Female Theologians: They Are My Sisters
By Frances Forde Plude
[This essay was written in 2011.]
I was awakened by a commotion outside my door. Arriving too late to register at the convention of theology teachers, I heard the woman say: “My name is Monika Hellwig and I need to find some place to sleep”. Monika Hellwig! I opened the door and said, sleepily: “There’s a spare bed in this room; why don’t you use it?”
I kept thinking during the night what a privilege it was to offer hospitality to this remarkable woman. Author of numerous books, former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, single mother of adoptive children, respected theology professor, close-up witness of the Vatican Council; she was all this and more. She was the woman all theologians – male and female – looked up to. The next day Hellwig moved through the convention, now welcomed by numerous other colleagues who were inspired by her output and by herself personally. But I will always cherish the opportunity to be of practical service to her.
And Catherine Mowry Lacugna. I first met Catherine at a small invitational meeting in New York City. We had been invited by America magazine to explore the relationship between theology and communication. As someone who had written on this topic, I had a moment of magical insight as Lacugna spoke on the Trinity; this was to be the topic of a classic she later wrote on this subject. I thought: “The Trinity! The very model of a self-communicating God!”
She and I connected briefly in personal conversation and I prized a later appointment to speak with her further on the campus of Notre Dame University where she taught. When I asked her if feminist theology and female experience marked a substantive change in theological thought she replied: “Theology will never be the same!”
We later watched with horror as this brilliant woman battled leukemia and eventually lost the battle to join her Trinitarian God. May she rest in peace!
My life and work have also been touched by another female theologian. For almost a decade I worked with Father Bob Bonnot in organizing seminars on Communication Theology at the annual conference of the Catholic Theological Society of America. In exploring the interface between Theology and Communication Studies we were a fringe element of the CTSA meetings. The members clearly recognized the importance of communication within the theological enterprise but were unclear how they, as theologians, could implement this integration as they went about their work of thinking and teaching about theology in the contemporary church.
At one point I was told the CTSA President said she thought our work was perhaps the most important thinking being done at their convention. For that support I am grateful to another leading female theologian: Elizabeth Johnson.
These women are my sisters!