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The Madeleva Manifesto

The Madeleva Manifesto: A Message of Hope and Courage was a clarion call, early in the new millennium, to transform the understanding of women's place in the Catholic Church. It called for reimagining "what it means to be the whole body of Christ" and proclaimed that "the way things are now is not the design of God." While challenging the status quo of the Church, it also offered hope and the vision of a path forward. A group of sixteen women, "some of the most prominent women theologians, scholars, and writers in the country," issued the manifesto, as an outgrowth of the Madeleva Lecture series at St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana. The significance of the statement was described as resting in its message, the context in which it was developed, and the notability of the women who signed it.

A Message of Hope and Courage

The manifesto is fewer than 500 words, divided into eight paragraphs. Choose any of the external links below to read it in full.

The opening paragraph establishes that its authors were invited to speak a message of hope and courage to the women in the church, and that they do so both from their particular perspective and "in a universal vision faithful to our catholic tradition."

The second paragraph is addressed to women in ministry and theological studies. "Re-imagine what it means to be the whole body of Christ. The way things are now is not the design of God."

The third paragraph is an invitation to young women looking for models of prophetic leadership to join them in following the way of Jesus Christ. It also reports that the Spirit calls them to a "gospel feminism that respects the human dignity of all" and keeps them in the "struggle to overcome oppression of all kinds."

The fourth paragraph is addressed to women in danger of despair or indifference. "Re-imagine what it means to be a full human being made in the image of God, and to live and speak this truth in our daily lives."

The fifth paragraph expresses solidarity with "women who suffer the cost of discipleship" and expresses gratitude for the "richness of Catholic thought and spirituality" and for those who have mentored them.

The sixth paragraph pledges their willingness to stand with young women in the Church to carry forward gospel feminism, sharing what they have learned. It also requests a "commitment to far-reaching transformation of church and society in non-violent ways."

The seventh paragraph deplores anything, in any setting, that treats "women or men as less than fully human" and pledges instead to support "the heritage of biblical justice that mandates that all persons share in right relationship with each other, with the cosmos and with the Creator."

In the final paragraph, the authors resolve to "look for the holy in unexpected places and persons," and to "continue an energetic dialogue," and they extend an invitation to others "of all traditions to join us in imagining the great shalom of God."

How the Madeleva Manifesto came to be

The Madeleva Manifesto was developed in April of 2000 when fifteen of the women who had delivered the first sixteen Madeleva Lectures for the Center for Spirituality at St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana were invited back to campus to draft a "Charter for Women of Faith in the New Millennium." The Madeleva Lecture series is named after Holy Cross Sister Madeleva Wolff, who served as the third president of St. Mary's College and who founded its School of Sacred Theology, the first institution to admit women to graduate studies in theology, and one now credited with advancing women in theological scholarship and intellectual leadership in the Catholic Church in America. The series was created in 1985 both to honor her contributions to the education of women and to create a forum for women's concerns in the church. The lectures are subsequently published by the Paulist Press.

The weekend retreat (April 27-30, 2000) was entitled "Convergence 2000" and the long-planned event was timed to coincide with the Roman Catholic Church's Jubilee Year. In addition to four private sessions for the lecturers to develop the requested document, It included several public events: the 2000 Madeleva Lecture, With Oil in Their Lamps: Faith, Feminism and the Future, delivered on the night of April 28th by Sandra M.Schneiders, I.H.M.; a Mass; and a concluding panel discussion of the document they were to develop. Instead of a charter, these women produced The Madeleva Manifesto: A Message of Hope and Courage, which was proclaimed in English by Benedictine Sr. Joan Chittister and and in Spanish by Jeanette Rodriguez at the concluding public session on April 29th, the feast of St. Catherine of Siena, a laywoman who became a Doctor of the Church.

Elizabeth Dreyer described the process of developing the manifesto at some length in an article in America magazine. She notes that the group began from a conviction that "advocacy for the full humanity of women within a Christian context is a Gospel value," a point elaborated upon by Sandra Schneiders in her 2000 Madeleva Lecture. Dreyer outlines the other concerns of the group as they drafted the requested document and that "'charter' became an 'invitation' (long discussion), which became a 'manifesto' (in a flash of recognition)."

