By Jose Kavi
New Delhi, May 22, 2022: Catholic women theologians in India have mourned the death of Rosemary Radford Ruether, a feminist and liberation theologian who had profound influence on them.
Ruether died May 21 in the United States. She was 85.
“She is one of the earliest feminist liberation theologians that we studied and were influenced by. Her legacy will live on forever,” says Virginia Saldanha, a Mumbai-based lay woman theologian.
Saldanha hails Ruether as “truly a prophet” who “did not hesitate to critique patriarchy and hierarchy in the Church leadership and the negative impact on women. Following Vatican II she read the signs of the times and called out injustice where she saw it especially in economics, politics and religious brainwashing in modern times.”
Kochurani Abraham, another lay woman theologian based in Kerala’s Kottayam town, says Ruether gave “a new outlook on life” for those who were initiated into feminist theology since the 1980s.
“In my life, the first book that I read in feminist theology was her Sexism and God Talk, and that was in the late eighties when I was a young student of theology. Later, she initiated me into eco-feminist theology through Women Healing Earth. Then on, I have grown drinking from the wellsprings of her wisdom on many occasions. In her passing away, these wellsprings may seem to have stopped, yet the seeds she has sown will continue to bear much fruit in making this world a better place for humans and the earth.”
Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, a lay theologian, hails Ruether for bringing feminist theology into the mainstream. “Generations across the world, women and men, have been influenced by her. What made her special was that her writings were so accessible, understood by all. She broke new ground and took us all with her,” she added.
According to Gajiwala, Ruether’s books “sexism and God-talk” “Gaia and God” and “Women Church” started a revolution that has now become a way of life for so many Catholic feminists.
A report in National Catholic Reporter says Ruether had influenced generations of men and women in the causes of justice for women, the poor, people of color, the Middle East and the Earth.
The death of the scholar, teacher, activist, and author was announced by theologian Mary Hunt, Reuther’s long-time friend and colleague.
The Catholic news agency says Ruether had liberal views on everything from women’s ordination to the Palestinian state.
“In more than 50 years of teaching, Ruether influenced thousands of students, first at the historically black Howard University from 1965 to 1975, then at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary as the Georgia Harkness Professor of Applied Theology from 1976 to 2002. She was a visiting professor at Harvard Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, Yale Divinity School and Sir George Williams University in Montreal,” the Catholic news agency said.
She was youngest of three daughters of a Catholic mother and Episcopalian father who died when she was 12. She was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1936, but grew up in Washington, D.C., and California.
A strong student, she was the commencement speaker at La Jolla High School and chose Scripps College, an all-women school in Claremont, Calif., where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in classics in 1958.
She married political scientist Herman J. Ruether in 1957 and had three children.
Respectful farewell to theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether. Eternal rest grant unto her O Lord and let your perpetual light shine upon the departed soul. Strength and courage to all her loved ones.
Rosemary Ruther, joined by a few other pioneer feminists, opened the eyes of the Catholic faithful to look at Mother Mary and a host of saints with purified and renewed eyes. Thanks to her, Mary becomes an embodiment not only of patience, obedience and humility but of creativity, prophetic courage, and hope. For the violated and discriminated and suffering millions, Mary’s Magnificent comes alive with an assurance that God acts on their behalf. Ruther’s thoughts also helped several Catholics to grow beyond the infantalizing devotions and see women saints as visionaries and prophets who went against the patriarchal worldviews, and took decisions that are patterned after those of the early Christianity. Also, looking at Maria Goretti exclusively from the ‘virgin-martyr’ aspect leaves all us poorer. Recognizing other virtues in Gioretti such as courage, forgiveness and the ability to defend child’s rights will be able to empower us to confront issues such as child-abuse and the trafficking of children and women. In that sense, by emphasizing ‘courage’, Ruther ushered in a revolution in the world of spirituality as well.