“Catholics can thank women theologians for 70 years of building up the church …

The fact that women have only been admitted to graduate-level theology programs at Catholic institutions for the past 70 years means the addition of women to the ranks of church scholars is a relatively recent change …

“In the intervening decades, however, Catholic women theologians have helped form both lay and ordained church leaders’ understanding of liturgy, scripture, ethics, pastoral ministry, spirituality, faith formation, theology, and the church itself. This means that regular Catholics, too, have been influenced by women theologians—whether they know it or not …

“Svea Fraser (founding member of Voice of the Faithful®) of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Wellesley, Massachusetts, says that it’s precisely the beauty of Catholic rituals—specifically the Eucharist and the funeral rite—that keep her grounded in her Catholic faith. “A Catholic anthropology is so hopeful—you’re loved unconditionally,” she says. Fraser directs her parish’s RCIA program, and she takes the opportunity to include the work of women theologians in the process of explaining church doctrine and tradition to the participants. The group discusses the feminine aspects of God and the value of inclusive language—a tool they can use in their own prayer life, even if it’s not used in the Mass …”

By Heather Greenan Gray in the online edition of January 2013 U.S. Catholic

Look for Voice of the Faithful’s ad promoting the ordination of women to the diaconate in the Roman Catholic Church in the January 2013 print edition of U.S. Catholic.