Have you ever wondered why a religious sister chose to join the Dominicans instead of the Poor Clares? Or why a priest entered a religious order instead of...
Women in the church
Explore how women have contributed to the Catholic Church—historically and at present—and the pursuit of gender equity and visibility in church service.
When Susan Ross first broke into the world of academia as a Catholic theologian, she was one of the few women in what had traditionally been a male-dominated...
Most Christians are familiar with referring to God as Father, but can we call God “Mother”? Many places in the Bible and Christian tradition as well as...
In our May 2014 issue, the editors at U.S. Catholic interviewed theologian Emily Reimer-Barry, professor of theology at the University of San Diego about the...
Strong, active women have stood tall throughout Catholic history. So why is the church’s language about women still so inadequate? From her kindergarten class...
In 1955, Pius XII reformed the liturgy to make foot washing part of the Holy Thursday Mass. Since the 14th century, it had been practiced in a separate liturgy...
I have no memory. Every Palm Sunday I join the parade of parishioners, waving palm branches and singing “Hosanna” as we process into church. Each year, I am...
This Ugandan sister is a surrogate mom to the “Lost Girls” of her nation, restoring their sense of dignity after their years in a living nightmare. When Sister...
On the evening of Sunday, May 10, 1891, Father Augustus Tolton, the nation’s first self-identified Black priest, traveled to a home in Chicago’s “Negro...
Why must a woman be seen as someone’s mother or sister to deserve respect and safety on a street in India—or anywhere? When I was 13 years old, a man in a...
