 Three women addressed the BC community Tuesday as part of a Church in the 21st Century panel discussion on the practices of Catholic women.
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"When I woke up this morning and saw the snow, I thought to myself, 'If you're going to have a series on women, of course Mother Nature would want to show up,'" said Dawn Overstreet, assistant director of the Church in the 21st Century (C21).
Braving the snow, nearly 100 audience members filled the Heights Room for the second installment of the C21's series on women in the church, "Called to Be Catholic: Practices that Nourish Women's Spirituality."
The panel featured three Catholic women who shared the unique experiences that shaped their relationship with Catholicism and the customs they practice today in order to sustain their faith: Kate Carter, IREPM alumna; Sister Mary Sweeney, SC, Campus Minister; and Nancy Pineda-Madrid, assistant professor of the theology department and IREPM.
Carter spoke first, discussing her traditional Catholic upbringing. As a child, she grew very attached to the church. Although this left her with cherished memories, it also presented a few challenges with which she continues to struggle today. "I believe these struggles offer the most growth and potential," said Carter.
She referenced author Sue Monk Kidd's idea of the "feminine wound," which asserts that merely being born female puts women at a disadvantage and renders them inferior.
"I really internalized that idea as a child. I didn't trust my instincts, I doubted myself deeply, and I didn't trust the authority of my own experiences," said Carter.
Referring to herself as a "lifelong Catholic girl in recovery," Carter said she constantly served others before herself until working in impoverished areas here and overseas in her 20s opened her eyes to the life she was leading. "I began to look at the world through the eyes of these people, and not the top-down authority I had been viewing myself through."
Carter began to question the structures that she had put so much faith into in the past, and the internal doubts telling her she was never good enough began to be challenged in a battle that she still fights today.
Spring Break
