Academic literature on the topic 'Mariologie sociale'

L’abbé Alphonse-Louis Constant (1810-1875) est un petit romantique qui développe une mariologie inédite pour son époque à partir d’une théologie politique. Il considère que la Révolution française ouvre l’ère du Paraclet, qui voit la Sainte Vierge s’incarner dans l’humanité. La Parousie, qui nécessite l’instauration sur terre de la Jérusalem céleste, ne peut se réaliser sans l’aide de la femme, épouse et mère de la société. Cette utopie sociale, soutenue par un discours éminemment poétique et mystique de la part d’un hérétique qui ne tarde pas d’ailleurs à basculer dans l’occultisme, annonce pourtant le dogme de l’Immaculée Conception de Pie ix et la doctrine sociale de Léon xiii. En identifiant le destin national de la femme à la figure mariale, l’auteur propose de recentrer la société sur l’autorité spirituelle de la femme.

[Feminist Mariologies are partly the reaction of a justified anger to centuries of discrimination against women enshrined in the very Scriptures, in the central theological tradition, and in the life of the Church. Mariology allows feminists to reflect on exegesis, patriarchy, equality, autonomy, obedience, sexual life, social roles, and professionalism. The rejection of all subordination, even to other women, and the maleness of Christ drive feminist Mariologies so that some move the theological location of Mariology from the gendered Christology to the ungendered Pneumatology and the reign of God.]

Frei Clodovis Boff, da Ordem dos Servos de Maria, apresenta aqui uma síntese de “Mariologia Social”, disciplina que leciona em Roma desde 1993. Sem negar o valor das tradicionais “imagens” de Maria, de tipo pessoal ou de tipo comunitário, ele põe em evidência a visão sociolibertadora da Mãe do Senhor. Maria é uma figura que pertence à grande história, e sua dimensão social encontra fundamentação segura na Bíblia, na história e no Magistério da Igreja. Depois de desenvolver em grandes traços esses pontos, o autor recomenda que se difunda e aprofunde sempre mais a dimensão social e libertadora da devoção mariana, tarefa que se faz ainda mais urgente quando se leva a sério o desafio dos excluídos e se ouve o seu clamor por libertação. “Os pobres mais do que nunca – diz ele – precisam de Maria. Ela é seu tesouro”.Abstract: Frei Clodovis Boff, from the Order of Mary’s Serfs, presents here a synthesis of “Social Mariology”, the discipline he teaches in Rome since 1993. Without denying the importance of Mary’s traditional “images” – either of the personal or of the community types – he brings to the fore the social-liberating view of the Lord’s Mother. Mary is a figure belonging to History, and her social dimension is firmly established in the Bible, in History itself and in the Magisterium of the Church. Having provided a general overview of these arguments, the author recommends that the social and liberating dimension of the Marian devotion should be propagated and emphasized. In his view, this is a particularly urgent task if one takes to heart the challenge of helping the excluded and if their clamour for liberation is truly heard. “Morethanever” – he says – “the poor need Mary. She is their treasure”.

The present article analyses some of the features that characterise Mariology. First of all, it focuses on the history of this peculiar area of theology, as a literary and epistemological code. The text itself, designated to illustrate the formation of a new literary and philosophical discourse, is the well known compilation Miracles of Our Lady by Gonzalo de Berceo, with special regard to the allegoric Introduction to the same work. Allegory was the most widespread narrative figure of social cultural texture in the Middle Ages. The Marian cult was an extraordinary literary revelation in the Europe of the 11-13th centuries. The chain of metaphors defining the Introduction to the Miracles implies a universal theological allegory concerning the role of the Virgin in the salvation of humanity. The interpretation of some landscape elements means not only the polysemic allegory for the creation of a cultural home but also signifies the conception of a new symbolical rational order and the combination of cultural registers. What is meant is the embedding of Christian narrative and a serious attempt to create a specific national and culturalpattern.

