RUETHER, RR:Catholic Does Not Equal the Vatican

A Vision for Progressive Catholicism

New Press, 2008

150 pages

A stirring manifesto for progressive Catholics and a challenge to Vatican politics, from pioneering feminist Catholic Rosemary Ruether--in the acclaimed "Does Not Equal" series

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"In a truly just world, Rosemary Radford Ruether would be Pope."--from the foreword to "Catholic Does Not Equal the Vatican" by Susan Thistlethwaite, president of Chicago Theological Seminary

In the 1960s, the hopes for a blossoming progressive Catholicism awakened by the Second Vatican Council were cut short by conservative opposition and the rightward agendas of the previous and current pope. Forty years later, "Catholic Does Not Equal the Vatican" heralds the revival of a newly democratic and participatory church that transcends narrow Vatican doctrine. Destined to be a seminal text of progressive Catholicism, this beautifully written and uncompromising book by renowned scholar and activist Rosemary Radford Ruether examines the serious moral contradictions in Vatican Catholicism and offers a vision of a faith committed to justice and peace. Ruether calls for the dismantling of sexist teachings and ascetic values, while promoting healthy sexual ethics and egalitarian communities that welcome women, gays, and lesbians into full equality in the church and even ordination. Reverend Doctor Susan Thistlethwaite's introduction explains Ruether's pioneering leadership in progressive Christianity and her unwavering commitment to ecological responsibility and human rights.

Grounded in her civil rights work in the Mississippi Delta and the Latin American tradition of liberation theology, Ruether's long overdue vision of the church as it should be will serve as an inspiration for Catholics everywhere.

Review: Rosemary Ganley, (Religion Dispatches)