This year, Benilde-St. Margaret’s introduced an exciting new theology class titled Women of the Church. This course examines the role of women in Catholic thoughts and practice, learning about the first women who were followers of Jesus, female mystics, theologians, and saints throughout church history, as well as modern-day Catholic women in the Church.
Focusing on the often overlooked role of women in shaping the Catholic Church, this new class specifically highlights their significant contributions. Learning about female disciples, doctors of the church, and modern Catholic women. With the textbook covering over 2000 years of church history, the syllabus balances the historical and contemporary women’s roles in one unit. “It’s a really interesting angle on church history to focus on how women have sustained and shaped Catholicism since the very beginning,” theology teacher Katrina Garcia-Eveloff said.
Women of the Church not only highlights the crucial contributions of women but also challenges traditional perspectives of leadership within the Catholic Church, encouraging students to see beyond the male clergy. The focus on men in leadership has limited women’s opportunities and narrowed our understanding of the Church’s history. “We have to learn to think differently at what it means to be a leader and shaper of the Church, to look past the all-male clergy [and] to see how the Catholic Church couldn’t have gone from this small sect in Jerusalem to a massive global religion… without a contributing role of women,” Garcia-Eveloff said.
Students taking this class have found the course material both interesting and enlightening as they discover the untold stories of women in the church. Learning about the women in the church not only recovers the lost stories of female church history, but it inspires young girls to see their potential in shaping the Catholic Church in the future. “I definitely think it has changed the way I view women in the church because a lot of these women that we’ve even learned about just in these first couple of weeks, I had no idea even existed. Learning about how the church was actually built on female ministers and disciples of Jesus, who we didn’t hear about in other religion classes is very interesting and definitely shifts your perspective,” senior Maddie Murry said.
Students spoke on the other Theology classes offered here at BSM, stating that although they learned a lot, the course material was surface-level information about the same theologians and philosophers. However, students in Women of the Church say that the class offers a refreshing and in-depth look at marginalized figures which provides a more diverse curriculum. “Learning about all these women who I’ve never heard of and didn’t even know who like who they were, is so important because our faith started from a lot of these women who have been erased from history. It’s really important to learn and acknowledge them. So if you’re interested in learning more about women and faith then this is the class to take,” senior Chloe Reppenhagen said.
Garcia-Eveloff hoped for students to take away a deeper appreciation for the internal diversity of Catholicism and to resonate with the course material, and based on their opinions, they’re doing just that. The students’ passion and excitement to continue to learn more about these women shows how much this class has a positive impact on the theology department. “I’m super excited about this class and where it could lead to. The students who are taking it this semester are super brave, because It’s hard to do something new that no one’s ever done before. I hope that the word in the Great Hall spreads that this is an interesting and unique class, and it continues to be a part of BSM,” Garcia-Eveloff said.