Sharon Callahan and Jeanette Rodriguez explore the contexts, calls, journeys, spirituality, and theology of women called to priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church in this compelling and carefully crafted ethnographic work. Posing the questions of how womenpriests' stories illustrate both ecclesial challenges and spiritual renewal, the authors encourage readers to thoughtfully engage these women on their own terms. Women Called to Catholic Priesthood draws on the stories of forty-two women serving in the United States, Canada, Colombia, Europe, and South Africa. Ranging in age from their early thirties to their late eighties, these women tell stories that help us understand the spirituality and deep sense of call womenpriests experience despite the challenges they face in challenging Roman Catholic canon law. Callahan and Rodriguez's work is both moving and timely as the global church engages in synod work aiming to discern where the Spirit of God is calling Roman Catholics in the twenty-first century.
Sharon Henderson Callahan, EdD, is professor emerita and past academic dean of the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. A scholar of ministry and leadership, Callahan has focused her work on both Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant ecclesial formation. Jeanette Rodriguez, PhD, is a professor of theology and religious studies at Seattle University. She is a "border theologian" studying Christian faith experience among different cultural groups, and her books include studies of Haudenosaunee and Mexican American cultural identity. Christine Schenk, CSJ, is a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, a Roman Catholic religious order, and the retired cofounder of FutureChurch, an international coalition of parish-centered Catholics working for full participation of all Catholics in church life and leadership. Currently, her award-winning column Simply Spirit appears regularly in the National Catholic Reporter. She is one of three nuns featured in the critically acclaimed recent documentary Radical Grace, chronicling the sisters' work for justice in church and society.
1. Introduction 2. Context 3. Is it I, O Holy One? 4. Journey 5. Spiritual Practices and Discernment 6. Priest, Prophet, and Leader Epilogue
This book is an unmissable asset for anyone interested in the ordination of women. It documents, with incredible detail, the stories of forty-seven Catholic women who were ordained despite the opposition of the official church. It describes their call, their struggle to surmount barriers, their inner motivation, and the spirituality that guided and still guides them in their ministry. Fascinating and significant data, underpinned by the authors' highly professional scholarship and compassionate understanding of real people. --Dr. John Wijngaards, professor emeritus, Missionary Institute London; chair, Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research In a carefully crafted ethnographic study of the Roman Catholic Women Priests' movement, Callahan and Rodriguez offer a hopeful and joyful message to anyone who feels marginalized by institutional religion. --Gary Macy, professor emeritus of theology, Santa Clara University Callahan and Rodriguez offer a stunning pneumatological and ethnographic reversal of expectation on the "ordination of women" question within the Roman Catholic Church by rigorously examining the ongoing ministries and "spirits" (1 John 4) of women ordained in apostolic succession (if contra legum, canon 1024). Scripturally, theologically, and phenomenologically, the authors provide ample testimony to Spirit's fruit and ecclesial renewal in (and because of) the faithful perseverance of over forty womenpriests living their priestly vocations. That this is done with such clear love of a church that refuses such women, even with theological-ecclesial integrity and prophetic challenge, makes this a compelling read and a remarkable testimony to God's ongoing work in the world, sometimes despite the church. --Lisa M. Hess, ordained clergywoman (PCUSA); professor of practical theology and contextual ministries, United Theological Seminary (Ohio), and author of A Companionable Way: Path of Devotion in Conscious Love
