U.S. Catholic Women and Mission: Integral or Auxiliary?

Abstract

Since at least the 1990 encyclical Redemptoris Missio, Roman Catholic teaching has endorsed a multi-faceted mission platform, thus giving official recognition to the work of Catholic women missionaries, who were formerly referred to as “auxiliaries.” A look at women's experiences in two recent mission gatherings and examples from mission economics, companioning, and martyrdom illustrate both the contribution Catholic women made to a holistic approach to mission and the lingering nineteenth century themes of domesticity and “woman's work for women” as reshaped by U.S. Catholic women missionaries today.