Northumbrian writer wins 5-star review award

Jamie Michele of Readers’ Favorite wrote,

'No Place for a Woman by Debra Maria Flint explores the misuse of power within the Catholic Church, addressing various forms of abuse including physical, sexual, emotional, and spiritual. Flint examines the historical marginalization of women in Christianity, looking at Mary Magdalene's diminished role and the impact of the Council of Laodicea's prohibition on women's ordination. She traces the decline in female religious influence from the Anglo-Saxon period through the Reformation, noting the brief periods when women held leadership roles. Flint critiques Pope St. John Paul II’s 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, argues for the restoration of women's roles in the Church, and examines the effects of celibacy and governance structures on women. She advocates for reforms to increase women's participation and address systemic issues, including spiritual abuse and elitist practices.

No Place for a Woman by Debra Maria Flint is a fantastically incisive critique of the intentional and unfounded inequality within the Catholic Church. Flint’s writing is clear, concise, and engaging, and every single argument she makes is backed by scripture and biblical history…. Flint strikes me as a model devotee who was, like incalculable women before her, shut out by systemic sexism that simply does not exist in the Bible. This book is a powerful call for reflection and reform and a significant contribution to ongoing activism on gender and authority in religious institutions.'

Debra, who currently lives in Haltwhistle, has recently returned from touring Ireland. Her book is on sale in many bookshops there and is stocked by three major chains as well as by independent book shops. While there Debra met with booksellers and signed copies of her book which is very popular due to the fact that Ireland is a post Catholic country which has experienced a lot of systemic abuse. Debra stated,

‘I am highly honoured to have received this 5-star book review award from the US distributor Readers' Favorite and I am very pleased that my work is being noticed around the world. My book examines the spiritual abuse and marginalization of women within Catholicism. Reform is very much needed within the Catholic Church in regards to the way it both views and treats women. Women make up half of the human race but within Catholicism they are regarded very much as a second sex who cannot be ordained and have no say in its governance. There is irrevocable historic evidence that women were ordained as deacons within the early Catholic Church and that their ordinations were suppressed, yet despite this, in May of this year, Pope Francis even ruled out restoring the ordination of women to the female diaconate. I write to combat systemic sexism. My book is selling extremely well in both the US and Ireland and I hope this award will also bring it to the attention of more UK readers.’