From March 14-21, 2013, Sr. Chris Schenk will bring 30 women on a pilgrimage to Rome and Ostia, an excavated early Christian community. They will explore frescos, mosaics, sarcophagi friezes and other artifacts showing the prominent role of women leaders in the early Church.
We will be there every step of the way – filming these women as they learn about and pray to their spiritual foremothers. They will begin the healing process of recognizing the role that women have played in Christianity since the beginning. And Sr. Chris will continue her mission of making women’s contributions known, while paving the way to end the gender discrimination that currently grips the Catholic Church.
The group will also present the Vatican with hundreds of postcards signed by American Catholics calling for the return of female deacons. Church history has shown that women frequently played this role in the past, and given the priest shortage, the inclusion of women in the Deaconate could help meet the needs of many Catholic’s looking for pastoral care.
Sister Chris will be joined by Sister Dr. Carolyn Osiek, a historian who has written many books on the subject of women and the rise of early Christianity. Together, the nuns will provide prayer services, spiritual guidance and historical context at sites such as:
- Ostia, a completely excavated early Roman community on the shores of the Mediterranean.
- Basilica of St. Pudentiana, a second century House Church, which later became the residence of the Pope until 313.
- St. Praxedes Basilica featuring mosaics of early women leaders including the famous “Theodora Episcopa” mosaic.
- Catacombs of Priscilla, site of frescos of early women leaders
- Pio Cristiano Museum, site of fourth century sarcophagi friezes depicting early women leaders.
- Catacombs of Domitilla site of the Veneranda and Petronilla fresco, which gives strong evidence of women’s leadership in the early church.
Sr. Christine Schenk, Spiritual Director Sr. Chris is the Executive Director of FutureChurch, a coalition of parish-centered Catholics working to address critical issues in the Church, especially the priest shortage, and the systemic inequality of women. She has Master’s degrees in midwifery and theology and has given hundreds of presentations and media interviews. In 2008 she coordinated an international effort to “put women back in the biblical picture” at the Synod on the Word in Rome.
Sr. Carolyn Osiek, Educational Director Sr. Carolyn is a past president of the Catholic Biblical Association and Catholic Professor of New Testament emerita at Brite Divinity School. She is also an author of many books including A Women’s Place: House Churches in Earliest Christianity, co-authored with Margaret Y. MacDonald and Janet H. Tulloch, and Ordained Women in the Early Church, co-authored with Kevin Madigan.