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	Good Catholic Girls: How Women Are Leading the Fight to Change the Church By Sabrina Ravipinto U.S. Newswire [New York] February 14, 2005 NEW YORK, Feb. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by Harper Collins Publishers on Angela Bonavoglia's new book "Good Catholic Girls": "I am no innocent bystander. I am a woman with a history, a woman scarred, a woman at her wit's end. I abide the women in this book. I echo their words. I applaud their patience. And I remind this Church how fortunate it is to have such brilliant and devoted women clamoring for the Catholic hierarchy to open its doors, bring the wizard out of the sacristy, rethink the sacred with women in mind, and make a new Catholic Church." -- Angela Bonavoglia So says journalist and author Angela Bonavoglia in the introduction to her explosive new book GOOD CATHOLIC GIRLS. The recently exposed transgressions of priests within the Catholic Church stunned the faithful, implicated the hierarchy, and sent a new surge of energy through the progressive Church reform movement. Despite the movement's growing profile, only recently has the world learned that Catholic women are the driving force behind reform. GOOD CATHOLIC GIRLS is a lively account of these amazing and courageous women, as seen through Bonavoglia's eyes. They include Joan Chittister, the Benedictine nun who refused to obey a Vatican order not to speak at the first international conference of women's ordination groups worldwide; Mary Ramerman, ordained a Catholic priest before 3,000 jubilant supporters in a packed theater in Rochester, New York; Frances Kissling, whose fight for women's reproductive rights has shaken the Church at its highest levels; priest abuse survivor Barbara Blaine, who created the most powerful voice for victims, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests; and Sister Jeannine Gramick, who built a pioneering ministry to gays and lesbians, despite Vatican orders to ban her work. Backed by legions of supporters worldwide, these and other Catholic women are rethinking Catholic theology, changing the face of ministry, and resurrecting the lost lives of female Church leaders. They are working to open ordination to all, challenging the Church's sexual repression, and calling the Church to openness and accountability. Their work is brave, provocative and vital, for what becomes of women in the Catholic Church will determine what becomes of the Church itself. As Bonavoglia shows in this compelling book, the hierarchy ignores them at its peril. About the Author: Angela Bonavoglia is an award-winning journalist and author, nationally recognized for her writing about women's issues and Catholic Church reform.
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