Religious Life

Shows how globalization has impacted interreligious relationships and dialogue and argues that the future of interfaith dialogue must include those marginalized voices that have not been invited to the table, especially women.

The engaging story of a unique community of women religious and their ministry in service to the poor and Catholic education, which began just over 100 years ago.

The Sisters of Our Lady of Christian Doctrine community was founded in 1910 by Marion Gurney, who adopted the religious name Mother Marianne of Jesus. A graduate of Wellesley College and a convert to Catholicism, Gurney had served as head resident at St. Rose's Settlement, the first Catholic settlement house in New York City. She founded the Sisters of Christian Doctrine when other communities of women religious appeared uninterested in a ministry of settlement work combined with religious education programs for children attending public schools. The community established two settlement houses in New York City Madonna House on the Lower East Side in 1910, followed by Ave Maria House in the Bronx in 1930. Alongside their classes in religious education and preparing children and adults to receive the sacraments, the sisters distributed food and clothing, operated a bread line, and helped their neighbors in emergencies. In 1940 Mother Marianne and her sisters began their first major mission outside New York when they adapted the model of the urban Catholic social settlement to rural South Carolina. They also served at a number of parishes, including several in South Carolina and Florida, where they ministered to both black and white Catholics.

In Neighbors and Missionaries Margaret M. McGuinness, who was given full access to the Archives of the Sisters of Christian Doctrine, traces in fascinating detail the history of the congregation, from the inspiring story of its founder and the community's mission to provide material and spiritual support to their Catholic neighbors, to the changes and challenges of the latter half of the twentieth century. By 1960, settlement houses had been replaced by other forms of social welfare and the lives and work of American women religious were undergoing a dramatic change. McGuinness explores how the Sisters of Christian Doctrine were impacted and how they adapted their own lives and work to reflect the transformations taking place in the Church and society.

Neighbors and Missionaries examines a distinctive community of women religious whose primary focus was neither teaching nor nursing/hospital administration. The choice of the Sisters of Christian Doctrine to live among the poor and to serve where other communities were either unwilling or unable demonstrates that women religious in the United States served in many different capacities as they contributed to the life and work of the American Catholic Church.

The recent Year for Priests focused considerable attention on the priesthood, resulting in many books, articles, retreats, conferences, and symposia. In Gold Tested in Fire, Ronald D. Witherup, SS, makes an important new contribution. Intersecting scriptural and theological context with lived pastoral insight, Witherup explores both classic and contemporary understandings of the priesthood, offers insights into the "four pillars" suggested for priestly formation, and looks at the charism of priests and the need for ongoing formation across a lifespan. Having engaged in priestly formation in seminaries for a number of years, Witherup moves beyond overly idealized or pietistic approaches to the presbyteral life to offer key insights on the challenges and rewards inherent in contemporary priestly ministry. Underlying his approach is the firm conviction that the present testing in the priesthood is a profound summons to a new Pentecost, an opportunity for the priesthood to be cleansed, remade, and ultimately strengthened.

Far-reaching changes continue to take place in the American priesthood. Building on insights gained from four previous surveys, Same Call, Different Men uses fresh data from a 2009 survey jointly implemented by the National Federation of Priests Councils and the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate in which 900 priests shared attitudes and stories about their lives and ministry. Among topics covered are the challenges of ministry with fewer ordinations and larger parishes, ministering to an increasingly multicultural laity, collaboration with lay leaders, and personal reflections on the sexual abuse issue. It also relates the many satisfactions of being a priest, one who brings Christ to others and who is invited into many profound moments of individual lives.