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| Title | Broadside, Vol. 3, No. 4, August 1972 |
| Use and Reproduction | No Copyright - United States |
| Date | August 1972 |
| Publisher | National Organization for Women. Houston Chapter |
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| Language | English |
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| Original Item Location | HQ1439 .H68 B75 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b3767173~S11 |
| Digital Collection | Houston and Texas Feminist and Lesbian Newsletters |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/feminist |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/campus-libraries-collections/special-collections |
| Title | Page 1 |
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| File Name | femin_201109_086a.jpg |
| Transcript | THE arm HOUSTON CHAPTER NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN Vol. 3, No. 4 BROADSIDE August 1972 JESUS WAS A FEMINIST DECLARES NUN "Jesus was a feminist," states Sister Ann Gillen, a Roman Catholic nun who is an active participant in the struggle for the rights of women in the Church. According to Sister Ann, "Because he educated women in the Torah and spoke to them on the streets, Jesus broke with the patriarchal social mores of his time in support of women." Although many people use direct biblical quotes as a weapon against the women's movement, Sister Ann believes there is much indirect evidence that Jesus defended women in a time where women were not considered of enough value to educate. Who is this outspoken woman who dares to challenge religious tradition? Sister Ann Gillen is a member of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, a teaching congregation. Living in Houston to work on her doctoral thesis, Sister Ann is one of a growing number of activist religious women working toward a goal of equality for women in the Church. "We don't say religious women now as if we (sisters) were the only religious women. We feel that all women are religious," states Sister Ann. Roman Catholic sisters are going through a major organizational redevelopment at this time. Grouped at one time in various congregations and acting as individual units teaching or nursing, there was no interplay of ideas between the groups. Formerly, if someone wanted to know, "what do the sisters think?", a priest would call the mother superior and ask her what she thought the sisters were thinking. Sisters had nothing to say about this. Today sisters have realized they have much to share and learn from one another. Organizations have been formed throughout the country to give individual sisters a means of participating directly in decision making processes. For example, the National Assembly of Women Religious was created to represent the interests of sisters in each diocese. A member since the inception of the group, Sister Ann describes the evolution that has taken place, "At the first formal meeting one year ago, the question of whether to ask for ordination came up and it was decided the question was untimely. Instead, the group took the stand there should be a restoration of the diaconate for women. This year, meeting in Minneapolis, there was no question about saying that women should be ordained." Sister Ann is a member of the national executive board of the National Coalition of American Nuns. Designed as a forum to study and speak out on (Continued on pg. 8) |