Celia Viggo Wexler (SMC 7T0) is a freelance journalist and author based in Alexandria, Virginia. She received the Governor-General’s medal for academic excellence in 1970 and earned a graduate degree in journalism from Point Park University, Pittsburgh in 1996.
I went to my St. Michael’s reunion mostly for work reasons. I was reluctant because all the women I’d kept in touch with, and whom I knew from my high school and college days, were not able to attend.
But thanks to the invaluable assistance of Lisa Webb, St. Michael’s manager of alumni affairs, I was invited to promote my book, “Catholic Women Confront Their Church: Stories of Hurt and Hope.” Lisa even created a “Meet the Author” event for me at the Dodig Family Coop! During a stressful time for her, she was unfailingly gracious and good-natured. (Fellow “Western” Ray Shady introduced us by email.)
But the event gave me so much more than the chance to sell books.
Everywhere I turned, there were opportunities to reach out and meet new people, or to reconnect with alums I hadn’t known well, but now had the chance to know better.
I visited a campus that was deeply welcoming, from the moment I entered the Loretto College chapel for Mass to the conclusion of the excellent alumni reception and dinner on Saturday night.
All the emotions I had attached to St. Michael’s came flooding back. This campus made me feel safe and accepted. I was the greenest of coeds, never having dated, bookish but absolutely clueless about the mores of the late ‘60s. In my home country, the United States, campuses exploded in demonstrations against the War in Vietnam.
I was on the side of the protestors, but appreciated that I was at a campus where the war did not impinge on my growing up, my excellent classes, my ability to think deeply, to make friends, and even write for The Mike, the college newspaper.
That sense of safety returned to me once again during reunion weekend. St. Michael’s felt like a refuge, albeit a brief one, from the aftermath of our recent presidential election. In my country, I had seen the rule of law crumble bit by bit each day as a new administration flouted laws and the U.S. constitution to not only try to bully Canada but also imperil immigrants, threaten journalists, and dismiss tens of thousands of dedicated civil servants.
But I felt more than safe at St. Michael’s, I felt known, appreciated. I met Dr. Michael Salvatori m(pictured in the accompanying photograph), Director of Continuing Education at the
university, whose zest for reaching out to the larger community with innovative courses was infectious. He let me know that he had started reading my book and how much he enjoyed it! I even had a delightful chat with President Dr. David Sylvester about his academic specialty, mediaeval history and economics, and his wife’s search for long-lost Caravaggios.
As it happened, just a few visitors came to the Coop to meet the author, when they could enjoy the gorgeous weather.
But some St. Michael’s staffers were kind enough to stop by and purchase books. l also gave a copy to one student, so curious about life and her place in the world, and so full of questions about her future. I thought the book might help.
I started writing my book in 2013, after the stern Pope Benedict XVI chastised women religious for their advocacy for social justice. I wasn’t sure I could remain a feminist, an accomplished professional who believed in women’s equality, and a Catholic. I needed guidance about how to resolve these doubts. So I looked for other women like me, who were struggling with the same challenge.
I found nine exceptional women from both Canada and the U.S., who told their stories freely, and spent hours with me, voicing their frustrations with the institutional church and its attitude towards women, yet also expressing their commitment to their Catholic faith.
Late last year, my publisher released the book as a paperback. Since the paperback came out, Pope Francis has died, and we now have a new pope, Leo XIV. We don’t know how he will perceive the role of women in the church. But I do know that voices of Catholic women are even more important at a time when women risk the progress they have made not only in the church, but in the world.
And I firmly believe that St. Michael’s College will help shape that future, training the next generation of women leaders and scholars.
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