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Sister Joan D. Chittister, OSB (born 26 April 1936) is a Benedictine nun and an international lecturer on topics concerning women, the poor, peace and justice, and contemporary issues in church and society. In her more than 50 years as a nun she has authored 35 books, including recent books such as: Welcome to the Wisdom of the World; The Ten Commandments, Laws of the Heart; The Tent of Abraham - Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians and Muslims; In Search of Belief; Called to Question and The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible. She has won seven Catholic Press Association Awards for her books. She writes a weekly web column for the National Catholic Reporter called From Where I Stand. [1] In 2006 she was an invited panelist on Meet the Press with Tim Russert. In 2004, she was a guest on Now with Bill Moyers and during the funeral of Pope John Paul II and in April 2005 she was a commentator for the BBC from Rome for the election of Pope Benedict XVI as John Paul II's successor. She is a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania, where she served as prioress of the community for 12 years. Sister Joan is the founder and current executive director of Benetvision, a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality that is also located in Erie. She is co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a UN-sponsored organization of women faith leaders, working for peace, especially in the Middle East. Sister Chittister earned her masters degree from the University of Notre Dame and her doctorate in speech-communication theory from Penn State University. She also served a year as an invited-fellow at Cambridge University. She has also received eleven honorary doctorates and numerous awards, including the US Catholic magazine award for Furthering the Cause of Women in the Church, the Thomas Merton Award by the Merton Center, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Penn State University, and the Thomas Dooley Award from the alumni association of the University of Notre Dame.
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