Australian Catholic University (ACU) conferred its highest honour, Doctor of the University, on Professor Dianne Bergant CSA at a ceremony in Melbourne last week.
Provost Professor Pauline Nugent conferred the award on Professor Bergant in recognition of her work as one of the world’s foremost biblical scholars and authoritative voice in biblical interpretation, particularly on issues of peace, ecology, and feminism.
Professor Bergant is one of the leading biblical scholars who shed light on the important role of women in the Bible.
Her recent book, Genesis: In the Beginning, has been hailed as ground-breaking for its careful attention to the contribution of women in God’s plan of salvation.
She has played a leadership role in the promotion of the study of the Bible, both in higher education and among the lay faithful, which goes to the heart of Vatican II’s vision for the place of the Scriptures in the life of the Church and its people.
Professor Bergant has also been a long-time participant in the Jewish-Catholic dialogue, and has been an active member of the Chicago Catholic/Jewish Scholars Dialogue for the past 30 years.
Born in 1936 and growing up in a working-class family, Professor Bergant traces her vocation back to the desire to devote her life to God and to be in the service of the Church.
She joined the Congregation of St Agnes in 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and began her postulancy and novitiate during which she underwent formation in religious life and spirituality as well as the basics of theological and biblical studies.
Professor Bergant then obtained a Bachelor’s degree in elementary education and, after teaching grade school for more than a decade, enrolled in a program in Sacred Scripture at St Louis University and completed her doctoral dissertation in 1975.
Professor Bergant has spent many years preparing seminarians, religious brothers and sisters for ministry, as well as supervising priests and lay scholars in their doctoral studies, most notably from developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Many of her students have gone on to assume leadership roles as provincials of their religious congregation, rectors of seminaries or professors in university.
She recently retired as Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago where she taught for more than 30 years.