Heythrop Library

The past couple of months I have been busily cataloguing new acquisitions from various batches of donations. With International Women’s Day coming up, I would like to highlight a few books by women theologians that I have recently catalogued. These thought-provoking and important books have come from the library of Kathleen Walsh (1949 -2022), an alumna of Heythrop College (1971-74).

In her book ‘New woman, new earth,’ (See HQ1154 RUE 1975  at https://catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/record=b4680156~S3) Rosemary Radford Ruether explores the intersection of sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, environmental destruction, and other forms of domination. This book remains a powerful introduction to the topics of women’s studies and feminist critique of religion.

Rosemary Radford Ruether (1936-2022) was a prominent American Catholic feminist theologian. Her work focused on feminist and ecofeminist theology. She helped to develop these areas as distinct fields of study within theology. Ruether was also heavily influenced by the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and by liberation and black theology.

In ‘The divine feminine,’ (See BS544 MOL 1987 at  https://catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/record=b4680468~S3) Virginia Ramey Mollenkott provides concise, accessible and convincing biblical support for including female names and imagery for the Divine in worship. Through this work, Mollenkott makes clear that female divine language and imagery are vital to social justice and peace.

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott (1932-2020) was an American feminist writer who developed specializations in feminist theology during the second half of her career. She explored lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender theology and is well known for her “God of the Breasts” interpretation of El Shaddai.

In her book ‘Women and Catholicism,’ (See HQ1154 RUE 1975 at https://catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/record=b4680825~S3) Phyllis Zagano investigates the role of women in the Catholic Church. Her work sheds light on the Church’s hierarchically-imposed laws that keep women at a distance from the holy, whether as liturgical ministers, as wives of priests, or as priests themselves.

Phyllis Zagano (b. 1947) is an American author and academic. She has written and spoken on the role of women in the Roman Catholic Church and is an advocate for the ordination of women as deacons. Zagano has been described as one of the most high-ranking feminists in the Catholic Church.

AL