Heralding a Renaissance:
Women & Leadership in the Catholic Church

Christine Cameron

Paperback, 650 pages.

ISBN: 9781925826692

The Catholic Church in the third millennium is on the threshold of change. Forces from within and without are gathering momentum. Change is inevitable. Therefore, now in the twenty-first century leaders are needed who listen to the Spirit, and who are prepared to step outside their comfort zone and challenge the status quo! Thus inspirited, and serving as change agents, they can respond to the Gospel’s call to service and engage in active discipleship. These contemporary leaders are stewards of the legacy gifted by women and men of previous generations, whose charism has been embedded in their leadership practices and in their lived response to the Gospel. While acknowledging and respecting the great efforts of many charismatic leaders in history, the book honours in a special way, Mary Mother of God and all women who have served and graced the Church in leadership positions across three millennia. The analysis includes an investigation into the lives and works of significant female leaders in the Catholic Church throughout the centuries and is followed by an emphasis on current and emerging global trends, with selected women leaders giving voice to their role within the contemporary Church. Implications for the future regarding change and growth in the Church, highlight the voices of the youth and reference the Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit “Christ is Alive” (Pope Francis, 2019), the Post-Synodal response to the XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on “Young people, the Faith and Vocational Discernment” (2018). Finally voices from the past to the present – challenge future leaders!

Christine Cameron is a senior academic, author and educator. She is a sessional lecturer with the Australian Catholic University (ACU), and on occasion works with postgraduate students enrolled in the Master of Educational Leadership Course. During her teaching career, Christine has also served in administrative positions (approximately 18 years) in Catholic primary schools in New South Wales Australia as Principal, Assistant Principal and Religious Education Co-Ordinator. “Heralding a Renaissance: Women & Leadership in the Catholic Church” is Christine’s 3rd book in the leadership series with her first book based on her PhD research “Women Doctors of the Catholic Church: A Study in Servant Leadership”, and retitled “Leadership as a call to service The lives and works of Teresa of Ávila, Catherine of Siena and Thérèse of Lisieux” (2012). Christine’s second book “Leadership as a call to service The life and works of Hildegard of Bingen” (2015), was published following the proclamation of St Hildegard of Bingen as the fourth woman Doctor of the Universal Church in 2012.