Center For Spirituality Welcomes Speaker as Part of “Women & Spirit” Exhibit
Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
(574) 284-4579
August 9, 2011(Notre Dame, Ind.)—The Center for Spirituality at Saint Mary's College is proud to welcome Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM to campus for her lecture titled “The Future of Religious Life”. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for Saturday, September 24 at 11:30 a.m. in O’Laughlin Auditorium. The event is in conjunction with the “Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America” exhibit, which opens at the Center for History in South Bend on September 2 and runs through December 31.
“Women & Spirit” is a traveling exhibit that chronicles the history of Catholic sisters in America and describes how these independent women served as nurses, teachers, and social workers to help shape the nation’s social and cultural landscape. The exhibit, which was recently on view at the Smithsonian, is sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in association with Cincinnati Museum Center and is presented by the Center for History in partnership with the University of Notre Dame and the Center for Spirituality at Saint Mary’s College. Also on display at the Center for History will be a companion exhibit representing religious communities with general or provincial administration in the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, including the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. A smaller display currently on exhibit at the Cushwa-Leighton Library at Saint Mary's College tells the story of how the Congregation founded, led, and still sponsors the College.
Schneiders is a leading authority on Catholic women's religious life, a frequent contributor to Catholic periodicals, including the National Catholic Reporter, and a renowned author. She has written numerous books on the topic, including Selling All: Commitment, Consecrated Celibacy, and Community in Catholic Religious Life; Finding the Treasure: Locating Catholic Religious Life in a New Ecclesial and Cultural Context; With Oil in Their Lamps: Faith, Feminism, and the Future; and New Wineskins: Re-Imagining Religious Life Today.
Schneiders is professor emerita of New Testament Studies and Christian Spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California and teaches courses such as biblical spirituality, Christian spirituality and religious life. She holds a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
Following Schneiders’ lecture at the College, there is the opportunity to enjoy a boxed lunch at Saint Mary’s and then travel by chartered bus to see the exhibit at the Center for History. Schneiders will available at the exhibit from 2 to 3 p.m. to answer questions.
To register for the boxed lunch, bus ride and entry to the exhibit, all of which costs just $15, please fill out the registration form, and return it with your reservation check to: Center for Spirituality, 101 Spes Unica Hall, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN 46556. The form is due September 9, 2011. If you have questions, please contact Kathy Guthrie in the Center for Spirituality at (574) 284-4636 or kguthrie@saintmarys.edu. You may also visit the Center for Spirituality online.
The Center for Spirituality invites scholars from here and abroad to engage the community and the public in discussion of critical issues related to spirituality. It offers programs that address contemporary religious issues, creating a network for education in spirituality, especially for women.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, women’s institution offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study. Saint Mary’s College has six nationally accredited academic programs: social work, art, music, teacher education, chemistry and nursing. Saint Mary’s College ranks among the top 100 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” in the U.S. News & World Report 2011 College Guide. Founded in 1844, Saint Mary’s is a pioneer in the education of women, and is sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.