Online Talk : Feminist Negotiation with Mother Teresa's Mariology –Opportunities for Renewal and Retrieval ?

Feminist theologies have often rejected idealising women’s suffering as redemptive, as doing so results in harm. In this capacity, Mother Teresa’s Mariology may be viewed as irredeemable or simply not worth redeeming. However, drawing from Margaret Kamitsuka, an enhanced view of this feminist perspective may consider the possibility that Mother Teresa’s Mariology, like doctrine, biblical texts, and other policing religious discourses, holds elements which, for some, may conversely serve as life-giving technologies of care. However, this same enhanced feminist perspective demands that historical abuses be reckoned with for any potential for renewal to be sought. The themes discussed in this lecture, most notably spiritual abuse and suicide, place Mother Teresa and her community of sisters alongside the many Catholic religious orders that have participated in abuse. However, witnessing to this harm is also explored as an opportunity for potential renewal similar to that faced by other Catholic organisations who have had to sort through the rubble of past crimes to retrieve the life-giving aims of their charism whilst also confronting the harmful effects of their organisations’ action with humility and repentance.  

Dr Emilie Grosvenor

Dr Emilie Grosvenor is a palliative care chaplain for NHS Scotland and honorary clinical lecturer for the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee. She received her MA in theological studies from Loyola Marymount University and her PhD in Divinity from the University of St Andrews. Her interests include intersectional feminist theologies and the bridging of academic and popular theological discussions

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