In 2015 Kira Schlesinger wrote piece for Ministry Matters about how her own pro-choice stance on abortion had become more complicated the more she explored the issue of abortion. The article was widely read and shared, as well as hotly… Read More ›
Catholicism
May is the Month of Mary by Mary Jane Miller
Mary Icons There are three classic prototypes of Mary Icons, their collective messages point toward a new contemporary kind of trinity. Perhaps the concept of Mary is still undeveloped, as our society has changed her message is still provocative and… Read More ›
Open Letter to the Pope and all the King’s Men by Natalie Weaver
Dear Sirs, It breaks me down. My anger, my revulsion, my powerlessness. I have been searching for the way since I was a child old enough to remember my mind. For a time, I thought Jesus was a white guy knocking on my… Read More ›
Catholic Bishops: Corporate Executives or Prophets? by Dawn Morais Webster
This is a moment to drive the merchants of hate out of the Temple, as Jesus did. But will the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) bear prophetic witness? Do they have it in them to proclaim the Gospel?… Read More ›
Contemplative Resistance by Esther Nelson
I recently arrived in Las Cruces, New Mexico, after driving across much of the country from Richmond, Virginia. It’s the second summer I’ve driven this distance (2,000 miles) so I varied my route a bit from last year, stopping at… Read More ›
Sexuality and Spirituality: Convergence or Alienation? by Stephanie Arel
I just finished reading for review The Bloomsbury Reader in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality, edited by Donald L. Boisvert and Carly Daniel-Hughes. Targeting an undergraduate audience, the text explores ways that religion, gender, and sexuality intersect and interact in a variety… Read More ›
Remembering Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s Life and Legacy: Champion of Universal, and Non-Human Rights November 12, 1648/51 – April 17, 1695 by Theresa A. Yugar
She studies, and disputes, and teaches, and thus she serves her Faith; for how could God, who gave her reason, want her ignorant? —Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Villancico, or, “Carol”, in celebration of St. Catherine of Alexandria (1692)… Read More ›
“Tricolor Mary: Encountering Three Faces of the Divine Feminine” by Simone Grace Seol
I always felt curiously distant from the figure of Mary. I always sensed that there is so much there and yet, I could never connect to it emotionally. The foil to Eve, vessel of Love, suffering mother. I wanted to… Read More ›
Honoring St. Mary of Magdala by Gina Messina
While I am joining the conversation a bit late, I find it necessary to comment on the significance of the “upgrading” of the celebration of St. Mary of Magdala to a feast – on par with the male apostles. While… Read More ›
Nobody’s Disciple by Maeve Rhuad aka the Celtic Magdalen via Elizabeth Cunningham
Since beginning her posts for FAR four years ago, Elizabeth has featured an excerpt from my chronicles each July in honor of my feast day on the 22nd. At least I thought it was my Feast day. It has been… Read More ›
The Francis Blindspot by Gina Messina-Dysert
The day Pope Francis was elected is a memorable one for many Catholics, myself included. Watching our new pope walk out on to the balcony of the Vatican and bow to the crowd left me in tears. It seemed in… Read More ›
Feminism and Faith by Judith Plaskow, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and amina wadud
“Feminism saved my faith” is the concluding phrase of one of the writers in Faithfully Feminist, and though not everyone would say it that way, most of these women have found feminism and faith vibrantly interrelated. The contributors to this… Read More ›
Faithfully Feminist by Gina Messina-Dysert
“Why do you stay?” It is a question I am often asked when I reveal my Catholic feminist identity. It is not lost on me that such a question is one that is often posed to women in abusive relationships. … Read More ›
Hail Mary: The Rosary and Why I Keep Praying by Marie Cartier
My mother-in-law is currently in hospice and expected to cross over any time now. My wife is with her. Those two sentences alone—since I am a woman writing this blog—signify historic/herstoric change. I am a woman and I am writing… Read More ›
The Nuns Jumped Over the Wall by Dawn Morais Webster
One of the most prized dishes in Chinese cuisine is called “The Monk Jumped Over the Wall.” The name comes from the folk belief that the monk was unable to resist the aroma of this delicious dish and jumped the… Read More ›
Right to Life vs Right to A Life: Abortion & The Death Penalty by Marie Cartier
