CARDMAN, Francine J. Beloved Teacher and Respected Scholar Died of cancer on January 21, 2022, in her home surrounded by family and loved ones. Born in 1947 and raised on Long Island, she attended Swarthmore College (B.A.) and Yale University (M.Phil., Ph.D.). At Yale, she adopted her first rescue dog Samson, who during graduation was presented a degree in "dogma." A much beloved professor and highly respected scholar, Dr. Cardman taught and published in the areas of early Christian history and theology, contemporary ecumenism, and women's ministries and ordination, both past and present. In her recent post at Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry and just prior to that, at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology and Ministry, her acute intelligence and sense of social justice helped to challenge and shape the present and future of the Roman Catholic Church by preparing hundreds of lay women and men, Jesuits, and members of other religious congregations for work as ministers and social justice advocates both in the United States and around the world. She co-founded the Women's Theological Center in 1981. It established an alternative model of theological education for women that sought to correct patriarchal interpretations of Christian theology and polity. Dr. Cardman was a frequent speaker for the Voice of the Faithful, a catholic movement founded in 2002 in the wake of the clerical sex abuse scandal. Her nuanced and balanced publications on early church theologians and Christian women have profoundly impacted scholarship in her field. She is survived by her sisters, Michele and Denise; eight nieces and nephews; and six grandnieces and nephews. Religious service to be announced.
Jeffrey Hart
FRANCINE CARDMAN Obituary
CARDMAN, Francine J. Beloved Teacher and Respected Scholar Died of cancer on January 21, 2022, in her home surrounded by family and loved ones. Born in 1947 and raised on Long Island, she attended Swarthmore College (B.A.) and Yale University (M.Phil., Ph.D.). At Yale, she adopted her first rescue dog Samson, who during graduation was presented a degree in "dogma." A much beloved professor and highly respected scholar, Dr. Cardman taught and published in the areas of early Christian history and theology, contemporary ecumenism, and women's ministries and ordination, both past and present. In her recent post at Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry and just prior to that, at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology and Ministry, her acute intelligence and sense of social justice helped to challenge and shape the present and future of the Roman Catholic Church by preparing hundreds of lay women and men, Jesuits, and members of other religious congregations for work as ministers and social justice advocates both in the United States and around the world. She co-founded the Women's Theological Center in 1981. It established an alternative model of theological education for women that sought to correct patriarchal interpretations of Christian theology and polity. Dr. Cardman was a frequent speaker for the Voice of the Faithful, a catholic movement founded in 2002 in the wake of the clerical sex abuse scandal. Her nuanced and balanced publications on early church theologians and Christian women have profoundly impacted scholarship in her field. She is survived by her sisters, Michele and Denise; eight nieces and nephews; and six grandnieces and nephews. Religious service to be announced.
View the online memorial for Francine J. CARDMAN
Published by Boston Globe from Jan. 24 to Jan. 25, 2022.