Catching Fire

Joan Chittister is one of the most influential religious and social leaders of our time. For over 40 years she has advocated on behalf of peace, human rights, women's issues, and church renewal. A sought-after speaker and counselor, she is also the bestselling author of more than 50 books, hundreds of articles, and an online column for the National Catholic Reporter. She has received numerous writing awards and honors for her work, and is a noted international lecturer as well as a former elected fellow at St. Edmund's College, Cambridge University, England. Sister Joan was the featured guest of Oprah Winfrey on Super Soul Sunday in both 2015 and 2019. She has appeared on Meet the Press, 60 Minutes, CBS News, NOW with Bill Moyers, and numerous BBC and NPR programs. Joan Chittister currently serves as co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a partner organization of the UN, facilitating a worldwide network of women peace builders. She was an adviser for the groundbreaking report, "A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink," led by Maria Shriver (2014) and was a member of the TED Prize-sponsored "Council of Sages," an interfaith group that developed a Charter for Compassion (2009) being promulgated worldwide with all faith organizations. She served as president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an organization of the leaders of Catholic religious women in the US, president of the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses, and was prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie for 12 years. She received her doctorate in speech communications from Penn State University, the primary site of her archive collection. Joan Chittister is a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania. She is executive director of Benetvision, a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality, and the founder and animator of Monasteries of the Heart, a web-based movement sharing Benedictine spirituality with contemporary seekers. Learn more at joanchittister.org.