Marian Ronan

Marian Ronan is the author of Tracing the Sign of the Cross: Sexuality, Mourning, and the Future of American Catholicsm. From an interview which originally appeared in EqualwRites (EwR) and now available on the publisher's website:

EwR: Can we begin by asking the significance of its title, Tracing the Sign of the Cross?

Marian Ronan: The title, Tracing the Sign of the Cross, refers to the centrality of the cross in the Christian faith, but also, in the white ethnic immigrant American Catholicism in which I and many other American Catholics have our roots. The word "tracing" calls to mind "making" the sign of the cross, but also suggests that in our time, that is, during the years since Vatican II, there has become something elusive about the cross, something demanding our attention now.

EwR: And the subtitle elaborates on that "something"?

MR: Yes. The subtitle: "Sexuality, Mourning, and the Future of American Catholicism" expands on this theme. "Mourning" is the word most obviously linked to the cross. But it also signifies the wider approach that I use in my book, a way of understanding human experience. According to this approach,...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue