Enslaved to the Jesuits: What Women of the First U.S. Diocese can tell us about Women in the Church
Inaugural Nancy Marzella Lecture on Women and American Catholicism
Jeannine Hill Fletcher
Fordham University
Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Time: 5:30 - 7pm
Location: Devlin Hall 101
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, we’ll also ask what our foremothers in the faith might tell us about women in Catholicism today.
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, The Sin of White Supremacy: Christianity, Racism and Religious Diversity in America (Orbis, 2017). 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, Grace of the Ghosts: A Theology of Institutional Reparation, is forthcoming in Spring 2025.
Photo credits: Christopher Soldt, MTS