Sister Leonila Bermisa, MM

Born: April 11, 1948
Entered: August 21, 1982
Died: February 28, 2013

We gather this morning to celebrate Sr. Nila Bermisa’s life, a strong, creative, courageous woman who was tireless in her fight for justice, especially for abused women.

Sister Leonila Bermisa, passed on to eternal life at 3:45 AM on February 28, 2013 at St. Luke’s Hospital, Quezon City, Philippines. She was surrounded by her family and her faithful friend.

She was born on April 11, 1948 in San Manuel, Pangasinan, Philippines, to Silvino and Teodora (Villanueva) Bermisa. She had two brothers and two sisters. She attended the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, and the University of the East, Manila, earning a degree in Law (LL.B.). In 1974, she joined her family who had migrated in Hawaii. She worked as a paralegal in Hawaii and in New York.

Sister Nila entered Maryknoll in Ossining, NY on August 21, 1982 from Our Lady of the Mount Parish, Honolulu, Hawaii. She made her first Profession of Vows on June 10, 1984 at Maryknoll, NY, and her Final Commitment to Maryknoll on April 11, 1992 in Baguio City, Philippines.

Sister Nila was assigned to Indonesia in 1984. She helped faculty members at Parahyangan University improve their skills in English. In Jakarta, she accompanied prostituted women as they tried to get out of prostitution. She worked in Magdalena House, a transition house for prostituted women and stayed in the house during weekends. Assigned to the Philippines 1989, she worked in the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace, documenting human rights violations in Zamboanga del Sur, and was coordinator of the Justice and Peace Program for the Prelature of Ipil, Zamboanga del Sur.

Sister Nila also coordinated the work of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), Western Mindanao. RMP is an organization of Sisters and priests from various congregations and dioceses missioned to work with the rural poor. With the RMP, she created the SABAKAN, a women’s program that provided skills training, and justice and peace education to rural and indigenous women, as well as paralegal assistance to women, victims of rape and other forms of violence. In Calapagan, Lupon, Davao Oriental, she supervised a program for out-of-school youth named BANWAG.

When Sister Nila moved to Luzon, she worked with the RMP National Office in the research and documentation of human rights violations, particularly against the peasant sector.

Sister Nila received an MA in Religious Studies from the Institute of Formation and Religious Studies (IFRS), Quezon City in 1996. She served on the faculty of the IFRS and was appointed Academic Dean from 2001 to 2005. She also served on the Women and Gender Commission and was a member of the executive board of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines.

From 2002 to 2005, Sister Nila did Research and Documentation of Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church in the Philippines. She was resident administrator for Talitha Cum, a temporary home for women victims/survivors of sexual violence. At the Immaculate Conception Center for Child Development in Malabon, Manila, she supervised projects in identified depressed areas.

In 2007, Sister Nila received a degree of Doctor of Ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Francisco, CA. She was a member of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians. Sister Nila was a delegate to the General Assembly in 1997 and 2008. She was Congregational Director of Vocation Ministry from 2005 to 2009.

From 2010-2011, Sr. Nila was a faculty member of the Theology Department of Miriam College. In 2011, she published her book, That She May Dance Again: Rising From Pain of Violence Against Women in the Philippine Catholic Church. In this book, says a colleague, Fr. Percy Bacani, MJ, “Sr. Nila unlocks the web of sexual violence in the Church and allows women-in-pain to become women subjects of their lives and destiny.”