Catholic Women Speak

An anthology of essays by women who represent a broad international perspective and come from a variety of personal backgrounds, who believe that the Church cannot come to a wise and informed understanding of family life without listening to women.

Catholic women are some of the most maligned, most caricatured, and most intriguing people in American society. America is flirting with the idea that being a Catholic female means saying "yes" to the faith as a private source of comfort, but "no" to living out its more countercultural moral and social teachings. Catholic women are facing unprecedented questions about sex, money, marriage, work, children and the church itself -- questions with innumerable personal and societal repercussions. Is it even possible that the teachings of a 2,000 year old religion are still relevant for today's toughest issues? A quick tour of leading cultural indicators seems to say "no." But this is far from the whole story. Many women, courageously facing questions their mothers and grandmothers would never have encountered, are finding intellectually and spiritually satisfying answers within the framework of their Catholic faith. Nine such Catholic women -- varying widely in age, occupation and experience -- share personal stories of how they struggled toward the realization that the demands of their faith actually set them free. Their stories -- full of honesty, but ultimately hope -- shed new light and new clarity on women's continued attraction to the Catholic faith. Topics include: Navigating dating and sexpectations Feminism, freedom and contraception Children versus a "better me" Being Catholic in light of the sexual abuse scandal Faith, psychology and same-sex attraction

Catholic women are some of the most maligned, most caricatured, and most intriguing people in American society America is flirting with the idea that being a Catholic female means saying "yes" to the faith as a private source of comfort, but "no" to living out its more countercultural moral and social teachings. Catholic women are facing unprecedented questions about sex, money, marriage, work, children and the church itself questions with innumerable personal and societal repercussions. Is it even possible that the teachings of a 2,000 year old religion are still relevant for today's toughest issues? Nine such Catholic women varying widely in age, occupation and experience share personal stories of how they struggled toward the realization that the demands of their faith actually set them free. Their stories full of honesty, but ultimately hope --shed new light and new clarity on women's continued attraction to the Catholic faith.

Catholic Women Confront Their Church tells the stories of nine exceptional women who have chosen to remain Catholic despite their deep disagreements with the institutional church. From Barbara Blaine, founder of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), to Sister Simone Campbell, whose “Nuns on the Bus” tour for social justice generated national attention, the book highlights women whose stories illustrate not only problems in the church but also the promise of reform. The women profiled span a diverse range of ages, ethnicities, and experiences—single and married, lesbian and straight, mothers and sisters. The women profiled share one trait—that faith is bigger than the institutional church. The book’s Introduction provides readers with an essential overview of the history of women in the church, and the Conclusion looks at the potential for future change. Ideal for anyone who has struggled with the Catholic church’s relationship with women, this moving book offers hope.

An anthology of essays by women who represent a broad international perspective and come from a variety of personal backgrounds, who believe that the Church cannot come to a wise and informed understanding of family life without listening to women.

Women in the Catholic Church speak out about their religion, their families, and their God.

Seven centuries separate us from the time of Catherine of Siena, the first lay-woman to be named a Doctor of the Church. Yet the twenty-first and the fourteenth centuries have much in common: a church racked by divisions and scandals...a world torn by war and violence and ravaged by disease. But now, as then, God stands ready to raise up women courageous and compassionate enough to speak the truth. Catherine's authority, like that of faithful women in every age, was rooted in her vocation, her wisdom, and her deep compassion. In Speaking with Authority, a revised and expanded version of her Madeleva Lecture, theologian Mary Catherine Hilkert presents Catherine of Siena as a challenge and inspiration for today's women-and men-to take up the struggle to speak the truth of the gospel in the church and in the world. Book jacket.

To help celebrate the fourth centenary of the birth of St. John of the Cross in 1542, Edith Stein received the task of preparing a study of his writings. She uses her skill as a philosopher to enter into an illuminating reflection on the difference between the two symbols of cross and night. Pointing out how entering the night is synonymous with carrying the cross, she provides a condensed presentation of John's thought on the active and passive nights, as discussed in The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night. All of this leads Edith to speak of the glory of resurrection that the soul shares, through a unitive contemplation described chiefly in The Living Flame of Love. In the summer of 1942, the Nazis without warrant took Edith away. The nuns found the manuscript of this profound study lying open in her room. Because of the Nazis' merciless persecution of Jews in Germany, Edith Stein traveled discreetly across the border into Holland to find safe harbor in the Carmel of Echt. But the Nazi invasion of Holland in 1940 again put Edith in danger. The cross weighed down heavily as those of Jewish birth were harassed. Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross's superiors then assigned her a task they thought would take her mind off the threatening situation. The fourth centenary of the birth, of St. John of the Cross (1542) was approaching, and Edith could surely contribute a valuable study for the celebration. It is no surprise that in view of her circumstances she discovered in the subject of the cross a central viewpoint for her study. A subject like this enabled her to grasp John's unity of being as expressed in his life and works. Using her training in phenomenology, she helps the reader apprehend the difference in the symbolic character of cross and night and why the night-symbol prevails in John. She clarifies that detachment is designated by him as a night through which the soul must pass to reach union with God and points out how entering the night is equivalent to carrying the cross. Finally, in a fascinating way Edith speaks of how the heart or fountainhead of personal life, an inmost region, is present in both God and the soul and that in the spiritual marriage this inmost region is surrendered by each to the other. She observes that in the soul seized by God in contemplation all that is mortal is consumed in the fire of eternal love. The spirit as spirit is destined for immortal being, to move through fire along a path from the cross of Christ to the glory of his resurrection. Book includes two photos and fully linked index.