Donnelly, Dody H.

Biography / Administrative History

"The essence of being human is learning how to love," she said. "Prayer is a relationship, a love affair...Change your image of God to God as lover. God is in the act of constant seduction--we are in the act of constant resistance." (quoted in Mark I. Pinsky, "For an Ex-Nun, a 'Radical' Approach to Sex and Spirituality," Los Angeles Times, October 19, 1985, Part II, 15.)

Dody [Dorothy] H. Donnelly (June 29, 1920 - ) became the first full time woman professor at Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley and Graduate Theological Union in 1971. She served as professor at several seminaries within Graduate Theological Union and was a Catholic leader in women's rights, world tourism, organization and prison reform.

Donnelly grew up in San Francisco where she attended Corpus Christi (grade) School and Ecole Notre Dame des Victoires (secondary school). After graduation in 1938, she joined the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Orange as Sister Gertrude Joseph Donnelly. She received an AB in English Literature, Dominican College of San Raphael (1950); MA and Ph.D. in the classics, Catholic University of America (1962); Fullbright Scholarship, American Academy, Rome, Italy (1962); and Th.D., Pacific School of Religion (1973). In 1968, she received considerable press as the first Catholic nun to live on campus at a Protestant seminary.

In 1971, while working towards her Th.D. at Pacific School of Religion, she became a full time professor at Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. She later taught at San Francisco Theological Seminary, Starr King School for the Ministry, Pacific School of Religion, Holy Names University and the Fromm Institute. She served as director of a Lilly Foundation grant for Religious Formation at PSR. During the eighties, she left the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Orange but continued as an associate with the order.

Donnelly served as consultant to pastoral and educational organizations concerned with program design and team building. She led retreats and workshops, as she writes, "with a focus on ecological theology and a cosmic, earth centered spirituality." She was active in Amnesty International, Center for Responsible Tourism and training those who help train and teach prisoners. She was a founding member of Broken Bud, an organization fighting child prostitution in World Tourism. She became particularly interested in Western mysticism during the later part of her career.

Her books include Radical Love-An Approach to Sexual Spirituality (1986), Team: Theory and Practice of Team Ministry (1977), Sister Apostle (1964), St. Thomas More's Responsio ad Lutherum -Introduction and translation from the Latin (1962), and How (1960).

From the guide to the Dody H. Donnelly papers, 1930-2007, (The Graduate Theological Union. Library.)