This article examines three works by the ninth-century theologian, Paschasius Radbertus, all addressed to the Carolingian community of religious women at Notre Dame de Soissons. In addition to being valuable sources for the Mariologist, these sources provide insights into the complex social world of Carolingian religious women. Written at the time of the implementation of the monastic reforms of Benedict of Aniane, Radbert's texts can be read as responses to the imposition of a stricter form of claustration on women's communities. Drawing on the patristic model of Jerome and Eustochium in particular, the spirituality of these texts stresses the contributions of religious women through intercessory prayer, liturgy, and correct doctrine. Radbert alternately emphasizes the important role played by widows in Carolingian religious houses and encourages younger members not to leave the shelter of the religious life. In particular, Radbert's commentary on Psalm 44 (45) meditates on a text that would have been significant at the nuns' consecrations, deliberately employing language that would have paralleled the conventions of secular marriage. In conclusion, Radbert's three texts for Carolingian nuns bear interesting resemblances to twelfth-century Cistercian spirituality.

RESUMENLa historia del cristianismo no se entiende sin el complejo fenómeno mariano. El culto mariano ha afianzado la construcción de identidades colectivas, pero también individuales. La figura de la Virgen María estableció un modelo de conducta desde cada contexto histórico-cultural, remarcando especialmente los ideales de maternidad y virginidad. Dentro del imaginario católico, la Europa contemporánea ha estado marcada por la formación de una cultura aparicionista que se ha generadoa partir de diversas apariciones marianas que han establecido un canon y un marco de interpretación que ha alimentado las guerras culturales entre secularismo y catolicismo.PALABRAS CLAVE: catolicismo, Virgen María, cultura aparicionista, Lourdes, guerras culturales.ABSTRACTThe history of Christianity cannot be understood without the complex Marian phenomenon. Marian devotion has reinforced the construction of collective, but also of individual identities. The figure of the Virgin Mary established a model of conduct through each historical-cultural context, emphasizing in particular the ideals of maternity and virginity. Within the Catholic imaginary, contemporary Europe has been marked by the formation of an apparitionist culture generated by various Marian apparitions that have established a canon and a framework of interpretation that has fuelled the cultural wars between secularism and Catholicism.KEY WORDS: Catholicism, Virgin Mary, apparicionist culture, Lourdes, culture wars. BIBLIOGRAFÍAAlbert Llorca, M., “Les apparitions et leur histoire”, Archives de Sciences Sociales des religions, 116 (2001), pp. 53-66.Albert, J.-P. y Rozenberg G., “Des expériences du surnaturel”, Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions, 145 (2009), pp. 9-14.Amanat A. y Bernhardsson, M. T. (eds.), Imagining the End. Visions of Apocalypsis from the Ancient Middle East to Modern America, London and New York, I. B. Tauris, 2002.Angelier, F. y Langlois, C. 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This thesis has two aims. Firstly, in order to answer the question, ‘In what sense do people see Mary as a type of the Church?’, this thesis will set up original typological models of the relationship between Mary and the Church (chapter 1). It will then demonstrate how and why an eschatological element came to be present in these models (chapter 2).It will be a contention of this thesis that looking at the Mario-ecclesial discussions set out in chapters 3 and 4 through these typological models will allow a greater depth of analysis. The models allow one to discern differences between and nuances in various views of the relationship between Mary and the Church that would be impossible to discern if one were using just the language of ‘type’. Secondly the thesis will show how each Mario-ecclesial discussion has been affected by the socio-political context of the time. Specifically, the thesis will analyse the Mario-ecclesial discussions of the patristic, medieval and modern periods in the light of the typological models. In chapter 1, the patristic Mario-ecclesiologies of Irenaeus and Ambrose will be considered. In chapter 2, Bernard of Clairvaux will be used to analyse the eschatological nature of the Mario-ecclesiology in the medieval period. In chapter 3, the contrasting Mario-ecclesiologies of the Second Vatican Council and Hans Urs von Balthasar will be compared. In chapter 4, it will be suggested that John Paul’s model of the Mario-ecclesial relationship was based on his eschatological vision for the Church and the role that Mary plays in that future which is both imminent and already realised. This thesis will demonstrate that by using the typological models in these periods a greater depth of analysis can be achieved. This will be particularly true of the complex and nuanced discussions on Mary in the Roman Catholic Church in the twentieth century. This analysis will culminate in the particular Mariology of John Paul II.

