Piety and Nationalism: Lay Voluntary Associations and the Creation of an Irish-Catholic Community in Toronto, 1850-1895: Volume 12 (McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion) - Hardcover

Clarke, Brian P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 077351130X ISBN 13: 9780773511309

Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993

Synopsis

While the role of the laity in the nationalist awakening is commonly recognized, their part in the movement for religious renewal is usually minimized. Initiative on the part of the laity has been thought to have existed only outside the church, where it remained a troubling and at times insurgent force. Clarke revises this picture of the role of the laity in church and community. He examines the rich associational life of the laity, which ranged from nationalist and fraternal associations independent of the church to devotional and philanthropic associations affiliated with the church. Associations both inside and outside the church fostered ethnic consciousness in different but complementary ways that resulted in a cultural consensus based on denominational loyalty. Through these associations, lay men and women developed an institutional base for the activism and initiative that shaped both their church and their community. Clarke demonstrates that lay activists played a pivotal role in transforming the religious life of the community.

About this title

About the Author

Brian P. Clarke is an instructor in the Division of Humanities, York University, and a Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Religion in Canada at Emmanuel College.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 077351130X
• ISBN 13: 9780773511309
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352