Ada María Isasi-Díaz (March 22, 1943 – May 13, 2012) was a Cuban-American

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

who served as professor emerita of

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and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...

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. As a Hispanic theologian, she was an innovator of Hispanic theology in general and specifically of mujerista theology. She was founder and co-director of the Hispanic Institute of Theology at Drew University until her retirement in 2009.

Early life and education

Born on March 22, 1943, Isasi-Díaz was born and raised in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba, to a

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family. Her parents were Josefina Díaz Isasi and Domingo G. Isasi-Battle. She graduated from Merici Academy in 1960 and arrived in the United States as a political refugee later that year. She entered the Order of St. Ursula and earned a

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degree from the

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in New York. In 1967, she went to

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, Peru, as a missionary for three years. Upon returning to the United States in 1969, she left the order and taught high school for several years in

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, then lived in Spain for 16 months before returning again to the United States. She settled in

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, New York. Isasi-Díaz earned a master of arts in

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from SUNY Brockport. In 1983, she continued her graduate studies at Union Theological Seminary in

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where she earned both a Master of Divinity degree and a

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degree with a concentration in Christian ethics in 1990. In 2006, she was awarded a Doctor of Divinity ''honoris causa'' from Colgate University.

Career

Her studies and involvement in the feminist theological movement led her to begin to develop a theology from the perspective of Latinas in the United States, which led to the development of mujerista theology. This theology included their religious experiences, practices, and responses to the daily struggles of life. Early in her career Ada was very involved in the

women's ordination The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...

movement within the Catholic Church. Because of this, Latina women living in the US who are keenly aware of how sexism, ethnic prejudice, and economic oppression subjugate them, use the term ''mujerista'' to refer to themselves and use mujerista theology to refer to the explanations of their faith and its role in their struggle for liberation. She was on the faculty of the theological and graduate schools of Drew University from 1991 to 2009. She was a panelist and occasional contributor to the "On Faith" online discussions at ''

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'' and ''

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''.

Mujerista theology

The term ''Mujerista'' was coined by Isasi-Díaz. Mujerista is both a self-identification as well as being a conceptual framework, used in thinking and understanding people, ideas and movements. Latina women living in the US who are aware of how sexism, ethnic prejudice, and economic oppression limit their wholeness of life, use the term ''mujerista'' to refer to themselves as well as to mujerista theology, a type of

liberation theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". I ...

that categorizes their faith and its role in their struggle for liberation from distinct experiences of subjugation.

Controversy

In 2007 she became an unofficial church pastor after the

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closed Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in East Harlem, the parish church she attended while in seminary. A group of parishioners began holding protests and prayer meetings outside the building, but eventually it became a neighborhood institution where Isasi-Díaz delivered sermons. In March 2012, Isasi-Díaz's invitation as a keynote speaker at the ''Vanderhaar Symposium'' at

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was canceled due to her support for the ordination of women to the Catholic priesthood and because she ministered at her nephew's

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

ceremony at a Unitarian Church in Washington in 2009.

Death

She died, after receiving her

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. They may be administered to those awaiting execution, mortall ...

, in New York on May 13, 2012, from cancer at age 69. Her

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was held at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in

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, on 19 May 2012. Later that day she was buried at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery.

Publications

*''En la Lucha/In the Struggle: Elaborating a Mujerista Theology'' (Second edition, Fortress Press, 2003) *''La Lucha Continues: Mujerista Theology'' (Orbis Books, 2004) *''Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the 21st Century'' (Orbis Books, 1996) * Sixth chapter of ''Transforming the Faiths of Our Fathers: Women Who Changed American Religion'', edited by Ann Braude. (2004)

Co-edited/Co-authored books

* Ada María Isasi-Díaz and Fernando F. Segovia, ed. ''Hispanic/Latino Theology: Challenge and Promise'' (Fortress Press, 2006). * A. Isasi-Díaz and Yolanda Tarango, ''Hispanic Women: Prophetic Voice in the Church'' (Harper & Row, 1988)

References

External links

Faculty page at Drew University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isasi-Diaz, Ada Maria 1943 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians 21st-century American women writers American ethicists American feminists American women non-fiction writers American writers of Cuban descent Christian ethicists Christian feminist theologians College of New Rochelle alumni Cuban emigrants to the United States Cuban Roman Catholics Cuban women writers Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Drew University faculty Feminist studies scholars LGBT and Catholicism Cuban LGBT rights activists Liberation theologians Newsweek people Ordination of women and the Catholic Church People from Havana The Washington Post people Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Ursulines Women Christian theologians Women religious writers Women's ordination activists World Christianity scholars Catholic feminists American women academics Women civil rights activists