Cette recherche vise à élaborer une mariologie sociale en Afrique. Sa problématique tourne autour de trois questions principales : le culte marial est-il vécu comme une pratique libératrice au service de l’engagement pour la justice sociale ? La figure de la Vierge Marie constitue-t-elle une source d’inspiration qui permette aux chrétiens et aux chrétiennes catholiques romains de s’engager au niveau sociopolitique en Afrique ? Les engagements des chrétiens et des chrétiennes, épris de vertus mariales, participent-ils à l’avènement d’une société de justice, de paix et du vivre-ensemble harmonieux ? Ces questions sont posées dans un contexte large, celui de l’Afrique subsaharienne où plusieurs pays font face aux crises multiformes et, dans un cadre plus restreint, celui de la République Démocratique du Congo où quatre mouvements marials, basés à Kinshasa, ont fait objet d’études de terrain. Cette thèse prétend déconstruire et reconstruire la conception et le vécu des pratiques mariales afin que celles-ci deviennent un ferment qui pousse les chrétiens et les chrétiennes catholiques africains en général et congolais en particulier à s’engager dans la résolution des problèmes majeurs de leur société notamment au niveau de la justice, de la paix et de la question des femmes. Cette thèse cherche à dépasser deux types de mariologies produites en Afrique : la mariologie coloniale, qui concerne l’histoire de l’arrivée de la Vierge Marie à travers l’action des missionnaires qui ont évangélisé le continent africain et une certaine mariologie inculturée qui se limite à corréler des catégories culturelles africaines avec des thèmes classiques de mariologie. La réflexion épouse la voie d’une approche de mariologie sociale qui, mise en application par les Africains et les Africaines, peut aider à relever le défi lié aux multiples problèmes au niveau économique, politique, social et culturel que rencontre la majorité de pays africains. La recherche est abordée dans une perspective des théologies africaines de la libération et de la reconstruction à travers une démarche de contextualisation, de décontextualisation et de recontextualisation. La thèse comprend quatre parties. La première partie fait un état des lieux de la mariologie africaine. Elle situe cette dernière dans le parcours historique de la théologie africaine, analyse la dévotion mariale en Afrique à travers l’action missionnaire, étudie la question de l’inculturation de quelques mystères marials et se penche sur le lien entre la mariologie et les problèmes de société en Afrique. La seconde partie examine la question de la mariologie sociale en Amérique Latine. Elle étudie l’aspect sociopolitique de la dévotion mariale, l’anthropologie et l’herméneutique de la réflexion et des apparitions mariales, les dogmes marials dans une perspective sociale et la place occupée par la Vierge Marie et le culte marial dans le combat féministe en Amérique Latine. La troisième partie explore le rapport entre la pratique de la dévotion mariale et l’engagement sociopolitique de quatre mouvements marials (Légion de Marie, Communauté du Magnificat, Groupe de l’Arbre Desséché ou Nzete Ekauka et École de prière Notre-Dame Vierge Puissante) à Kinshasa. Elle jette un regard sur le contexte de naissance et d’évolution des mouvements d’action catholique dans leur ensemble et fait une analyse critique des pratiques mariales et de l’engagement sociopolitique de ces mouvements. La quatrième partie tente une recomposition du discours de mariologie sociale en Afrique à partir d’une lecture du Magnificat. Elle fait une actualisation de ce cantique pour enrichir la pratique du culte marial et présente trois axes sur lesquels peut porter une mariologie sociale en Afrique.
This research aims at developing a social Mariology in Africa. It deals with three main questions: Is Marian devotion lived as a liberating practice in view of a commitment for social justice? Is the figure of the Virgin Mary an inspiration which allows Roman Catholic Christian men and women to involve themselves at the sociopolitical level in Africa? Do the commitments of Christian men and women who love Marian virtues take part in the advent of a society of justice, peace and harmonious coexistence? Those questions are asked in a broad context, that of Sub-Saharan Africa, where many countries are facing multifaceted crises and, in a more limited context, that