Margaret Isabella Mary Hebblethwaite (née Speaight; born 16 June 1951, in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) is a British writer, journalist, activist and religious worker. The daughter of

wood engraver Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and pr ...

Mary Olive (née Mudd) and historian George Speaight, Hebblethwaite is the sister of Antony Speaight, QC. She read theology and philosophy at Lady Margaret Hall,

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, and at the Gregorian University in Rome. In 1974, she met and married

Peter Hebblethwaite Peter Hebblethwaite (30 September 1930 – 18 December 1994) was a British Jesuit priest and writer. After leaving the priesthood, he became an editor, journalist (' Vaticanologist') and biographer. Life Hebblethwaite was born in Ashton-unde ...

, a Jesuit who left the priesthood after a decade in the ministry. After laicization, he worked as an editor, journalist and Vaticanologist. The couple married and had three children. Peter Hebblethwaite died in 1994. Margaret Hebblethwaite worked from 1984-94 in prison chaplaincy, catechesis and parish work in Oxford. From 1991 to 2000 she was assistant editor of ''

The Tablet ''The Tablet'' is a Catholic international weekly review published in London. Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017. History ''The Tablet'' was launched in 1840 by a Quaker convert ...

''. Since 2000 she has been a freelance missionary and educationalist in Santa María, Paraguay, pioneering and supporting community work in education. She speaks regularly at the

Greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...

Festivals. Hebblethwaite has written several books, including: ''Motherhood and God'', ''Finding God in All Things'', ''Base Communities: An Introduction'', ''Paraguay: Brandt Travel Guides'' and ''Conversations on Christian Feminism'', co-written with academic

Elaine Storkey Elaine Storkey (''née'' Lively; born 1944) is an English philosopher, sociologist, and theologian. She is known for her lecturing, writing and broadcasting. Early years and education Born Elaine Lively on 1 October 1944, Storkey is the eldest of ...

. She met

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and has had regular dealings with him, having conversed with him in

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...

s after Sunday mass. She has described him as "not only passionately committed to the gospel of poverty, but also highly intelligent and cultured." In 2005, when he was in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for that year's conclave, she "dropped off a letter for him." He also provided her with some contacts, including "a well-informed Argentinian journalist in Rome, and his then press secretary, Guillermo Marcó."

References

External links

''From Theology to Travel: The Journey of Margaret Hebblethwaite''

* ttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/oct/30/christianity-catholicism#start-of-comments Commentary by Margaret Hebblethwaite in ''The Guardian'' on evangelical Christianity
Bibliography at bookfinder.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hebblethwaite, Margaret 1951 births Living people Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford British humanitarians British journalists British religious writers English Roman Catholics Female Christian missionaries Writers from London