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Nuns and Sisters in the Nordic Countries after the Reformation. A Female Counter-Culture in Modern Society.

Werner, Yvonne Maria LU orcid ; af Jochnick Östborn, Agneta ; Malchau, Susanne ; Åmell, Katrin ; Poels, Vefie ; Nilsen, Else-Britt ; Sundback, Susan and Brodd, Sven-Erik (2004)
Abstract
Female religious communities, and later also convents, accompanied the return of the Roman Catholic Church to the Nordic countries in the middle of the nineteenth century. These religious communities were mostly so-called active orders or congregations, who helped in parishes or ran private schools, orphanages or nursing homes. In the 1930s there were nearly 1,400 Catholic sisters working in Scandinavia. At the same time, there was a growing interest for regulated religious life within the established Lutheran Churches, and small communities – mostly female – were founded. In Finland, there was an unbroken tradition of orthodox monasticism. Until recently, however, monasticism was rejected as "Catholic" and thereby foreign to Nordic... (More)
Female religious communities, and later also convents, accompanied the return of the Roman Catholic Church to the Nordic countries in the middle of the nineteenth century. These religious communities were mostly so-called active orders or congregations, who helped in parishes or ran private schools, orphanages or nursing homes. In the 1930s there were nearly 1,400 Catholic sisters working in Scandinavia. At the same time, there was a growing interest for regulated religious life within the established Lutheran Churches, and small communities – mostly female – were founded. In Finland, there was an unbroken tradition of orthodox monasticism. Until recently, however, monasticism was rejected as "Catholic" and thereby foreign to Nordic national identity. Religious communities were regarded as a tool of Roman Catholic propaganda, especially insidious to Nordic women. According to the mainstream Nordic tradition at the time, women’s calling was to marry and bear children. The female religious communities thus represented not only an alternative form of life but also a counter-culture in the Lutheran Nordic society.

In the present book, we meet this female counter-culture in its various forms and expressions. The articles focus partly on Nordic Christian women, Catholic converts as well as members of the established Lutheran churches who were attracted to regulated religious life, and partly on sisters in Catholic religious congregations working in the Nordic countries. A common trait is that these women, although in various ways, traversed contemporary social and religious boundaries. By studying a variety of female religious orders and congregations, the authors have highlighted the frequently tense relation between "Catholic" and "Nordic" values, between tradition and modernity, and between Nordic and foreign. The long time period studied allows for the making of diachronic comparisons and to record transitions and changes in attitude and behaviour. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Book/Report
publication status
published
subject
keywords
mission, monasticism, Catholic nuns and sisters, regulated religious life, Catholic schools and hospitals, Protestant community life, spirituality, ecclesiology, alternative emancipation movements
publisher
Swedish Institute of Mission Research
ISBN
91-85424-80-3
project
Den kvinnliga klosterrörelsen i Norden
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e7aaa2ea-7a95-4d00-9b10-3924a8fefd57 (old id 538088)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:04:54
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:56:37
@book{e7aaa2ea-7a95-4d00-9b10-3924a8fefd57,
  abstract     = {{Female religious communities, and later also convents, accompanied the return of the Roman Catholic Church to the Nordic countries in the middle of the nineteenth century. These religious communities were mostly so-called active orders or congregations, who helped in parishes or ran private schools, orphanages or nursing homes. In the 1930s there were nearly 1,400 Catholic sisters working in Scandinavia. At the same time, there was a growing interest for regulated religious life within the established Lutheran Churches, and small communities – mostly female – were founded. In Finland, there was an unbroken tradition of orthodox monasticism. Until recently, however, monasticism was rejected as "Catholic" and thereby foreign to Nordic national identity. Religious communities were regarded as a tool of Roman Catholic propaganda, especially insidious to Nordic women. According to the mainstream Nordic tradition at the time, women’s calling was to marry and bear children. The female religious communities thus represented not only an alternative form of life but also a counter-culture in the Lutheran Nordic society.<br/><br>
In the present book, we meet this female counter-culture in its various forms and expressions. The articles focus partly on Nordic Christian women, Catholic converts as well as members of the established Lutheran churches who were attracted to regulated religious life, and partly on sisters in Catholic religious congregations working in the Nordic countries. A common trait is that these women, although in various ways, traversed contemporary social and religious boundaries. By studying a variety of female religious orders and congregations, the authors have highlighted the frequently tense relation between "Catholic" and "Nordic" values, between tradition and modernity, and between Nordic and foreign. The long time period studied allows for the making of diachronic comparisons and to record transitions and changes in attitude and behaviour.}},
  author       = {{Werner, Yvonne Maria and af Jochnick Östborn, Agneta and Malchau, Susanne and Åmell, Katrin and Poels, Vefie and Nilsen, Else-Britt and Sundback, Susan and Brodd, Sven-Erik}},
  isbn         = {{91-85424-80-3}},
  keywords     = {{mission; monasticism; Catholic nuns and sisters; regulated religious life; Catholic schools and hospitals; Protestant community life; spirituality; ecclesiology; alternative emancipation movements}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Swedish Institute of Mission Research}},
  title        = {{Nuns and Sisters in the Nordic Countries after the Reformation. A Female Counter-Culture in Modern Society.}},
  year         = {{2004}},
}