Staying in the Fire:
A Sisterhood Responds to Vatican II
by Phyllis Kittel
From the foreword:
Phyllis Kittel has written an extremely important, very timely work that is badly needed in the Catholic Church today.
As an insider/outsider …, Dr Kittel collected forty focused, intensive-extensive oral histories of members of the community who have lived through the renewal of Religious Life in response to Vatican II. Weaving these first person testimonies into an integrated living history she describes in depth, often in the Sisters’ own words, their experience in regard to prayer, ministry, community life, the vows. With their help she analyzes the community’s remarkable journey from a fervent pre-conciliar convent life of sacralized routine, uniform prayer and observance, generous collective works, minimal individuality in life and ministry to the vibrant life of a renewed Religious Congregation in which the vast majority of women Religious in this country will recognize themselves and their communities’ experience….
This book should be read for encouragement and affirmation by every Sister… who has been discouraged by the suspicion and criticism of Church authorities bent on “protecting” Religious Life from the only people competent to carry it into the future, namely, those who live it and were commissioned by the Council to renew it.
Sandra M. Schneiders, IHM
More Praise for Staying in the Fire
“Phyllis Kittel’s special gift is her assembly of authentic voices, telling this story of communal transformation through personal experiences. Hope radiates from these delightful women…”
Mary-Cabrini Durkin, Company of St Ursula
Author of Angela Merici, Journey of the Heart: The Rule, the Way
“The inspiring, honest, lively interviews that Phyllis Kittel conducts with the Sisters of the Precious Blood trace a journey of transformation shared by most American women religious.
Those in and outside the Catholic Church who applaud that journey and those curious about or puzzled by it will find in these pages a story of the kind of courage, passion, imagination, hope and fidelity to the Gospel that our Church and society so badly need.”
Kaye Ashe, OP
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Staying in the Fire: A Sisterhood Responds to Vatican II
Author: Phyllis Kittel
390 pp Price 17.00
ISBN:9780981576671