Comments on: Feminist theologian Mary Daly dies

By: alex martin

alex martin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:12:07 +0000

May God have mercy on her soul.

By: Zach

Zach — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:37:34 +0000

Requiescat in pace

By: Michael J. Iafrate

Michael J. Iafrate — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:13:33 +0000

What were her areas and topics of study?

She began as a liberal feminist Catholic theologian but gradually came to a post-Christian approach to feminism and then finally embraced woman-centered paganism. There is almost too much wrong with her later thinking to be able to list it all here, but I recognize the importance of some of her early critiques of patriarchal religion and Catholicism in particular.

By: ben

ben — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:47:11 +0000

The radical character of Chirstianity is revealed in a special way by events like the death of Mary Daly, when we pray and make sacrifices for our sister in baptism. Death of the body presents such a beautiful and grace filled opportunity for the prodigal daughter to return home. Let us pray that our prayers make the journey easier for her.

By: Gabriel Austin

Gabriel Austin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:14:10 +0000

I found it hilarious [and I wrote to tell her so] that the president of Boston College [a school in the Jesuit tradition] did not know what to do with her when she refused to have men in her classes.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:31:14 +0000

I respectfully disagree with much of Professor Daly’s thinking of her mid-life and late life. But I remember when she was a moderately progressive Catholic homemaker writing for Commonweal. While I regret the intellectual path she took, I also regret anything in the Catholic world (particularly the reality of the sin of sexism in the Church) that may have been a cause of her travelling that path.

May she rest in peace, united with the one, true God.

By: Melinda MT

Melinda MT — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:06:48 +0000

When I was a victim of abuse – having been stabbed by my other’s lover and left for dead, rejected by my church at the time because the man who attacked my mother and I was black and we are white, left to fend for ourselves by the police, hiding and eventually having to flee the city we lived in to save our lives once we were released from the hospital – Mary Daly’s work bcame a beacon for me, turned me into a fighter instead of a victim – it was a difficult time for me and for the world –
now I have come home to the Catholic church and no longer agree with Ms Daly’s ideas however I will always be grateful that she was there [in spirit] for me when everyone else had abandoned me to my pain and grief – so before you condemn whole cloth a woman who simply went with her conscience however incorrectly formed it may have been -think about how God can use anyone – ANYONE – to further his plan – regardless of whether they agree with Him or not –
and then ask yourself – when was the last time you reached out to someone in terrible distress to ease thier pain and suffring with deep encouragemen? With Love? Or simply turned away to let a Mary
Daly or a Matthew Fox take your place?

By: Kyle R. Cupp

Kyle R. Cupp — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:49:21 +0000

May she rest in peace. What were her areas and topics of study?

By: Michael J. Iafrate

Michael J. Iafrate — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:39:13 +0000

Yes, I know she left the Catholic Church long ago and eventually did not even identify as Christian. By “in Catholic circles” I was referring to her career at Boston College (a Catholic university) and her influence among some Catholic theologians. I did not mean to suggest that she was Catholic.

By: Michael Demers

Michael Demers — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:22:12 +0000

May she rest in peace. I have read a lot of Mary Daly’s work. You should know that she left the Catholic Church a long time ago. She was not “another feminist theologian in Catholic circles.” She was not even a Christian by any stretch of the imagination. Mary Daly was a godless lesbian feminist and a true Amazon.

By: Michael J. Iafrate

Michael J. Iafrate — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:37:54 +0000

David – I agree.

By: Deanne

Deanne — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:23:01 +0000

We have lost a brilliant mind and a most courageous woman. May we never forget her work and radical spirit.