As Vicar Apostolic of North Carolina (1868–1872) and later Bishop of Richmond, our namesake James Cardinal Gibbons personally recruited orders of sisters to establish academies and parochial schools in areas with few Catholics. He repeatedly sought out religious communities to provide teachers, recognizing that without these women, Catholic education in mission territory would be impossible.
Although much has changed in our nation in the past two-and-a-half centuries, we are still in mission territory. The need for Catholic women to contribute to the educational mission of the Church–particularly within her colleges and universities–has never been more urgent. The Gibbons Institute is therefore proud to announce the establishment of the American Academy of Catholic Women (AACW).
The American Academy of Catholic Women is a community of female scholars and students dedicated to integrating their Catholic faith with excellence in their academic vocations. Drawing inspiration from the Church’s rich tradition of elevating the dignity of woman and the family—and echoing the profound insights of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), who called for a generation of “women who dedicate their lives to the purpose of educating youth, women who are fully aware of the teachings of the faith and of its historical background,” the AACW forms and supports Catholic women for faithful service in Catholic and secular colleges and universities, as well as in academic-adjacent fields and institutions.
Recognizing the unique challenges and graces of women’s vocations, the Academy particularly seeks to encourage and uplift its members as they navigate the demands of academic life alongside motherhood or consecrated religious life. In doing so, it promotes a lived model of intellectual life across these callings, fostering noble service to the Church, the academy, and the world.
The women the AACW seeks to serve are those who have taken on “the singular mission of the working woman,” according to Edith Stein, which is “to fuse her feminine calling with her vocational calling” in an academic setting.1 Such women are living examples of those for whom John Paul II gives thanks at the conclusion of Mulieris Dignitatem: “women who watch over the human persons in the family” and, when the carrying-out of their primary duties allow2, continue to “work professionally” in their respective academic disciplines on campus or within their homes.3 This includes women rearing children, as well as those who embrace spiritual motherhood as religious sisters or single persons. Women in all states of life, in their striving to grow in holiness through service within the home and within the broader community, often find themselves “burdened by a great social responsibility,”4 a burden which, through their adherence to Christ, is made light.5 The AACW exists to help Catholic academic women at all stages shoulder this joyful burden.
To that end, the AACW plans to carry out its mission through a range of initiatives, including:
- Events and conferences that bring together scholars for prayerful dialogue and intellectual exchange;
- Fellowships and awards to support emerging and established female Catholic academics;
- Virtual reading groups and field-specific writing workshops;
- Networking and mentorship opportunities;
- An advisory board to guide colleges and universities interested in nurturing women scholars;
- Publications advancing Catholic perspectives on female scholarship, vocation, and human development;
- A dedicated AACW website as a hub for resources and community;
- Collaboration with international sister organizations to extend this mission globally.
The AACW’s membership will initially be open to Catholic women serving as lecturers, researchers, or professors in any scholarly capacity (full-time, part-time, or on leave) at any American college or university. Membership opportunities will later be extended to include Catholic women writers and authors, as well as Catholic professional women in a variety of fields. It is hoped that the branches of the Academy will provide nourishment and community for women whose particular needs have gone unnoticed until now.
This new initiative renews our commitment to Cardinal Gibbons’ founding vision: a university where faith and reason illuminate the path to authentic progress, and where every vocation—especially those entrusted to women as bearers of life, educators of souls, and stewards of culture—is honored and empowered. The guiding principles of the Academy are drawn from the Church herself: her scriptures, her magisterial documents, and approved writings of the saints, especially those of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, our patron, Edith Stein. This commitment is evidenced by the Academy’s Statements of Faith and of Feminine Vocation, which all members must affirm. In affirming these statements, the members commit themselves anew each year to defend the Church’s conception of the dignity of the feminine vocation against unsound theories of female empowerment.6 Above all, the members of the AACW shall seek to serve, “not as inferiors, but as vital helper[s]”7 and humbly seek the just conditions under which female Catholic academics can serve most effectively.
Catherine Ruth Pakaluk (PhD Economics), Executive Director of the Gibbons Institute and Associate Professor at The Catholic University of America, will serve as the AACW’s First President. Matalyn Vennerstrom (PhD Politics), Corresponding Fellow with the Gibbons Institute, will serve as the first Director of the AACW.
To apply for membership, sign up for news, and to support our mission, visit https://americanacademyofcatholicwomen.org/.
Kindly direct all inquiries to Matalyn Vennerstrom at vennerstromm@cua.edu.
We invite Catholic women scholars, students, faculty, and supporters across the nation and beyond to join us in this exciting endeavor. May Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, intercede for the American Academy of Catholic Women as it advances the Church’s mission in the academy and society!
