Cuban Feminist Theology: Visions and Praxis
By (Author) Ofelia Ortega
Foreword by Mary E. Hunt
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
28th February 2022
United States
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Christianity
Theology
Religious aspects of sexuality, gender and relationships
230.082097291
Hardback
324
Width 160mm, Height 229mm, Spine 29mm
658g
Cuban Feminist Theology: Visions and Praxis offers rare and much needed insights in essays that span the entirety of Cuban theologian Ofelia Miriam Ortegas career. The chapters address the social, economic, and political realities in Cuba, the Caribbean and Latin America as the contexts of Cuban feminist theology; the challenges of ecumenism; the urgency of feminist and liberationist theologies amongst patriarchal and oppressive systems throughout the world; and the importance of theological education.
This is the book I expected from a Cuban feminist revolutionary theologian. A liberating theology, ecumenical and located in a Cuban context, but without taking her eyes off the global community. Through Ofelia Ortega's essays, we learn about women's participation and leadership in churches, theology, and theological education in Cuba and the world. This is important because little is known about Cuba's theological richness. But the author, a theologian and activist pastor, does not write only for Cuba; in each chapter we find urgent feminist theological challenges to all women in Latin America and the Caribbean. Thank you, Ofelia, for your book!
-- Elsa Tmez, Latin American Biblical University, emeritaSince the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959, many groups have imagined the gradual extinction of religions on this extraordinary Island. However, on the contrary, the revolution provided a rethinking of different beliefs and especially a rethinking done by women from their own world. They opened the patriarchal heritage, especially in Christianity, to a feminist perspective showing the need for a theological revolution within the social revolution. This was particularly the concern of Oflia Ortega's work and her merit, especially in this book. Through it, we can apprehend the different aspects of feminist theology in dialogue with the multiple religious expressions that proliferate in Cuba and with the hermeneutical advances developed in many other countries. I strongly recommend this book, which will help us to better understand the diversity and challenges in the present century.
-- Ivone Gebara, author of Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and LiberationWhat Ofelia Ortega has written here is an historical and theological treasure from a woman who is totally immersed in her country and culture and has lived through the Cuban revolution throughout its various stages. In this work, Ofelia shares her lifelong experienceand she does so with a scholarly depth and a warmth that makes the reader feel as if she is with a good friend.
-- Mary Judith Ress, ecofeminist theologianThis collection of essays was written by a feminist theologian, one of the leading personalities of the Protestant and Ecumenical communities in Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The careful reading of this book is an excellent introduction to a fundamental matter, a very important subject in theological education today.
-- Marcos Antonio Ramos, former senior research associate of the Institute of Cuban Studies, University of MiamiThis is a book of compassion, full of spirituality, Liberation Theology, contextual awareness and feminist inspiration. Here is a unique voice, filled with scholarly knowledge, global awareness, dedication to justice and the joy of life. A global citizen writes with commitment to community thinking and global sisterhood; she is deeply rooted in the lives of Caribbean women. The worldwide ecumenical thinking that shapes this book reflects the best of contemporary theology.
-- Brbel Wartenberg-PotterOfelia Ortega is a theologian, professor, and pastor of the Prebyterian Reformed Church in Cuba. She currently leads the Christian Institute for Gender Studies and is a professor emerita of the SET.