Models of charitable care : Catholic nuns and children in their care in Amsterdam, 1852-2002 / / by Annelies van Heijst.

• Superior document: Brill's series in church history, v. 33. Religious history and culture series ; v. 1
• Author: Heijst, Annelies van.
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Brill's series in church history ; d. 33.; Brill's series in church history. Religious history and culture series ; v. 1.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (427 p.)
• Notes: Translated from the Dutch.

Models of Charitable Care analyses the practice of Catholic nuns in Amsterdam in the 19th and 20th century. Attention is paid to the ambiguous ascetic spiritual discourse that underpinned their work: it encouraged charity as solidarity with strangers, but caused intense emotional distance too. Historiography is mainly manufactured by religious and lay academics who shared the congregational perspective and presented fairly positive evaluations. Criticism from within, however, is voiced by care leavers who grew up in homes ran by religious. Some are grateful, others bitter. The sisters were living models who combined an anti-worldly outlook with a practical concern for vulnerable creatures. Relating various theoretical interpretations, a typology of three models is developed with ‘agency’ as the differentiating criterion.

Table of Contents

Introduction -- History of the problem -- A history of care -- Charity as a historical care practice -- History and ethics -- Care and faith -- Method and purpose -- Definitions of care -- Caring for roosje -- Reconstruction of a life story -- Tribute to a mother -- Construction of a complaint -- An appropriate and yet contestable judgement on care -- Men in association : class and charity -- Catholic care provision in Amsterdam -- Bishop van Vree -- Father Frentrop, Doctor Cramer and their association of municence -- Father Hesseveld, a secular priest -- Activities of the in terms of care -- An instrumental model of charity -- Ladies and housemaids : gender and charity Catholic caring women in historiography -- Education for girls -- The servants' issue -- Beyond the thesis of the 'civilisation offensive' -- Gender, class, and religion -- Powerful and empowering care : confession and charity -- Approach and definitions -- Benevolence as both care and power -- Humanising Protestantism -- Prison reform by Fry -- Butler's dedication to prostitutes -- Influence of Fry and Butler on the Netherlands -- The inner mission movement -- Conceptual comments -- From the viewpoint of care receivers -- Evelina's memoirs -- The very beginning -- The arrival of Mietje Stroot -- A controversial first communion -- Institutional expansion -- Nursemaids become real sisters -- A charitable care practice experienced from within -- Civilisation offensive, charitable solidarity, or caring power -- Tronto's fourth phase revised : two responses to care -- Care leavers and their opposite judgements -- The care vision in the normative texts -- Normative writings and daily life -- History of the church and history of religion -- Principles and a name -- The rule -- Instructions for the upbringing of the children -- The constitutions of 1882 -- The sisterly care vision : a referential and a replacement view -- The purpose of the congregation in terms of care solidarity with strangers because of metaphorical kinship -- Caring for the children of God.