Margaret Isabella Mary Hebblethwaite (née Speaight; born 16 June 1951) is a British writer, journalist, activist and religious worker from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Life

The daughter of

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Mary Olive (née Mudd) and historian

George Speaight George Victor Speaight FRSA (; 6 September 1914 – 22 December 2005) was a theatre historian, author and performer and the leading authority on 19th-century toy theatre. Early years One of his brothers was the Shakespearean actor Robert Speai ...

, Hebblethwaite is the sister of Antony Speaight, QC. She read theology and philosophy at

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, located on a bank of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formally known under ...

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, and at the

Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyola, and included all ...

in Rome. In 1974, she met and married

Peter Hebblethwaite Peter Hebblethwaite (30 September 1930 – 18 December 1994) was a British Jesuit priest and writer. After leaving the priesthood, he became an editor, journalist (' Vaticanologist') and biographer. Life Hebblethwaite was born in Ashton-und ...

, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

who left the priesthood after a decade in the ministry. After laicization, he worked as an editor, journalist and Vaticanologist. The couple married and had three children. Peter Hebblethwaite died in 1994. Margaret Hebblethwaite worked from 1984 to 1994 in prison chaplaincy, catechesis and parish work in Oxford. From 1991 to 2000 she was assistant editor of ''

The Tablet ''The Tablet'' is a Catholic Church, Catholic international weekly review published in London. Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017. History ''The Tablet'' was launched in 1840 by ...

''. Since 2000 she has been a freelance missionary and educationalist in Santa María, Paraguay, pioneering and supporting community work in education. She speaks regularly at the

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Festivals. She met

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

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and had regular dealings with him, having conversed with him in pews after Sunday mass. She has described him as "not only passionately committed to the gospel of poverty, but also highly intelligent and cultured." In 2005, when he was in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

for that year's conclave, she "dropped off a letter for him." He also provided her with some contacts, including "a well-informed Argentinian journalist in Rome, and his then press secretary, Guillermo Marcó."

Works

Hebblethwaite has written several books, including: ''Motherhood and God'', ''Finding God in All Things'', ''Base Communities: An Introduction'', ''Paraguay: Brandt Travel Guides'' and ''Conversations on Christian Feminism'', co-written with academic

Elaine Storkey Elaine Storkey ( Lively; born 1944) is a British philosopher, sociologist, and theologian. She is known for her lecturing, writing and broadcasting. Early years and education Born Elaine Lively on 1 October 1944, Storkey is the eldest of the thr ...

References

External links

''From Theology to Travel: The Journey of Margaret Hebblethwaite''

* ttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/oct/30/christianity-catholicism#start-of-comments Commentary by Margaret Hebblethwaite in ''The Guardian'' on evangelical Christianity
Bibliography at bookfinder.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hebblethwaite, Margaret 1951 births Living people Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford British journalists British religious writers English Roman Catholics Female Christian missionaries Writers from London