EDITH STEIN, martyr of Jewish heritage, designated by John Paul II co-patroness of Europe, together with Bridget of Sweden and Catherine of Sienna, could be also declared a doctor of the Church. This was announced recently by Fr. Abelardo Lobato, Rector of the Pontifical Roman Academy of Saint Thomas, an institution that depends on the Holy See. Fr. Lobato was addressing the international congress on the topic 'A New Feminism for a New Millennium,' organised by the Pontifical Athenaeum 'Regina Apostolorum' of Rome.
'Work is being done to this end,' Fr. Lobato said. 'Together with Simone Weil, Stein was one of the most illustrious women of the 20th century, known for her creative thought, her philosophic talent, and her attention to the question of woman. Over the last few years, these three are witnessing the growth of their intellectual prestige: Edith Stein has been declared a martyr and beatified, then canonised and proclaimed patroness of Europe. And now we are working so that she will become a doctor of the Church,' a recognition that only three other women have had in history: St. Catherine of Sienna, St Teresa of Avila and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
'Time is needed for this; it all depends on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but Pope Wojtyla is enthusiastic about it and has asked that work be carried out to verify if this philosopher and theologian can be declared a doctor of the Church,' stated the professor.
If this turns out to be the case, the Church would recognise that this woman's doctrine has contributed in a striking and valid way for all times to a deeper understanding and communication of the mystery of God and the Christian life.
Edith Stein (1891-1942) was born into a Jewish family. In 1916, after receiving a doctorate in philosophy, unusual at that time for a woman, she became an assistant to the phenomenologist Edmund Husserl in Freiburg. After reading Teresa of Avila's biography, she converted to Catholicism She continued to teach philosophy until 1933, when she entered the Carmelite convent of Cologne, and took the name Theresa Benedicta of the Cross. As the Nazi oppression worsened, she moved to the Netherlands for safety. Nonetheless, on August 2, 1942, she was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Auschwitz on August 7, together with her sister, who had also become a nun. Two days later, they both died in a gas chamber.
Fr. Lobato's address served as a platform to study these elements in greater depth, which must become the basis of a 'new feminism' referred to today by John Paul II himself. Among those who studied this proposal at today's Congress was Lucienne Salle of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, who spoke on 'Feminism and Feminisms'.
Physical and spiritual maternity is the first expression of the "new feminism," a maternity that takes multiple forms.' Salle considered that 'the heart of woman can create wealth. This is what a nun of Burkina Faso does, when she directs an out-patient clinic every morning a line of patients forms outside her clinic. The majority of times she lacks the necessary medicines; however, all those who come to meet her leave happy. Out of nothing, this sister is able to create immense wealth. In this way, throughout the world, there are women who find the way to feed their family in conditions of great poverty. Some banks only give loans to women because they know that the money deposited in them will earn much.'
In speaking about the wealth of the new feminism, Salle emphasised the importance of the theology of love, that enabled Catherine of Sienna, considered illiterate, to read through faith, with the eyes and touch of the soul, until she penetrated the very mystery of the Incarnation.
Another example of the impressive creativity of the feminine genius is the 'little way' of Thérèse of Lisieux. 'It is important to read again the action of all these women, who have known like no one else how to teach that love for Jesus can be expressed concretely by attending his body through attention to the body of the weakest,' Salle said. This is something Mother Teresa understood very well, when she wrote in the Calcutta cemetery: 'The Body of Jesus,' or when she asked one of her missionaries, who observed the care with which the priest touches the Body of Christ during the Mass, to do the same at the bedside of the sick, because 'Jesus is there, amidst the devastation of pain.'
Salle concluded quoting Maurice Zundel, who on one occasion said: 'Man could only be born in the womb of a mother. He is enlightened by tenderness. And it is love that gives him rebirth... his soul, in all cases, has a need to be rocked. He looks for the maternal heart in everything as a refuge or his distress. And when he finds it, he begins to understand God.'
The international congress 'A New Feminism for a New Millennium' was opened by its president, Mary Ann Glendon, professor at Harvard University, and by Fr. Alvaro Corcuera, Rector of the Pontifical Athenaeum 'Regina Apostolorum.'
About the author:
Fr Paul Stenhouse MSC PhD is a member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and was editor of the Annals journals for 50 years, founding its final title version series Annals Australasia. Previously chairman of Aid to the Church in Need, Fr Stenhouse was an international expert on Semitic languages and cultures. Fr Stenhouse passed away in 2019. He was posthumously received as a member of the Order of Australia in 2021.
This article first appeared in Annals Australasia, issue 5, July 2000. Reproduced with permission of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Australia.