Carmen M. Mangion
Search for other papers by Carmen M. Mangion in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Authority and governance
Abstract only
Log-in for full text

This chapter analyses some of the issues surrounding the identity of women religious and their authority and governance. It examines the source and nature of the authority that congregations and women religious wielded in the public sphere. Almost three-quarters of the simple-vowed congregations that made foundations in England in the nineteenth century were pontifical rite. Susan O'Brien hailed this papal form of government an 'important innovation' as it allowed a female superior general to receive her authority directly from Rome. Many bishops supported the authority of women religious to manage their congregations. In some narratives, it is the collaboration of bishops and mother superiors that resounds through the texts. Women religious, however, faced with intransigent bishops or clergy, used the tools at their disposal to manage episcopal and clerical authority.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

All of MUP's digital content including Open Access books and journals is now available on manchesterhive.

 

Contested identities

Catholic women religious in nineteenth-century England and Wales

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 902 287 29
Full Text Views 55 28 0
PDF Downloads 25 15 0