Teresa Maya

This book offers a window into current realities regarding women's leadership in the global church and explores strategic recommendations to nurture this leadership in the twenty-first century. The essays in this volume were initially presented at an international conference organized by the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology (CWCIT) at DePaul University in 2018. The reference to "Daughters of Wisdom" in the title for this volume was aimed at capturing the diversity of ways which women have found to exercise their leadership in responding to the challenging and/or hopeful realities of their contextual locations and their faith and social communities. The authors address particularly different aspects of women's leadership in the Catholic Church, with a special emphasis on the global South. The contributors are lay and religious people from India, Nigeria, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, the US, Singapore, and the Philippines. The topics explored in this volume include women's use of Scripture, the ecclesiological basis for women in church leadership, and the leadership roles that women have been exercising already in grassroots church communities, in Marian devotion, in faith-based social movements, and in theological education.

This book offers a window into current realities regarding women's leadership in the global church and explores strategic recommendations to nurture this leadership in the twenty-first century. The essays in this volume were initially presented at an international conference organized by the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology (CWCIT) at DePaul University in 2018. The reference to "Daughters of Wisdom" in the title for this volume was aimed at capturing the diversity of ways which women have found to exercise their leadership in responding to the challenging and/or hopeful realities of their contextual locations and their faith and social communities. The authors address particularly different aspects of women's leadership in the Catholic Church, with a special emphasis on the global South. The contributors are lay and religious people from India, Nigeria, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, the US, Singapore, and the Philippines. The topics explored in this volume include women's use of Scripture, the ecclesiological basis for women in church leadership, and the leadership roles that women have been exercising already in grassroots church communities, in Marian devotion, in faith-based social movements, and in theological education.

Creating Spaces for Women in the Catholic Church presents the struggle of theologically educated lay women with the Catholic Church. The author, a Catholic sister, shares the same struggle but enjoys an incredible network of communal, ministerial, financial, and spiritual support that helps her negotiate the painful experiences in the Church. Lay women lack this support. Yet, lay women valiantly carve out spaces for themselves within the church, though these spaces tend to be small-scale, localized, and temporary. If they move to a new place, they often lose the support they have built for themselves. The contributors study alongside male seminarians, serve as hospital chaplains when Catholics always want a priest, prepare queer liturgies to create space for all of God's people, and create a progressive, Chicana domestic church while raising children. They push beyond the spaces allotted to them. The final chapter, "Giving Voice and Creating Space," explores potential pathways forward for collaboration between sisters and lay women to create a stronger network support for lay women. This book inspires conversation between sisters and lay women so that the vast resources of women religious may be more intentionally shared with lay women. †

Are religious women in the United States disappearing and finally dying out? Or is there any new way of religious life emerging? Conversations at the Well tries to respond to this question. In the twenty-first century of the global world, newly emerging religious life would be rooted with the Jesus Movement and develop in the spirit of collaboration, networking, and intercultural living. As the liminal space, religious life is located at the margins, subverting the existing social order and creating a new vision for the world. This book explores an alternative meaning of religious life within the context of the apostolic mission. In this new religious life, the concept of community is not limited to living as a community in the convent, but extended into collaborating friendship. Primarily, the apostolic religious life is deeply related to social justice, delinking the global capitalism in which many people suffer from human trafficking, immigration, and exile. The new leader of religious women would require skill in handling uncertainty, amplifying resources, and opening to the new reality. In this new religious life, spirituality would be articulated as freedom and liberation to let go of the old frame, as well as letting the new life become reality. In this way, as radical disciples, religious women in the twenty-first century embody the Jesus Movement, building bridges between different cultures and people.

Are religious women in the United States disappearing and finally dying out? Or is there any new way of religious life emerging? Conversations at the Well tries to respond to this question. In the twenty-first century of the global world, newly emerging religious life would be rooted with the Jesus Movement and develop in the spirit of collaboration, networking, and intercultural living. As the liminal space, religious life is located at the margins, subverting the existing social order and creating a new vision for the world. This book explores an alternative meaning of religious life within the context of the apostolic mission. In this new religious life, the concept of community is not limited to living as a community in the convent, but extended into collaborating friendship. Primarily, the apostolic religious life is deeply related to social justice, delinking the global capitalism in which many people suffer from human trafficking, immigration, and exile. The new leader of religious women would require skill in handling uncertainty, amplifying resources, and opening to the new reality. In this new religious life, spirituality would be articulated as freedom and liberation to let go of the old frame, as well as letting the new life become reality. In this way, as radical disciples, religious women in the twenty-first century embody the Jesus Movement, building bridges between different cultures and people.