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Doris Wagner Reisinger Accepts the 2020 Christine Schenk Award

Written on October 27, 2020. Posted in Fall Event.

Introduced by Sr. Christine Schenk, Doris Wagner Reisinger accepts the Sr. Christine Schenk Award for Young Catholic Leaders and offers remarks regarding the sexual abuse crisis in the Church.

An advocate for victim-survivors of sexual abuse, Doris (Wagner) Reisinger is a scholar, philosopher, theologian, author, and former nun.

Reisinger currently serves as a research assistant in the Department of Catholic Theology at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany and is a professor at Jesuit’s University Sankt Georgen. She is currently serving as a fellow on the Gender, Sex, and Power: Towards a History of Clergy Sex Abuse in the U.S. Catholic Church project at Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame. While a nun, she was sexually assaulted by an Austrian priest who was an official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Reisinger left her order in 2011 and finished her theology studies in 2014. That same year, she published her autobiography, which recounts her experiences as a victim-survivor of sexual assault within the Roman Catholic Church. In 2018, she made international headlines when she spoke of her experiences at the Voices of Faith Conference in Rome, prompting the resignation of her abuser.

Remembering Fr. Louis Trivison

Written on October 27, 2020. Posted in Fall Event.

FutureChurch Co-founder and founding executive director, Sr. Christine Schenk, invites FutureChurch founding members to remember and reflect on the life and contribution of FutureChurch Co-founder Fr. Louis Trivison.

Women Erased: #NunsToo with Tara Tuttle

Written on October 8, 2020. Posted in Women Erased, Women In Church Leadership.

The sexual exploitation/abuse of women religious by Catholic priests was first reported by Sr. Maureen O’Donoghue in her 1994 report to the Vatican — a report that remained largely overlooked until 2001. This practice of “erasing” the experience and reality of Catholic women remains today. Professor Tara M. Tuttle probes the manner in which media outlets submerged the experiences and realities of Catholic women, both lay and consecrated, as they sought to affirm their own biases regarding the connection between clergy sexual abuse and homosexuality. That motif, along with inordinate deference for prelate and priest abusers, corrupted the truth and propped up the abuser’s narrative where women’s credibility was questioned and their efforts to access justice were routinely discounted or despised. Thus, women, accused of treachery against the Church for going public, suffered, too often, in silence.

Professor Tara M. Tuttle is the Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion and a Senior Lecturer in the Lewis Honors College. She has a Ph.D. in Humanities with an emphasis in 20th century American culture, a graduate certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Louisville, and an MA in Humanities from Indiana State University.

Women Erased: Talking Truth About Sacraments with Susan Ross, Ph.D.

Written on September 23, 2020. Posted in Women Erased, Women In Church Leadership.

Women have always been at the heart of the sacraments and the sacramental life of the Catholic Church. In the real world where Catholics participate in the Eucharist and the Eucharistic life of the parish/community, women are the backbone. But their ministry is, too often, erased — unrecognized, and undervalued in that they do not receive the same official sanction as male ministers – yielding both sacramental grace and authority for their ministry. Dr. Susan A. Ross, argues that when it comes to the sacraments, the requirements of Catholic social justice have not applied, a disjuncture that severely limits the transformative power of the Eucharist and our common sacramental life. Yet, she also calls attention to what is changing – mapping the opportunities for transformation and emerging realities that are currently redefining our common sacramental life.

Women Erased: Restoring the Memory of Black Catholic Women with Anita Baird, DHM

Written on August 22, 2020. Posted in Women Erased, Women In Church Leadership.

Black Catholic Women have been instrumental in shaping the life and faith of the Church, yet, our collective memory of their work, courage, challenge, generosity, and faith is too often made “invisible” in our Catholic education, Catholic liturgy, and Catholic art. Sr. Anita Baird, a native of Chicago, IL, and a member of the Religious Congregation of the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary shares the stories of some of the Black Catholic Women who challenged the Church, challenged their communities, and brought enormous change to this country as they stood against racism and for a more just Catholic Church and world.

2020 Mary of Magdala Virtual Art Tour with Dr. Christina Axen

Written on July 29, 2020. Posted in Mary of Magdala, Women In Church Leadership.

FutureChurch continues to celebrate the 2020 Feast Day of Saint Mary of Magdala with a virtual art tour, featuring early and medieval art.

Dr. Christine Axen draws on her knowledge of the layers of Medieval spiritual life and symbolism to expand our understanding of the complex imagery used to depict Mary Magdalene during the Medieval period. This tour will increase our understanding of the high status Mary Magdalene attained as a patron of 14th-16th century Penitential communities. It will also open the door to questions for further exploration: What happened? Why was “Mary Magdalene Proclaimer of the Resurrection” shown only in private art? And, How did Mary Magdalene go from distinguished Medieval preacher and revered hermit to Titian’s sixteenth century (and other’s) nudes?”

Dr. Christine Axen, Ph.D. is a medievalist with a specialization in French religious history and female religiosity in the Middle Ages. She received her doctorate from Boston University, and currently teaches at Fordham University in New York. She also gives guided tours of the Met Cloisters, the medieval branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is interested in the depiction of women in medieval art, and the messages that art conveys about social order.

2020 Mary of Magdala Celebration with Preacher Dr. Kim Harris

Written on July 23, 2020. Posted in Mary of Magdala, Women In Church Leadership.

FutureChurch Celebrates the Feast Day of Saint Mary of Magdala on July 22, 2020 with a special online liturgy with preaching from Dr. Kim R. Harris, Ph.D.

Dr. Kim Harris is Assistant Professor of African American Thought and Practice in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. While pursuing her PhD at Union Seminary in New York City, she composed Welcome Table: A Mass of Spirituals, along with composer M. Roger Holland II. A gifted preacher, story teller, singer, and composer she records and travels the nation, performing concerts, lecturing on the music of African American freedom traditions, and leading music in a variety of liturgical settings.

Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #S-921009

Women Erased: In Search of a Majority with Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, Th.D.

Written on July 14, 2020. Posted in Women Erased, Women In Church Leadership.

Throughout the early (2nd-6th) Christian centuries, the lives of most women were lived in silence, while the few elite ascetic women got at least some attention. What about the rest? Dr. Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, Catholic Professor of New Testament emerita at Brite Divinity School and past president of the Catholic Biblical Association, explores the lives of these early Christian women we know little about.