{{short description|American nun (1920–2013)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use American English|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Ann Patrick Ware | birth_date = 1920 | birth_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | death_date = {{Death year and age|2013|1920}} | alma_mater = Webster College | organization = Sisters of Loretto | known_for = Feminist activism | title = }} '''Sr. Ann Patrick Ware''', SL (1920 – 2013) was an American Catholic religious sister and notable for her outspoken feminist activism in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name=":0" />

== Activism == Ware was an active participant in the organization, National Coalition for American Nuns.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Community |first=Loretto |date=2013-02-23 |title=Remembrance of the Life of Sister Ann Patrick Ware SL |url=https://www.lorettocommunity.org/remembrance-of-the-life-of-sister-ann-patrick-ware-sl/ |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=Loretto Community |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1982 she appeared on ''The Phil Donahue Show'', defending her support for speaking out about abortion rights and voicing her opposition to the Hyde Amendment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Loretto and the National Coalition of American Nuns |url=https://www.lorettocommunity.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/women.movement.pdf}}</ref> She received significant criticism after her appearance on the Donahue show and unapologetically wrote the following in ''Ms.'' magazine, "None of the constraints of civil discourse seem to apply when this subject is discussed. Charity, the end-all and be-all of the Christian faith, in these hearts is dead for all except fetuses."<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2013-03-19 |title=Obituary of Sister Ann Pat Ware: Professor, translator, feminist |url=https://www.stlpr.org/arts/2013-03-18/obituary-of-sister-ann-pat-ware-professor-translator-feminist |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=STLPR |language=en}}</ref> In 1989, Ware worked with women in prisons through the New York organization, Institute for Women Today.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brozan |first=Nadine |date=1989-11-04 |title=O'Connor Proposes Order of Nuns To Fight Abortion and Euthanasia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/04/nyregion/o-connor-proposes-order-of-nuns-to-fight-abortion-and-euthanasia.html |access-date=2025-03-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== National Council of Churches of Christ === Ann Patrick Ware was an active member of the National Council of Churches<ref>{{Cite web |last=McGivern |first=Mary Ann |title=On Aspiring to Sainthood |url=https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/aspiring-sainthood |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=National Catholic Reporter |language=en}}</ref> and was involved with the group as far back as the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Charlotte |date=1981-06-30 |title=FEMINISTS TRYING TO DEAL WITH RELIGIONS' CONFINES |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/30/nyregion/feminists-trying-to-deal-with-religions-confines.html |access-date=2025-03-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She was the first Catholic nun to be appointed as a permanent staff member of the organization in 1968.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 19, 1974 |title=Annual Festival of Faith Service is Scheduled for Sunday Afternoon |work=The Times Leader}}</ref> That year she became a theological consultant to Church Women United.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1968-08-09 |title=Ann Pat to National Council of Churches 1968 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-ann-pat-to-natio/8221782/ |access-date=2025-03-10 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |pages=8}}</ref>

In 1980 she served as one of their top theology executives.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Mohr |first=Rev. Joseph |date=December 13, 1980 |title=Revision May Change Bible's Meeting |work=The Morning Call}}</ref> As part of her work with this group she was unafraid to call out sexism she saw within the church. In March 1980 she was quoted as saying, "The scriptures are unredeemably sexist. Even though here and there women may appear in favorable light, the overwhelming stance of writers towards women is that they are inferior to men, weak, needing protection and foolish. Wickedness in a woman is worse than in a man."<ref name=":1" />

Ware also served as an associate director for the Commission on Faith and Order.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ware |first=Ann Patrick |date=1974 |title=Becoming Who We Are |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24457878 |journal=CrossCurrents |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=32–42 |issn=0011-1953}}</ref> She resigned from National Council of Churches in 1980 after voicing opposition to official positions of the Catholic Church.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Catholic Northwest Progress 8 February 1980 — The Catholic News Archive |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=CATHNWP19800208-01.2.10.6&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------- |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=thecatholicnewsarchive.org}}</ref> In the mid-1980s she worked part time for Church Women United.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Midwives of the future: American sisters tell their story |date=1985 |publisher=Leaven Press |isbn=978-0-934134-11-8 |editor-last=Ware |editor-first=Ann P. |location=Kansas City, MO}}</ref>

