Cuban Feminist Theology

This is the book I expected from a Cuban feminist revolutionary theologian. A liberating theology, ecumenical and located in a Cuban context, but without taking her eyes off the global community. Through Ofelia Ortega's essays, we learn about women's participation and leadership in churches, theology, and theological education in Cuba and the world. This is important because little is known about Cuba's theological richness. But the author, a theologian and activist pastor, does not write only for Cuba; in each chapter we find urgent feminist theological challenges to all women in Latin America and the Caribbean. Thank you, Ofelia, for your book!

-- Elsa Támez, Latin American Biblical University, emerita

Since the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959, many groups have imagined the gradual extinction of religions on this extraordinary Island. However, on the contrary, the revolution provided a rethinking of different beliefs and especially a rethinking done by women from their own world. They opened the patriarchal heritage, especially in Christianity, to a feminist perspective showing the need for a theological revolution within the social revolution. This was particularly the concern of Ofélia Ortega's work and her merit, especially in this book. Through it, we can apprehend the different aspects of feminist theology in dialogue with the multiple religious expressions that proliferate in Cuba and with the hermeneutical advances developed in many other countries. I strongly recommend this book, which will help us to better understand the diversity and challenges in the present century.

-- Ivone Gebara, author of Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation

What Ofelia Ortega has written here is an historical and theological treasure from a woman who is totally immersed in her country and culture and has lived through the Cuban revolution throughout its various stages. In this work, Ofelia shares her lifelong experience—and she does so with a scholarly depth and a warmth that makes the reader feel as if she is with a good friend.

-- Mary Judith Ress, ecofeminist theologian

This collection of essays was written by a feminist theologian, one of the leading personalities of the Protestant and Ecumenical communities in Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The careful reading of this book is an excellent introduction to a fundamental matter, a very important subject in theological education today.

-- Marcos Antonio Ramos, former senior research associate of the Institute of Cuban Studies, University of Miami

This is a book of compassion, full of spirituality, Liberation Theology, contextual awareness and feminist inspiration. Here is a unique voice, filled with scholarly knowledge, global awareness, dedication to justice and the joy of life. A global citizen writes with commitment to community thinking and global sisterhood; she is deeply rooted in the lives of Caribbean women. The worldwide ecumenical thinking that shapes this book reflects the best of contemporary theology.

-- Bärbel Wartenberg-Po