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The Catholic Woman. Difficult Choices in a Modern World

by Jeanne Pieper

Published by Lowell House, Los Angeles, and Contemporary Books, Chicago, in 1993, hardbound, 252 pages. ISBN 1-56565-081-6. The highstreet price is U. S. $23.95, Canada $21.55. Copies are available at a reduced price from the author.

‘The Catholic Woman’ is an unusual and interesting book. The book presents the views and opinions of a wide cross segment of the Church in the USA. The information contained in the book comes from many in-depth interviews.

Jeanne Pieper interviewed a wide variety of Catholic women, from those who insist that all the pronouncements of the Church must be followed to those who feel their religious beliefs are their own personal business. The one thing all these women have in common is that they consider themselves Catholic and religious. The intense faith of many of these women is perhaps the most surprising fact you’ll find in The Catholic Woman. You’ll hear from many women who feel they need the comfort and moral stability of a traditional religion. These women tell you about the support and sense of participation they felt the Church gave to them and their families when they were growing up. And they speak of the sense of structure and meanmg they get from organized religious activities. At the same time, they realize they must critically sift through the old teachings of the Church to weed out specific rules they consider either flawed, unjust, or simply impossible to apply to their contemporary lives. The author persuades these women to talk about specific issues like birth control, abortion, divorce, and women celebrating the mass.

All these voices, from feminists to fundamentalists, open their hearts and tell you what they really believe and how they are putting these beliefs into practice.They explain what they get from being Catholic, how they feel about the stated beliefs of the Church, and how they are taking charge of their spiritual lives in the same way they are taking charge of their personal lives. If you know that your Catholicism is an important part of you and your life, because of or in spite of what the established Church has to say, or if you have ever wondered why some of your intelligent, liberated women friends remain Catholic, The Catholic Woman is for you.

Table of Contents of The Catholic Woman

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE. A Glance at Our Past

Growing Up Catholic Religious and Intellectual Immaturity
The Magic and Mysticism of the Church
Convent Life Before the Late 1960s
Leading the Way in a Changing Church
The 1960s and 1 970s
The 1980s

CHAPTER TWO. Parts of a Whole: The Makeup of Women in the Catholic Church

Intense, Angry, Radical Feminists
Moderate Feminists
Codependent Catholics
The Nothing-Has-Changed Fundamentalists
Advocates of Feminist or Creation Spirituality
Traditionalists
The Average Woman in the Pew

CHAPTER THREE. Catholic Women and the Issues of the 1990s

The Indispensable Role of Conscience
Sanctity-of-Life Issues
Until Death Do Us Part
Marriage and Sexuality Issues
Controversial Sexual Topics
Optional Celibacy for Priests
The Sacrament of Marriage
The Forbidden Subject The Ordination of Women
What Do Catholic Women Want? A Discipleship of Equals and a Renewed Priestly Ministry
Taking Charge of Our Own Spiritual Lives
New Roles for Women in the Institutional Church
Catholic Women and Social Justice
Multiculturalism: The Challenge of the Coming Century