Australian religious sister and academic
 
Maryanne P. Confoy RSC (born 15 April 1944) is an Australian religious Sister of Charity who has also been a teacher and scholar, working primarily in the areas of ministry and spirituality.
Early life and education.
Maryanne Confoy was born on 15 April 1944. She joined the Sisters of Charity in Australia, an order established by Mary Aikenhead and whose members have been working in education, health and community care since they first arrived in Australia in 1838. Confoy completed a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne and went on to further postgraduate studies at Boston College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Confoy's doctoral degree in theology and education was undertaken at Boston College. Her PhD thesis, titled "Adult faith development and Christian religious education" was completed in 1981.
Career.
Confoy has been a visiting professor at the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College. She was Professor of Pastoral Theology at the Jesuit Theological College and the United Faculty of Theology, part of what is now the University of Divinity.
Confoy’s publications include articles on spirituality and ministry, a biography on Australian novelist Morris West, books on spirituality and the contemplative life, priesthood, religious life and Christian ministry. She co-edited a volume called "Freedom and Entrapment: Women Thinking Theology", with Joan Nowotny and Dorothy A. Lee, which was published in 1995. After the publication of her book, "Religious Life and Priesthood", she was interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for a program on The Future of Priests and Nuns. This publication examines the implementation of the Vatican II documents on priesthood, training of priests, and religious life, and offers a vision and contemporary critique for the contemporary church. In 2010 she was interviewed for another ABC program on Reading on Vocation: Nuns.
Confoy is on the board of St Vincent’s Health Australia, a role she was appointed to on 6 February 2012. Other governance roles have included member of the Australian Catholic University Senate and Chair of Melbourne College of Divinity Board of Postgraduate Studies. She has been a Council member of Edmund Rice Education Australia, a member of the St Vincent's Foundation Board, and joined the LUCRF Community Program in February 2015.
Honours.
Confoy was made a Fellow of the Melbourne College of Divinity (now University of Divinity) in 2006.
She was awarded the Ignatian Companions Medal at the Jesuit Province Gathering held on Wednesday 24 April 2019 in Sydney. This award acknowledged Confoy's contribution to the mission of the Society of Jesus in Australia and for advancing the mission and formation of Jesuits in Australia and in Boston.
The Global Church Project included Confoy in its list of Australian and New Zealander Female Theologians you should get to know in 2020.
In 2020 Confoy was recognised as a Distinguished Alumni Award Winner at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Confoy was the first PhD graduate of the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College. The honour recognises Confoy's contribution to the life of the School through her teaching at the Summer Institute, and at STM's summer school.
References.
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