Natalia Imperatori-Lee

Biography

Natalia Imperatori-Lee is Associate Professor of Systematics with a focus on ecclesiology, feminist theologies, and Latinx theologies. She holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame (Ph.D., 2007) and the University of Chicago (M.A., 2000), in addition to her B.A. from Fordham (1998). Dr. Imperatori-Lee’s most recent book, Women and the Church, is an overview of feminist theology intended for the undergraduate classroom, as this is where her interest in theology really began. Her previous work, Cuéntame: Narrative in the Ecclesial Present, sought to understand the church in a narrative frame, focusing on stories and storytelling in and about the church. Frequently, the story of the church that we hear (ecclesiology) obscures the histories and insights of marginalized and minoritized communities. Cuéntame is an attempt to re-orient contemporary Catholic ecclesiology away from idealized characteristics and toward the ambiguity inherent in history. Dr. Imperatori-Lee’s current research is on women’s credibility in and outside the Catholic Church.

Dr. Imperatori-Lee arrives at Fordham (her undergraduate alma mater) after 19 years of undergraduate teaching. She has published articles on the church’s mistreatment of women scholars, on the perils of complementarity, and on Mariology in Latinx communities. Her work has appeared in Theological Studies and The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. She also regularly contributes to Catholic journals like America and Commonweal. She is a frequent speaker at colleges, parishes, and other popular venues on the topic of women and the church. She has taught courses on Vatican II, feminist theology, sexuality and the sacred, and women in Western religion. She has also served on the board of the Catholic Theological Society of America and of the Academy of Catholic Theologians of the US. When she is not working, Natalia enjoys cross-stitch, historical romance novels, and visiting botanical gardens. She lives in the Bronx with her husband, Michael, and her two children, William and Benjamin.

Education

BA., Theology, Fordham University, 1998

MA., Constructive Studies, University of Chicago 2000

Ph.D., Systematic Theology, University of Notre Dame, 2007.

Research interest

Dr. Imperatori-Lee specializes in Catholic ecclesiology, feminist theologies and Latinx theologies, sex and gender studies, the intersection between mariology and ecclesiology, and questions of testimonial justice.

Publications

Publications include:

-Bearers of an Idle Tale: Women’s Authority in the Credibility Economy. New York: Paulist Press, 2025.

-Women and the Church: From Devil’s Gateway to Disciples. New York: Paulist Press, 2024.

Dispatches from The Wasteland. CTSA Proceedings 75, pp. 32-36). Boston, MA: Boston College. https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ctsa/article/view/13829

-Cuéntame: Narrative in the Ecclesial Present. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2018.

-“How Is Amoris Laetitia Being Received? Colonialism, Conscience, and Accompaniment” in Amoris Laetitia: A New Momentum for Moral Formation and Pastoral Practice, ed. Grant Gallicho and James F. Keenan, SJ. New York: Paulist Press, 2018.

-“Hope” in A Pope Francis Lexicon, ed. Cindy Wooden and Joshua McElwee. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2018.

-“Latina Lives, Latina Literature: A Narrative Camino in Search of the Sensus Fidelium” in The Sensus Fidelium and Moral Theology: Readings in Moral Theology 18, ed. Charles E. Curran and Lisa A. Fullam. Paulist, 2017.

-“Father Knows Best: Theological Mansplaining and the Ecclesial War on Women” in The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 31:2 (Fall 2015), 89-107.