Enslaved to the Jesuits: What Women of the First U.S. Diocese can tell us about Women in the Church
InauguralĀ Nancy Marzella Lecture on Women and American Catholicism
Jeannine Hill Fletcher
Fordham University
Date:Ā Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Time:Ā 5:30 - 7pm
Location:Ā Devlin Hall 101
Boston College Bookstore will be onsite selling copies ofĀ Grace of the Ghosts: A Theology of Institutional Reparation.Ā
Women enslaved on Jesuit plantations were among the first women of the American Catholic Church. Our investigation will explore what we can know about these women, the various roles they played in ecclesial life and institution building, and their struggles for freedom. Special attention will be given to Nelly and Louisa Mahoney, and other women who encountered John McElroy, S.J., founder of Boston College. Recognizing patterns of practice that endure, weāllĀ also ask what our foremothers in the faith might tell us about women in Catholicism today.Ā
Jeannine Hill Fletcher is a constructive theologian writing at the intersection of Catholic systematic theology and issues of diversity (including gender, race and religious diversity). She is the author of,Ā The Sin of White Supremacy: Christianity, Racism and Religious Diversity in AmericaĀ (Orbis, 2017).Ā As professor of theology at Fordham University, Bronx NY, she also serves on the board of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, an inter-generational, multi-racial, multi-religious grassroots organization committed to racial justice and economic democracy in New York City and beyond. Her new book, entitled,Ā Grace of the Ghosts: A Theology of Institutional Reparation,Ā is forthcoming in Spring 2025.
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Gollar, C. Walker. āLet Us Go Freeā: Slavery and Jesuit Universities in America. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2023.
Hill Fletcher, Jeannine. Grace of the Ghosts: A Theology of Institutional Reparation. New York: Fordham University Press, 2025.
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Schmidt, Kelly L. āA National Legacy of Enslavement: An Overview of the Work of the Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project.ā Journal of Jesuit Studies 8, no. 1 (2020): 81-107. https://doi.org/10.1163/22141332-0801P005.
Swarns, Rachel L. The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church. New York: Random House, 2023.
Thompson, Margaret S. āDiscovering Foremothers: Sisters, Society, and the American Catholic Experience.ā U.S. Catholic Historian 5, no. 3/4 (1986): 273-90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25153765.
As many gather for prayer and penance during this Lenten season, a significant number of Catholic women frustrated with the state of the Church have decided to protest by abstaining from certain aspects of ecclesial life, such as attending Mass and being involved in ministries like choirs and volunteer programs. Women in the Catholic Church make up around 80% of lay ecclesial ministers. detailing some of the grievances that have weighed heavily on Catholic women in recent decades. When Pope Francis called together Church leaders for the Synod on Synodality, many were hopeful that this would be a step toward more access to leadership roles such as the diaconate or priesthood for women. Disappointment followed, as these issues were not brought to the table at the historic meetings. Dr. Jeannine Hill Fletcher focuses on the historical contributions of Black women to the Church, and her lecture will add to our understanding of the role that women have played in shaping the Catholic community throughout its history.
Photo credits: Christopher Soldt, MTS