The Paradox of Latina Religious Leadership in the Catholic Church

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Theresa L. Torres

   Pages 1-25

3. The Kansas City Westside: Home of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

   • Theresa L. Torres

   Pages 27-53

4. The History of the Kansas City Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

   • Theresa L. Torres

   Pages 55-70

5. Las Guadalupan as Speak

   • Theresa L. Torres

   Pages 71-92

6. “Guadalupe Speaks to Me”: Interpreting Las Guadalupanas’ Voices

   • Theresa L. Torres

   Pages 93-104

7. Practicing Belief: The Activities and Rituals of Las Guadalupanas

   • Theresa L. Torres

   Pages 105-131

8. The Borer Crossg Virgin and Her Daughters: Understanding the Vision and Transgressing New Territories

   • Theresa L. Torres

   Pages 133-160

9. Back Matter

   Pages 161-202

   PDF

Religion and social action is both empowering and limiting for women. This study shows the Guadalupanas' awareness of themselves as agents for change and their difficulties in understanding and maintaining their limited gendered roles within church and community.

• action
• awareness
• community
• gender
• religion
• women

"Torres, in the tradition of Gloria Anzaldúa, challenges women's communities to break free from 'desconocimientos' that limit their own agency. Accompanying the Guadalupanas of Kansas City, Torres provides a living and contemporary example of how a community of women navigate and gain consciousness about the structures that define, illuminate and restrict their identities. Once again the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe empowers marginalized communities to publicly proclaim their presence and the importance of their religio-cultural identity."

- Jeanette Rodriguez, Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, Seattle University, USA

'In this book, Chicana scholar Theresa Torres offers a lucid exploration of the role of the Guadalupanas in their neighborhood church in Kansas City; readers learn how the Guadalupanas' role while empowering was also limiting and how complex these roles play out in a community. The Paradox of Latina Religious Leadership in the Catholic Church is a contribution to religious studies, women's studies and fills a critical gap in the literature as there is little written about Mexican American women in the Midwest.'

- Norma Elia Cantú, Professor of Latina and Latino Studies, University of Missouri, Kansas City, USA

Theresa L. Torres is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, University of Missouri-Kansas City, USA.

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