of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where four marials Movements, based in Kinshasa, were the objects of field studies. This thesis claims to deconstruct and reconstruct the concept and the lived-out experience of Marian practices, so that those practices may become a ferment leading African Catholic Christian men and women in general, and Congolese Catholic Christian men and women in particular, to commit themselves in the resolution of the major problems of their society, particularly in terms of justice, peace and women's issues. This thesis seeks to go beyond two types of Mariology produced in Africa: colonial Mariology, dealing with the history of the arrival of the Virgin Mary through the work of the missionaries who evangelized the African continent, and some kind of an acculturated Mariology, which limits itself to setting a correlation between African cultural categories and some classical themes of Mariology. This reflection takes a stand for a social Mariology, that is, an approach which, implemented by African men and women, can help them meet the challenges created by the many economic, political, social and cultural problems that most of the African countries are faced with. This research work is done in the perspective of the African theologies of liberation and in the perspective of a reconstruction, through a process of contextualization, de-contextualization and re-contextualization. This thesis is made up of four parts. The first part presents an overview of African Mariology. It sees it through the historical journey of African theology, it analyses Marian devotion in Africa through the works of missionaries, it studies the question of acculturation of a few Marian mysteries, and it focuses on the relationship between Mariology and the social problems in Africa. The second part examines the issue of social Mariology in Latin America. It studies the sociopolitical aspect of Marian devotion, the anthropology and the hermeneutics of the Marian reflection and of the Marian apparitions. It studies the Marian dogmas from a social perspective, and the place of the Virgin Mary and of Marian devotion in the feminist struggle in Latin America. The third part explores the relationship between the practice of Marian devotion and the sociopolitical commitment of four Catholic Action Movements that are present in Kinshasa: The Legion of Mary, the Magnificat Community, the Group of "l'Arbre Desséché" (Dried Tree Group) or Nzete Ekauka, and the Prayer School "Notre Dame, Vierge Puissante" (Our Lady, Powerful Virgin). It takes a look at the general context of the birth and evolution of those Catholic Action Movements, and it makes a critical analysis of the Marian practices and of the sociopolitical commitment of those movements. The fourth part attempts a reconstruction of the social discourse of Mariology in Africa, starting from a reading of the Magnificat. It makes an actualized reading of that song in view of enriching the practice of Marian devotion, and it presents three aspects on which social Mariology in Africa can rest.

This book is an ethnographic account of three Roman Catholic women in contemporary Tamil Nadu, south India, who claim to be possessed by Mary, the mother of Jesus. It follows their lives over more than a decade, describing their own, the researcher’s own, and devotees’ understandings of the women’s healing and possession practices along with questions about agency, gender roles, authenticity, and social power. It asks, how is it that some experiences of “possession” (a word introduced to India by Christian missionaries, which the book complicates through Tamil renditions) are recognized as authentic, yet others are not? What are the local conditions that enable their very possibility? Discussions of local and widespread “Hindu” practices and discourses shed light on how these women and their followers navigate their bodily experience, socioeconomic status, caste, and gender roles in a modern world of technological change and global economy—and how Church officials navigate these women. Part travelogue, part academic analysis, the book addresses a wide audience, including academics interested in the study of religion, spirit possession, anthropology, women’s and gender studies, postcolonialism, Global Christianity, Tamil culture, Mariology, fluid boundaries across “traditions,” and the relationship between the ethnographer-“Self” and “Other.”