The text

The Madeleva Manifesto: A Message of Hope and Courage

In the tradition of Holy Cross Sr. Madeleva Wolff, we fifteen Madeleva lecturers have been invited to speak a message of hope and courage to women in the church. Reflecting the diversity of gifts bestowed on us by the Spirit, we speak from our particular experiences and vocations, yet share in a universal vision that is faithful to our catholic tradition.

To women in ministry and theological studies we say: Re-imagine what it means to be the whole body of Christ. The way things are now is not the design of God.

To young women looking for models of prophetic leadership we say: Walk with us as we seek to follow the way of Jesus Christ, who inspires our hope and guides our concerns. The Spirit calls us to a gospel feminism that respects the human dignity of all, and who inspires us to be faithful disciples, to stay in the struggle to overcome oppression of all kinds whether based on gender, sexual orientation, race or class.

To women who are tempted by the demons of despair and indifference we say: Re-imagine what it means to be a full human being made in the image of God, and to live and speak this truth in our daily lives.

To women who suffer the cost of discipleship we say: You are not alone. We remember those who have gone before us, who first held up for us the pearl of great price, the richness of Catholic thought and spirituality. We give thanks to those who continue to mentor us.

To the young women of the church we say: Carry forward the cause of gospel feminism. We will be with you along the way, sharing what we have learned about the freedom, joy and power of contemplative intimacy with God. We ask you to join us in a commitment to far-reaching transformation of church and society in non-violent ways.

We deplore and hold ourselves morally bound to protest and resist in church and society all actions, customs, laws and structures that treat women or men as less than fully human. We pledge ourselves to carry forth the heritage of biblical justice that mandates that all persons share in right relationship with each other, with the cosmos and with the Creator.

We hold ourselves responsible to look for the holy in unexpected places and persons, and pledge ourselves to continued energetic dialogue about issues of freedom and responsibility for women. We invite others of all traditions to join us in imagining the great shalom of God.

Signatories

There were sixteen signatories, including Sr. Mary Catherine Hilkert of the University of Notre Dame, who participated in the weekend and who became the 2001 Madeleva Lecturer. They were described in the National Catholic Reporter as "widely recognized as among the country's most distinguished theologians" and as holding "chairs at many of the top theological schools in the country and are past or current presidents of the major national theological societies and associations."

• Mary C. Boys, SNJM
• Lisa Sowle Cahill
• Denise Lardner Carmody
• Joan Chittister, OSB
• Mary Collins, OSB
• Elizabeth Dreyer
• Maria Harris
• Diana L. Hayes
• Monika K. Hellwig
• Mary Catherine Hilkert, OP
• Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ
• Dolores R. Leckey
• Gail Porter Mandell
• Kathleen Norris
• Jeanette Rodriguez
• Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM

Response

Elizabeth Dreyer notes that the manifesto was "interrupted often with sustained applause" by the audience. An editorial in America described it as "by any standard a prophetic document, at once hopeful and challenging, measured and bold." While the signatories espoused a "the conviction that 'feminism' and 'Gospel' be tightly linked, i.e. feminism is a constitutive dimension of Gospel living," and saw St. Catherine of Siena as a fitting model, not all commentators agreed. One, writing at different times for Crisis Magazine and the Catholic Answers website, offered a contrasting vision of St. Catherine as emptying herself in favor of her Savior, and criticizes the Manifesto by criticizing other work or other views of several of the signatories.

Legacy

The manifesto has been described as "a milestone in the Gospel feminist movement."

The Center for Spirituality developed a New Voices Seminar in 2004 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Madeleva Lecture series. Its purpose is to gather a group of young women scholars to share conversation, to learn from more senior scholars, and to create a supportive community. Its lineage includes the Manifesto, which gave the seminar its name. "New Voices" denotes promising women scholars whose work contributes to the vision so articulately expressed in the "Madeleva Manifesto." The format of the seminar is very similar to the format of the "Convergence 2000" retreat.