Degree Name
MALS (Master of Arts in Liberal Studies)
Program
Liberal Studies
Date of Award
5-2013
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Keith Green
Committee Members
Marie Tedesco, Thomas Crofts
Abstract
While the Second Vatican Council advocates an inclusive priesthood and unified People of God, exclusion of consecrated Roman Catholic women from ministerial priesthood, official church interpretations of the scriptures, and judgments concerning faith and morals continues. This thesis examines creative tactics of resistance among consecrated women on account of hierarchal and essentialist models found in church traditions, including Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), and contemporary American women associated with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. I analyze aspects of three prophetic critiques and hermeneutical tactics of each, appealing to the critical interpretive methodologies of Elizabeth Bucar and Grace Jantzen. The LCWR are “in good company,” contrary to the representations of male superiors in the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and episcopal hierarchy. The feminist resistance of these women recapitulates forms of what Bucar calls “creative conformity,” which the church has embraced for its forbearers.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Fischer, Larry M., "Prophecy and Group Identity and Purpose: Connecting the Leadership Conference of the Women Religious with the Catholic Legacy of Feminist Politics" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1134. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1134
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.
Included in
Other Arts and Humanities Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons