Jacqueline Wexler died this week at age 85. She was a nun and a college President, twice, and dubbed a “Benedict Arnold” by former Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the television evangelist. She stood up for greater participation by women in church leadership, renounced her vows in 1967, and criticized the church’s ban on birth control.
Dorothy comes to mind, of course, as a woman who stood up for injustice and who certainly wanted to see more women participating on the altar in the Catholic Church. Many times, Dorothy was called out for taking a stand for peasant farmers in the Amazon, for exposing the injustices heaped on her people by landowners acting illegally, and for “stirring up trouble” as she went about her mission. Dorothy was no traitor as was said of Wexler but she was equally strong.
For women like this – perhaps like me — I have to prefer the name my parish pastor gives to women like this: “Pioneers”, he says. And immediately I think of smart and gutsy women with weathered or smooth faces and all with true grit who blaze trails in the Catholic Church and elsewhere. Say a prayer for Mrs. Wexler. There is a lot of history in her story.
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I love to hear stories of strong independent women who pushed against the establishment, in this case, the paternalistic Catholic Church.
I remember Archbishop Sheen coming to a packed audience at Saint Aedan’s church in Jersey City, New Jersey when I was in grammar school. Oh how we adored the man.
Now that I am older and wiser, I better understand the politics of religion and the fact women within the Catholic Church were marginalized.
Thank you for reminding us of the women who stood up and made a difference.
Marianna
Unfortunately, many women in the Catholic Church chafe at the continued marginalization. I am glad you liked the post.
Thank you!My grandmother loved Bishop Sheen…little did I know!
What a great blog
Thanks for visiting my blog!
Michele, I am so grateful to read your writing. Though I don’t have any recollection of Bishop Sheen, I spent my early school years in a so to speak Catholic neighborhood where I was often sneaked into the service by my equally mischievous playmates. We questioned the paternalistic rituals even back then. Thanks for the reminders.
Long before I had heard of Dorothy, Jacqueline Wexler was a hero of mine. I admired her for being a leader in higher education when women were rarely selected for the top jobs. I also knew about her struggles and break with the church and she inspired me with her bravery. She was a role model for women of my generation in NYC who sought to lead non-profit institutions. The landscape has changed a great deal and she was a powerful agency of that change.