THE ROLE OF CATHOLIC WOMEN’S ORDERS IN SOCIAL AND POPULAR EDUCATION WORK BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS IN HUNGARY

Abstract

The promulgation of the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum, published in 1891 signaled a resurgent interest in the social situation of the lower strata of society in the ecclesiastical space as well. Its influence in the Hungarian “neo-baroque” cultural environment between the two world wars was also strongly felt in the practice of the Catholic Church, with the support of the paternalistic Horthy government, which complemented the idea of assistance with an emphasis on duties to create for itself a reliable, stable social background to power. In addition, the narrative about women also changed during the era. The aim of the study is to reveal how this complex program appears in the program of a new type of – socially based – female monastic orders brought about by the Catholic boom, especially with regard to women as a target audience. The author hoped to find the answer by analyzing primary and secondary documents. An image of a dedicated women’s community emerges that has exerted serious efforts to alleviate social disadvantages, using traditional and new methods such as folk culture, which gained great emphasis in the era.