The Intellectual, Catholic Woman and the Radical Act of Thinking
When I first set out to create this journal, I thought that there would be little to no interest in a journal that is written, edited, and published by intellectual, Catholic women. In a world of countless digital blogs, glossy magazines, and academic journals, did we really need a space for intellectual, Catholic women?
It turned out that the answer was: Yes.
Modern culture often overlooks or misunderstands the unique feminine approach to the world, professional life, and scholarship. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, interactions stripped of emotional nuance are increasingly valued; analytical scholarship—while vital—can miss the depth of insight that intellectual women offer; in business, many successful and strong women feel pressured to adopt a more aggressive posture to be taken seriously; in publishing, a woman’s distinctive voice is sometimes muted in the editing process; and some modern feminist movements call for the Church to redefine or discard the traditional understanding of womanhood.
Meanwhile, as blogs and headlines replace meaningful dialogue, to think—truly to think—with integrity and presence has become countercultural. To think as an intellectual, Catholic woman who is faithful to the Magisterium? That is nothing short of radical.
In an age marked by nihilism and noise, The Better Part offers the image of Mary of Bethany as a radical woman. She defied cultural norms (and her sister’s prodding) to sit at the feet of Christ to contemplate Truth. Mary’s story is a story of hope. She dared to claim her seat as an intellectual contemporary of the men around her, and Christ acknowledged her efforts. Feminine scholarship itself—when rooted in faith, reason, and lived experience—also becomes an act of hope. It refuses despair. It refuses cynicism. It refuses reduction.
To read carefully, to argue generously, to contemplate deeply, and to create something beautiful—these are not luxuries. These are the means by which culture is renewed.
In the Company of Women Who Think
St. Catherine of Siena, bold mystic and intellectual advisor to popes,
wrote with blazing insight long before women had a place in universities.
“Preach the Truth as if you had a million voices: it is silence that kills the world”
St. Catherine of Siena,
MEDITATION 658
St. Edith Stein, philosopher and martyr,
shaped modern phenomenology before she took vows as a Carmelite nun and was martyred in Auschwitz.
“Woman naturally seeks to embrace that which is living, personal, and whole.”
St. Edith Stein,
“The Ethos of Women’s Professions”
Neither woman waited for permission. Both knew what it meant to think—and to suffer—in truth.
The Better Part seeks to publish modern Catholic women who continue the work of women such as Catherine of Siena and Edith Stein. We seek to publish women who are not afraid of complexity and not afraid to speak boldly in the Truth.
The intellectual, Catholic woman is poised to renew the modern culture because only she can approach the world in a truly holistic way; she sees the whole, rather than merely the parts; and she integrates the whole into the rich Catholic Intellectual Tradition.
Her mind is not trapped in ivory towers—it’s in the classroom, the courtroom, the kitchen, the clinic, and the lab.
Here you will find writers who work in disciplines across the spectrum: literature, theology, politics, economics, medicine, architecture, design, education, law, philosophy, art. Our authors and subscribers are faithful Catholic women who read. Who study. Who make. Who mother. Who wrestle with difficult questions.
We are women who believe that to think well is not only permitted.
To think well is genuinely feminine.
And it is faithful.
Your Seat at the Table
To all intellectual, Catholic women who are searching for a space to belong: this is your space; this journal is your living conversation–your contribution to the Church and to the world.
Come sit with us. At the feet of Christ. In the company of women. In pursuit of all that is good, true, and beautiful.
Welcome to The Better Part.
At His feet. In her voice.