Sister Laura is a Dominican nun from Hungary. Nicknamed “Sister Pepsi” because of her professional experience with the “Pepsi Cola” company, she chose to dedicate her life to God after her mother’s death.
In Hungary, she is nicknamed “Sister Pepsi”, in reference to her professional career prior to her holy life: Prior to embracing her religious vocation in the Dominican Order, Sister Laura Baritz was responsible for sales development for Pepsi-Cola Hungary. Worked as manager. A prosperous career, which lasted six years from 1988 to 1994.
A true businesswoman, Laura Baritz has traveled a lot and slept little. However, in 1992, his mother’s illness slowed down his ambitions. The diagnosis falls without appeal: bone cancer and a year to live. Laura then decides to devote as much time to him as possible. “I took her with me to the United States, New York, when Pepsi sent me there to train”, she relates.National Catholic Register, “During this period, my faith began to deepen. I felt closer to Jesus. I prayed more, I had a more active life of faith. ,
Conversion after the death of his mother
It is when her mother dies that Laura definitively “switches” to the faith. “The moment my mother died, it changed my life. I was with her, I held her in my arms, and when the light went out of her eyes, I really felt Jesus take her, That she went from my arms to his. She was with him,” Sister Pepsi recalled. “After that, I was no longer the same. I no longer wanted to settle for the transitory things of this world, this materialism. I wanted to follow Christ. »
After this the girl contacted a Dominican friend of hers. She finds her spiritual director in this sequence and visits a Dominican convent in Hungary. “I immediately felt at home here,” she says. “It was like a sign from Jesus that this was my place. I entered this convent just a year after my mother’s death. »
use your skills to teach
Sister Pepsi continued to train: after entering the convent, she studied theology and philosophy as well as ethics. On a visit to Rome, she met Sister Helen Alford, an English Dominican who was also trained as an economist. “I told her that I was an economist, but that I had become a nun and had moved away from this discipline. She told me that the best thing to do was to combine economics and theology. Neither one nor the two As soon as she returned to Hungary, Sister Pepsi started studying the Church’s social teaching on economic matters.
After his doctorate, he founded KETEG, a teaching program that promotes ethics and economic thought based on Catholic social thought in a “human-centered” approach. “I think we’ve gone too far in the utilitarian approach, and it’s time to put people at the center of all these mechanisms,” says Sister Pepsi. Claiming to be St. Thomas Aquinas, Sister Pepsi holds private property to be a noble thing, while advocating an equitable redistribution of wealth according to the surplus earned by each.
His courses, full to bursting, always attract more people. And sometimes are at the core of conversions as well. “Recently a young man got baptized after taking our course. Another student quit his job because he realized his work environment was polluted, and formed his own company to better contribute to the common good,” she reports proudly.
“The Catholic Church is strong in Hungary”
While the Pope is in Hungary from April 28 to May 1, Sister Pepsi “hopes that with this papal visit, the media will take the time to truly reflect the realities of our country.” There is an opportunity to spread the message. Hungary is a safe place for Christians right now. It is a wonderful time to be a Christian in Hungary! The conditions are “optimal” to allow the message of the Gospel to spread, she says. “I think the Catholic Church is strong in Hungary, thanks to bishops and priests who defend the message of the Church, but also thanks to the Prime Minister who affirms the Christian values of our country. All this shows that Christianity remains the compass of our society. ,
