Catholic Religious Orders of Women in China: Adaptation and Power

Although sociologists have argued that religious orders fulfill the same creative functions within Catholicism that sectarian groups perform for Protestantism, no research has examined whether the orders can serve this function in non-Western societies where Catholics are a minority. This article ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
Main Authors: Leung, Beatrice, Wittberg, Patricia
Format: Articles
Published: [Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Wiley] 2004
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Online Access:https://www.jstor.org/stable/1387774
Description
Summary:Although sociologists have argued that religious orders fulfill the same creative functions within Catholicism that sectarian groups perform for Protestantism, no research has examined whether the orders can serve this function in non-Western societies where Catholics are a minority. This article examines Catholic religious orders of women in mainland China today. Both internal and external factors prevent Chinese sisters from gaining the power and autonomy they would need to serve as change agents in the Chinese Catholic Church. The effectiveness of external attempts to ameliorate the sisters' difficulties is evaluated.
Physical Description:67-82
ISSN:0021-8294