A Longing for Wisdom

Patricia S. Taylor Edmisten was raised and educated with the traditions of the Catholic faith. But in later years, she began to question this faith on which she had relied for most of her life. In A Longing for Wisdom, she probes her conscience and presents writings about women, particularly their diminished role in the Catholic Church.

In this collection of poetry, prose, memoir, and essays, Edmisten addresses a range of issues relating to women:


The uniqueness of womens talents, burdens, and sorrow
The failure of the hierarchy of mainstream churches to recognize the contributions of women in the Churchs history
The widely accepted relegation of women to peripheral rather than central roles within churches
The unexamined unease the hierarchy and some priests exhibit toward sexualitytheir own and womenscontributing to injustice within the Church and society

Challenging, thought-provoking, and inspiring self-examination, A Longing for Wisdom calls for Church reform in an era where conventional wisdom has taken precedence over the wisdom of Christ.