Vatican newspaper highlights female doctors of the Church
CWN - September 27, 2012
L'Osservatore Romano has published a special insert devoted to the women doctors of the Church.
Pope Paul VI declared St. Teresa of Avila and St. Catherine of Siena doctors of the Church in 1970, and Blessed John Paul II declared St. Thérèse of Lisieux a doctor in 1997. Pope Benedict will confer the honor upon St. Hildegard of Bingen in October.
"We have chosen to dedicate to them, to these scholars, September's insert to put emphasis on how important culturally and intellectually the contribution of these women has been to the history of the Christian tradition," writes journalist Ritanna Armeni. "And to break another misconception about women and the Church: that women religious have a strictly assisting role, a role of self-denial; that they are tied to the concrete duty of organizing daily life, tied to humble manual labor. As for the rest, at least in the realm of culture and doctrine, they give or have given very little. Of course, that is not true."
"The story of many women, of many saints and many religious proves it," she added. "They knew how to love and understand, how to stimulate renewal and the development of doctrine, invent forms and expressions of the faith, to build and not only guard tradition."
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