“I had a great dream of becoming a social worker. I always followed the vision of my congregation ‘with the mind and heart, to take a stand and make a difference and to wake up the world and bring the fullness of life,’” Sister Pinto told Matters India.
Fortunately, she got a chance to study Law. She always loved to be with the poor and people who suffer injustice, she said.
“Today my dream has come true to some extent. I have got a rare opportunity to use my God-given talents and time for the people, said the nun, adding, “It is a wonderful chance to be with the people and render my help. I feel so blessed because I can help the public at large.”
The beneficiaries of Sister Pinto’s service will be all those who find it difficult in reaching themselves to the legal aid due to economic crisis and domestic violence.
The free legal aid clinic is situated in the Mini Vidhana Sodha of Mysuru. It is a convenient place for the general public to avail free legal advice service of Sister Pinto.
She hails from Indhubett and St. Francis Xavier Church of Bethangady Taluk, Mangaluru, a port city of Karnataka.
She completed a Bachelor of Arts and Law in 2015 from Karnataka Law University, Hubli.
According to Sister Pinto, the mission statement of the Ursuline Franciscan congregation says, “We take a stand to re-instill the sense of the divine, restore human dignity, and promote justice and peace.”
The mission statement of the congregation is not only in the form of words on a paper but becomes vital in everyday life.
“We have a large number of sisters who have embraced the social ministry and working for the poorest of the poor. And among them today we acknowledge Sister Pinto,” said Sister Susheela Sequira, Superior General of the congregation.
According to Sister Sequira, the lawyer nun is simple to the core and could reach out to the needy and underprivileged in her day to day dealings. She is committed to the cause and dedicated to her service.
“We boldly proclaim that Sister Pinto becomes the first religious nun to be appointed as a legal advisor in the government Free Legal Aid Clinic. We wish and congratulate her in every step and endeavor,” said Sister Sequira.
As a social worker, Sister Pinto served humanity who are less privileged, downtrodden and poor.
A German Jesuit missionary, Father Urban Stein founded Ursuline Franciscan congregation in 1887 in Mangaluru with the motto ‘Pro Amore Dei” (For the love of God).
It is Mangaluru’s oldest women congregation.
Today, Ursuline Franciscan nuns serve 38 dioceses in Germany, Italy, Tanzania, Kenya and America, besides India.