Joan Chittister

Overview

CATHOLIC PRESS ASSOCIATION BOOK AWARD WINNER - BIOGRAPHY

INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER ILLUMINATION AWARD GOLD MEDAL WINNER (BIOGRAPHY)

“Sister Joan Chittister is one of the most powerful women I know. Her power does not come from wealth, celebrity, or office. It is the power that comes from her presence, from values, from beliefs, from within. In this biography, Tom Roberts reveals the long journey she took to find that power. It is a must-read for anyone expanding their faith.” —Maria Shriver

“With keen journalistic acumen, Tom Roberts chronicles the life of one of the most beloved spiritual leaders of our times. Along the way, we learn not only about Sr. Joan Chittister’s graced journey but also about the evolution of the Erie Benedictines, post-Vatican II religious life, and the struggle for women’s equality in the Catholic Church. Beautifully wrought, Roberts has the biographer’s gift of invisibly shaping his material, allowing Chittister’s piercing, prophetic life to illuminate – and inspire. A wonderful book!” —Christine Schenk, CSJ founding director, Future Church

“I love the stellar witness of this woman! A more faithful, authentic, sustained voice calling for full inclusion of women in the Catholic Church cannot be found. And what a fascinating bud-to-flower woman's life story lies within these pages. I read it deep into the night, long after good sense told me to go to sleep. That's Chittister for you—waking us up and keeping us awake to the radical call of the Gospel.” —Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ author, Dead Man Walking

From prize-winning journalist Tom Roberts, an intimate biography of Joan Chittister— Benedictine nun and writer, a leading voice for spiritual renewal, a prophetic champion of peace and justice, a champion of the role of women in the church and the world.

Journalist Tom Roberts is editor-at-large for the National Catholic Reporter, where he has worked for the past twenty years. Previously he worked for ten years as news editor at the Religion News Service. His previous Orbis book, The Emerging Catholic Church: A Community’s Search for Itself, won the Religious Newswriters’ Association Book Award, as well as two Catholic Press Association awards. He lives in metropolitan Washington, DC.