A feminist Saint Patrick?
In this interview with Miriam Gormally from the RNN archive », author and member of We Are Church, Soline Humbert reflects on what Saint Patrick’s humanity, openness and spiritual imagination might still offer to the church today—particularly in conversations about the place and experience of women.
Soline recently had her autobiography, A Divine Calling: One Woman’s Lifelong Battle for Equality in the Catholic Church », published by Liffey Press ». She has a particular interest in justice for women and in exploring how women have been excluded from the catholic church.
Soline shares that St. Patrick’s story holds a special significance for her. Like St. Patrick himself, Humbert came to Ireland as a stranger and grew to develop a deep affection for the country.
Soline finds particular inspiration in Patrick’s Confessions, a text that reveals a man who was unafraid to acknowledge his weaknesses, his emotions and his spiritual struggles. In St. Patrick, she sees a “whole” person—honest, vulnerable and attentive to the ways God can speak through human experience.
Soline also points out that Patrick was among the last saints to speak openly of dreams as a source of spiritual inspiration before later developments in church teaching discouraged drawing on the wisdom of dreams.
Listen to the full interview above or clik here
