Title:Alumna chronicles unsung Catholic leaders

Sister Christine Schenk (N’68) is passionate about telling the stories of unrecognized female faith leaders—and she credits Georgetown for developing her core research and writing skills.

Schenk’s third nonfiction book, Bending Toward Justice: Sr. Kate Kuenstler and the Struggle for Parish Rights, recounts the life of close friend Sister Kate Kuenstler and her leadership in parish rights advocacy.

Financial issues, the priest shortage, and declining attendance in the U.S. Catholic church in the early 2000s led to the closure or absorption of many parishes, leaving parishioners without spiritual guidance and community support. Kuenstler, who studied canon law in Rome, raised awareness of parishioner rights and guided appeals against parish mergers and church closures. Her canonical advocacy led the Vatican to change its parish reconfiguration procedures. As a result, Kuenstler helped 47 parishes and churches win their appeals and remain open.

Schenk—a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter and the founding director of the nonprofit FutureChurch, which increases engagement of faithgoers across the Catholic Church—had hoped to co-author the book with Kuenstler; however, Kuenstler became ill and passed away in 2019.

Schenk was able to conduct extensive one-on-one interviews before Kuenstler’s death.“I always try as much as possible to have the story come through the voice of the person I’m writing about,” Schenk says.

She credits her first-year English course with the late Keith Fort, professor emeritus of English, for teaching her to write, research, and seamlessly integrate quotes.

“I wanted to be a good writer, and I don’t think I would’ve been if it hadn’t been for his careful dedication in developing our foundational skills,” Schenk says.

At a time when nursing education was often vocational, Schenk chose Georgetown because she could have a full liberal arts education while pursuing her nursing degree.

In addition to preparing her for a career in nurse-midwifery, Georgetown “opened up a whole new world,” she says. She recalls listening to famous international theologians like Karl Rahner, S.J., and John Courtney Murray, S.J., speak on campus for Georgetown’s 175th Anniversary.

As she crafted Bending Toward Justice, Schenk also connected with Carole Sargent, director of Georgetown’s Office of Scholarly Publications, and Richard Brown, former director of Georgetown University Press.

While the book is aimed toward a Catholic audience, particularly worshipers worried about the future of their parishes, Schenk hopes the book appeals to a wider audience. “It’s a justice story,” she says.