The woman behind one of the most recognisable religious names in the world -- Joan Chittister OSB -- will give a public lecture while she is in Melbourne for the Parliament of the World's Religions.
She will speak on:
What happens when classic spirituality meets modern science? Are the two irreconcilable?
This, her only public appearance on this trip to Australia, will be hosted by Australian publisher
John Garratt Publishing.
According to John Garratt's manager Tony Biviano the lecture will be timely, given the debates around atheism and belief in God in a year that is commemorating Charles Darwin and his work on evolution.
"Sr Joan will discuss the encounter between classical spirituality and modern science," Mr Biviano said. "She will ask: Are the two reconcilable or are they doomed to be eternal opposites?
"She will argue that the answer does not lie in damning, rejecting or quibbling with the data of science," Mr Biviano said, "but depends more on one's to imagine a greater sense of self, a better understanding of the ecology of life and on what the metaphor of evolution itself might have to say about the nature of God and our own possible place in the evolving universe."
In February, John Garrett Publishing will release a book co-authored by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Sister Joan entitled Uncommon Gratitude: Alleluia for all that is.
Sister Joan is a member, and former prioress, of Mount St Benedict Priory in Eire, Pennsylvania, USA. She serves as co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a partner organisation of the UN, facilitating a worldwide network of women peace builders, particularly in Israel and Palestine. She is also co-chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives with Rabbi Michael Lerner and Cornell West.
In 2007 she received the Hans Kung Award from the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church and the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, (an organisation of the leaders/superiors of more than 75,000 Catholic religious women in the US).
She is a regular columnist for the National Catholic Reporter and the author of more than 35 books on prayer and spirituality, including her recent, Breath of the Soul, Reflections on Prayer.
She is a frequent speaker at conventions and conferences and is a strong advocate for the equality of women in church and society.
The public lecture will be held on Tuesday, December 1 at Bulleen.
Sister Joan will be in Melbourne for the Parliament of the World's Religions which will be held from December 3 -- 9. Another well-known Benedictine, Father Laurence Freeman OSB, will also be one of the speakers at the largest interfaith gathering to be held in the world this year.