Earlier this week I went to hear Sr. Helen Prejean speak about the death penalty. You will remember, if the name does not immediately ring a bell, that the amazing movie Dead Man Walking (dir. Tim Robbins, 1995) was about… Read More ›
Pope Francis is Paving the Way to FutureChurch by Gina Messina-Dysert
The enthusiasm we have seen for Pope Francis over the last year is exceptional. Polls show that among American Catholics he has a 90% approval rating. He has garnered more than 12 million Twitter followers and even broke a Rolling… Read More ›
Movement Within the Catholic Church – Time for Receptive Ecumenism? by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
When I originally learned about the concept of receptive ecumenism and the movement to more fully reach across lines of faith traditions as a means of ecclesiastical growth, my first reaction was to ask the question – what about women… Read More ›
5 Examples of Religion as the Next Feminist Frontier by Meagen Farrell
In February 2014, headlines incorrectly stated that Gloria Steinem said religion is the biggest problem facing women today. Wrong. In her interview by Jennifer Aniston at the first Makers Conference, Steinem said that not talking about religion is one of… Read More ›
Confession by Darlena Cunha
Good afternoon, Fr. John. I’m here for confession. No, I’d like the curtain back, please. I want you to see my face. I really need to talk to you, get my bearings. But this confession will not be solely about… Read More ›
Mother’s Day Wish: “Don’t take me backwards or on a detour” by Dawn Morais Webster
Mother’s Day schmaltz in the media and in our malls makes me wonder if others struggle with some of the mixture of deep gratitude—and impatience I feel. So I asked a few friends if they would tell me what they… Read More ›
Jesus, Mary and Joseph: Who Are Our Saints? by Marie Cartier
Tomorrow I will be going to a friend’s 7th grade classroom presentation of “famous people in history.” She has 120 students who will be dressing up as someone in history and doing a presentation board about this person—as well as… Read More ›
Struggles of a Catholic Feminist Mother by Gina Messina-Dysert
Maintaining a Catholic identity as a feminist has been a challenge. There have certainly been times where I have walked away from my tradition frustrated by teachings that are oppressive to women and LGBTQ, but I have always come back. … Read More ›
Blessed is the Womb By Dawn DiPrince
As a Catholic, a feminist, and the grown-up version of my third grade self who dreamed of being a priest (and eventually Pope), I am simultaneously elated and deflated by the promise of Pope Francis. His bold criticisms of capitalism… Read More ›
Yes, You’re a Homophobe by John Erickson
Jesus loved sinners and Jesus would rather be dancing with me in West Hollywood on a Friday night than lugging through a swamp luring ducks into a trap with a duck caller made by a clan who think that my sexual actions are similar to that of an individual having sex with an animal.
Ancestor Connection Revisited: Anna M. Christ of Little Germany, Brooklyn by Carol P. Christ
These days I can’t get my 2x great-grandmother Anna Maria Christ off my mind. She may be the independent female ancestor I have been looking for all these years. My father’s father was transferred from New York to San Francisco… Read More ›
On the Transmission of Life by Natalie Weaver
Among the more controversial Roman Catholic documents is Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical of Pope Paul VI on birth control. This encyclical famously instructs against the use of artificial contraception methods in the regulation of birth. This position is based… Read More ›
Can Secular Immigrant Assimilation Promote Equality? Pt. 2
I often wonder how my life would have been different if I had undergone a secular immigrant assimilation process. My former faith within Pentecostalism not only shaped my identity, but augmented my ability to assimilate into the American culture. Subsequently,… Read More ›
Theopoesis and the Interior Divine by Natalie Weaver
Last week I traveled to Leuven, Belgium for the 9th Leuven Encounters in Systematic Theology conference. I have been to this conference before, and I find that my perspective is generously enlarged by hearing voices that emerge from contexts and… Read More ›
The Sisters In Our Midst by Natalie Weaver
On September 28, 2013, Ursuline College hosted a symposium entitled The Impact of Vatican II on Women Religious in the United States. The symposium featured five speakers. Sister Karen Kennelly, CJS. gave the keynote address entitled “Women Religious in the… Read More ›
