For this month of March whom can we place on the candle stand? I have picked a woman-leader who can be held up as a model – not merely for political leaders but leaders of all kinds in all fields.
On 19 January 2023 Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister, announced the sad, shocking news that she would resign on 7 February. It was clear that the decision must have been very difficult to make, as she fought back tears when she made the announcement. She also affirmed that she would not seek re-election when her country goes to the polls in October this year.
She was born on 26 July 1980 in a working class family. Her father was a police officer and her mother worked in a school cafeteria. But her sterling leadership qualities were noticed right from her high school days and there were people who predicted that she would rise to the very top in the political arena. She joined the Labour Party when she was just 17. After her graduate studies in communications, politics and public relations, to gain experience she joined the staff of the then Prime Minister, Helen Clarke. Later she worked also in the Cabinet office of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.
Her convictions were shaped by what she saw in the villages of her country – child poverty, drug and alcohol abuse and homelessness. She takes pride in calling herself a Social Democrat and a feminist. Her progressive views clashed with her Mormon Church’s stand on sexual minorities – the LGBTQ people. Since she believed that they too should enjoy equal rights like other citizens, she chose to quit the Mormon Church.
Fr Joe Antony SJ
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