A Foreign And Wicked Institution [Hardcover]

Many in Victorian England harbored deep suspicion of convent life. In addition to looking at anti-Catholicism and the fear of both Anglican and Catholic sisterhoods that were established during the nineteenth century, this work explores the prejudice that existed against women in Victorian England who joined sisterhoods and worked in orphanages and in education and were comitted to social work among the urban poor. Women, according to some of these critics, should remain passive in matters of religion. Nuns, however, did play an important role in many areas of life in nineteenth-century England and faced hostility from many who felt threatened and challenged by members of female religious orders. The accomplishments of the nineteenth-century nuns and the opposition they overcame should serve as both an example and encouragement to all men and women committed to the Gospel. --I highly recommend this work; it is essential and fascinating reading for all those interested in the history of English prejudice--especially on those inflammatory topics of the (Roman) Catholic Church, monasticism, and the emancipation of women.-- --Hugo Meynell author of Redirecting Philosophy and Postmodernism and the New Enlightenment (2000) --In 2010, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. hosted the exhibit, 'Women and Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America.' It was a must-see testament to their magnificent accomplishments. A Foreign and Wicked Institution? by Fr. Rene Kollar is further testament to the role Catholic and Anglican sisters fulfilled in Victorian England. Despite outstanding accomplishments, they confronted bigotry and scandals within their ranks. This book is a must-read for a deeper understanding of the joys and pains of institutions devoted to God's work.-- --Eugene Hemrick Columnist for the Catholic News Service Director of the Institute for the Renewal of the Priesthood Director of Institutional Research at Washington Theological Union --Rene Kollar focuses on congregal#