Noted theologian Dr. Rosemary Radford Ruether was reported to be improving after what was termed "a bad accident possibly caused by a stroke," according to United Methodist-related Claremont School of Theology on Aug. 25.
Claremont School of Theology Photo
Rosemary Radford Ruether
Dr. Rosemary Radford Ruether
Facebook posts from Claremont, where Dr. Ruether serves as a visiting professor, reported her improvement on Aug. 26.
"With an abundance of gratitude and caution, we are happy to share with you that our dear friend, Dr. Rosemary Radford Ruether, Visiting Professor of Feminist Theology at Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University, is improving. She is moving out of the intensive care unit though she will not be able to return to teaching for some time," the post said.
Dr. Ruether's teaching duties have been suspended for the foreseeable future. No word was given on whether another Claremont faculty member will take over her classes and academic advising during her recovery.
In addition to her seminal work, "Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology," she is author, co-author and/or editor of 36 books and more than 600 articles on feminism, eco-feminism, the Bible, and Christianity. News of her accident brought an outpouring of online prayers for her recovery and tributes to Dr. Ruether's major influence in feminist, and later eco-feminist, theology since the late 1960s. Women and men alike, many of them ordained ministers, attributed their personal and professional viewpoints on religion and society to Dr. Ruether's scholarly works and public activism.
A self-professed Catholic, Dr. Ruether nonetheless has been "never one confined by the institution," as her colleague Mary E. Hunt wrote in a 2009 National Catholic Reporter essay. During her long career Dr. Ruether has found congenial academic homes with United Methodist seminaries, including a long-term post as Georgia Harkness Professor of Applied Theology at United Methodist-related Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill., and now as a visiting professor at Claremont.
Claremont invites message of support for Dr. Ruether, her family, friends and colleagues to be posted on its Facebook page.