Donna Steichen

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Donna Steichen is a Roman Catholic author and journalist born in Wadena, Minnesota. She spent much of her life in Minnesota and later lived in Ojai, California. In 1950 she married LeRoy Steichen, and they have four children. She worked as a classroom teacher and religious educator and was involved in the pro-life movement from its early days. From 1980 to 1986 she led the Minnesota chapter of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights as its vice-president and then president.

Steichen is best known for her 1991 book Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism. The book argues that feminism has influenced American Catholicism in ways that conflict with Church teachings, particularly after the Second Vatican Council. She contends that some church leaders and staff embraced ideas from New Theology, feminism, and New Age neopaganism, and she links feminism to witchcraft or Wicca. Steichen argues these views were contrary to Catholic doctrine and that dissenters were effectively following a different religion. She also claimed the church hierarchy failed to address these issues promptly, allowing them to take hold.

Ungodly Rage became a bestseller and made Steichen a leading voice in calls to restore doctrinal orthodoxy within the Church. She toured as a speaker around the world. Some have claimed she influenced Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Before Ungodly Rage, she published a 35-page pamphlet in 1988 titled Population control goes to school.

After Ungodly Rage, Steichen edited Prodigal Daughters: Catholic Women Come Home to the Church (1998), which profiles seventeen women who left Catholicism and eventually returned. The book was well received but not as controversial as Ungodly Rage. In the 2000s she continued writing for publications such as Catholic World News, Latin Mass, LifeSite, Voices, and Touchstone Magazine. Her 2009 book Chosen: How Christ Sent Twenty-Three Surprised Converts to Replant His Vineyard was published by Ignatius Press.

Critics, including Elizabeth Knuth, have challenged Ungodly Rage, arguing that Steichen relied on unreliable sources, misquoted figures, and misinterpreted sources, with some noting factual inaccuracies such as incorrect page numbers and book titles.