Teresa Berger, of Yale Divinity School, to speak about the evolution of women's lives and Catholic liturgy | Press Releases

Image: T Berger On Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 7:30 p.m., prominent theologian Teresa Berger will deliver Fairfield University's 13th annual Anne Drummey O'Callaghan Lecture on Women in the Church - a free and public event held in memory of a Norwalk, Connecticut woman who was a lay minister in area Catholic parishes.

Dr. Berger, professor of Liturgical Studies at Yale Divinity School, will give a talk entitled - "Women as Celebrants and Interpreters of Catholic Liturgy: From Sacrosanctum Concilium to Cyberspace." Taking place at the Quick Center for the Arts, the event is co-sponsored by the O'Callaghan Family, Fairfield University's Department of Religious Studies and the Center for Catholic Studies.

"This presentation will map the many ways in which both women's lives and Catholic liturgy have changed significantly over the last fifty years," said Dr. Berger, whose most recent book is "Gender Differences and the Making of Liturgical History" (Ashgate: Liturgy, Worship and Society, 2011). "It will highlight vibrant gains in these changes as well as some quite remarkable losses. Throughout, we will attend to the immense diversity of women's voices as they have emerged and made themselves heard with regard to Catholic liturgy."

Dr. Berger received the distinguished Herbert Haag Prize for Freedom in the Church in 2003. Her publications include "Dissident Daughters: Feminist Liturgies in Global Context" (2001); "Fragments of Real Presence: Liturgical Traditions in the Hands of Women" (2005); and a video documentary, "Worship in Women's Hands" (2007). An active Roman Catholic, Berger has produced (with MysticWaters Media) a CD-ROM, "Ocean Psalms: Meditations, Stories, Prayers, Songs and Blessings from the Sea" (2008); and she contributes to the liturgy blog, Pray Tell.

She holds doctorates both in liturgical studies and in constructive theology. Her scholarly interests lie at the intersections of these disciplines with gender theory, specifically gender history. Professor Berger, who is a native of Germany, has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Mainz, Münster, Berlin, and Uppsala.

This lecture honors Anne Drummey O'Callaghan who worked tirelessly as a catechist, advocate for the intellectually disabled, youth minister, and director of religious education in the Diocese of Bridgeport. She was very active at both St. Jerome and St. Joseph parishes in Norwalk. For more information, visit http://www.fairfield.edu/cs/cs_ocallaghan.html .

This fall, the Center for Catholic Studies will feature other distinctive voices for reform in the church: Phyllis Zagano, who is devoted to making a space for women deacons, and Sandra Schneiders, I.H.M., an American religious sister. For details on their lectures and other information, visit http://www.fairfield.edu/cs/cs_lectures.html .