Radical Sanctity

This book is about four radical and daring Catholic women – radical and daring because they chose to enter the American maelstrom of race. One, Katharine Drexel, became a saint in 2000. The others, Dorothy Day, Catherine de Hueck Doherty, and Sister Thea Bowman were all declared Servants of God – the title bestowed by the Catholic Church on those on the first rung of official sanctity. Of the four women, three are white, one is black; two were nuns; two were laywomen; three were converts; two were mothers; one was divorced; one lived in a common law marriage and had an illegitimate child as well as an abortion and a suicide attempt. What makes for sanctity? Clearly, it doesn’t mean obeying all the rules!