Theresa Kane

Theresa Kane RSM ( Margaret Joan Kane; September 24, 1936 – August 22, 2024) was an American Mercy Sister, who held heterodox opinions regarding the ordination of women within the Catholic Church.

Biography One of seven children born to Irish migrants to the United States, Kane grew up in The Bronx, New York. In 1992, she was appointed administrator of Mercy College (later Mercy University), and she was made an associate professor of behavioral sciences in 1996. As part of her short, televised address, she stated: "the Church in its struggle to be faithful to its call for reverence and dignity for all persons must respond by providing the possibility of women as persons being included in all ministries of our Church". In addition to her belief that women should be ordained, she was a feminist and "among the first prominent church figures to champion L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics".