Mary Catherine Hilkert, O.P., a member of the Dominican Sisters of Peace, is Professor of  Theology at the University of Notre Dame where she teaches in the areas of  theological anthropology, fundamental theology, Christology, and feminist theology and spirituality. She is the author of Naming Grace: Preaching and the Sacramental Imagination (Continuum/Bloomsbury), Speaking with Authority: Catherine of Siena and the Voices of Women Today (Paulist), and coeditor with Robert J. Schreiter of The Praxis of the Reign of God: An Introduction to the Theology of Edward Schillebeeckx (Fordham University Press). In addition, she has published numerous articles on contemporary theology, spirituality, and preaching in both scholarly and pastoral journals.  

A former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America (2005-2006), Sr. Hilkert is the recipient of three honorary degrees as well as the Washington Theological Union’s Sophia Award for Theological Excellence in service of ministry in 1997, Barry University's Yves Congar Award for Theological Excellence in 2011, and the Ann O’Hara Graff Award from the Catholic Theological Society of America in 2012  for her contributions to the integration of academic and pastoral theology with particular attention to the voices of women.  She has lectured and preached in Catholic and ecumenical contexts in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and South Africa.  Currently she is working on a book titled Words of Spirit and Life: Theology, Preaching and Spirituality.