WOC Stands with Sister Elizabeth Johnson

For Immediate release: April 1, 2011

Statement from Executive Director, Erin Saiz Hanna

The Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) stands with feminist theologian Sr. Elizabeth Johnson and affirms the value and necessity of her publication Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God.

The tenuous condemnation of the book by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops will not undermine the wealth of insight made by her unique scholarship nor will it discount the book’s contributions to an ever-expanding global Church community.  Johnson’s explorations are strongly rooted in the Catholic theological tradition and her demonstrated ability to connect the political, the theological, and the personal – in light of history – is valuable.

By engaging a wide range of historical and contemporary human experiences and the ways in which these experiences shape human understanding of the Divine, Johnson showcases a faithful expansion of belief and inquiry. Her call to reclaim and embrace generous images of the Divine is one that we would all do well to heed.

Quest for the Living God takes seriously the myriad ways in which our lives might reflect an embodiment of justice and the development of theologies rooted in the daily life and struggles of the church we are called to be. We urge the Catholic hierarchy to embrace more dialogue on such issues and to reconsider the worth of Sr. Johnson’s publication.

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