== Political beliefs ==

=== Pluralist Statement on Abortion === In 1984, Ware was one of the signers of the ad A Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CATHOLIC COMMITTEE ON PLURALISM AND ABORTION |url=https://www.sturdyroots.org/file/voices-of-change/catholic-committee-on-pluralism-and-abortion.pdf}}</ref> In her 1993 publication, A Case Study in Oppression: A Theological and Personal Analysis, she said the statement was, "...a pivotal event in the U.S. Catholic Church, bearing testimony to the sexism which infects its procedures and to the struggle which congregations of Roman Catholic Sisters are waging for autonomy."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ware |first=Ann Patrick |title=A Case Study in Oppression: A Theological and Personal Analysis |publisher=National Coalition of American Nuns |publication-date=1993 |pages=I}}</ref>

=== Refusal to pay taxes === Ware opposed war and was known for refusing to pay taxes that would fund military conflicts.<ref name=":0" />

=== Support for prison reform === Ware was a longtime advocate for prison reform and worked with women prisoners on Rikers Island in New York.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Finding Aid: Personal Mission Materials, Sr. Ann Patrick Ware, SL |url=https://www.lorettocommunity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/LHC17.J-Ware.pdf |website=Loretto Heritage Center Archives and Museum}}</ref>

=== Support for women's ordination === Ware was a proponent for women's ordination and was interviewed in the press accusing the Catholic Church of discrimination against women.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=David |date=April 22, 1980 |title=Network is Formed to Combat Sexism in Organized Religion |work=The Evening News}}</ref> In 1980 she was quoted as saying how sexism in religion, "...has robbed women of their capacity of ethical personal choices. The future lies in overcoming this hierarchical sexism."<ref name=":2" />

== Personal life == Ware was born in Minneapolis<ref name=":4" /> in 1920. She graduated from Webster College in 1940.<ref name=":4" /> A former high school teacher, she became a professor of theology at Webster College in 1966.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 17, 1966 |title=Catholic Nun to Preach at Episcopal Church |work=The Webster Advertiser}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> She worked as chair of the theology department at Webster College from 1957 to 1965.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The St. Louis Review 27 December 1968 — The Catholic News Archive |url=https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=SLR19681227-01.1.4&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------- |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=thecatholicnewsarchive.org}}</ref> In 1968 she worked as a professor at the University of North Dakota.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 13, 1968 |title=Church Women United Plan Sienna Seminar July 23-25 |work=The Commercial Appeal}}</ref> She moved to New York City in 1968 and spent time rooming with Sr. Mary Luke Tobin.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Appreciation: Sr. Mary Luke Tobin, Loretto leader, dies at 98 |url=https://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2006c/090806/090806k.php |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=natcath.org}}</ref>

Ware was a Sister of Loretto for 72 years<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ann Ware Obituary (2013) - Saint Louis, MO - St. Louis Post-Dispatch |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/stltoday/name/ann-ware-obituary?id=2988209 |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=Legacy.com}}</ref> and she died in 2013 after hurting her leg in a bad fall.<ref name=":3" />

== Publications == * ''A Case Study in Oppression: A Theological and Personal Analysis'' (1993) * ''Midwives of the Future: American Sisters Tell Their Stories''<ref name=":0" /> * ''Naming Our Truth: Stories of Loretto Women''<ref name=":0" /> * ''"Perplexed Thoughts Upon Leaving the Church After Mass"'' (1977)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Document 22: Ann Patrick Ware, "Perplexed Thoughts Upon Leaving the Church After Mass," 25 May 1977 {{!}} Alexander Street Documents |url=https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1000687988 |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=documents.alexanderstreet.com}}</ref>

== References ==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ware, Ann Patrick}} Category:1920 births <references /> Category:2013 deaths Category:American feminists Category:People from Minneapolis Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic sisters Category:Second wave feminists Category:Sisters of Loretto Category:University of North Dakota faculty Category:Webster University alumni Category:Webster University faculty Category:Women's ordination activists Category:American tax resisters Category:American prison reformers Category:American anti-war activists