New Zealand Catholic lay women have actively participated in overseas missionary work for over forty years. From the 1960s, the Catholic Overseas Volunteer Organization (COVS), under the auspices of the New Zealand bishops, enabled lay women to respond to missionary bishops’ requests for assistance. Overseas, they worked in a range of mission stations with a variety of religious orders. Their experiences are the focus of this study. Their stories have not been told previously and part of the intent is to make their work visible, particularly, to add to the histories of New Zealand women, Catholic women and Christian missionary women more generally. This thesis contends that their overseas experiences were far from partnership and collaboration and have subsequently failed to provide opportunities for wider participation in the New Zealand Church. Vatican documents, archival material, interviews with fifty ex-volunteers and the two lay women directors of the organization provide the data for this thesis. Feminist theology forms the theoretical base and narrative analysis the interpretive tool. There were three volunteer cohorts: young, single volunteers, mothers with dependent children and older women. Most volunteers grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, came from Catholic homes, attended Catholic schools and were actively involved in New Zealand parishes. Overseas, the women continued lives of faith and service, contributing needed and valuable skills. Many younger women enjoyed professional opportunities and their missionary community. It was harder to fit in to a mission station as Catholic mothers or older women and many found it difficult to establish a missionary identity, to be accepted as part of the team. In all groups, there was great satisfaction when experiences matched expectations. The missionary insights and/or skills of these ex-volunteers have generally not been sought by their New Zealand parishes and they are, for the most part, an unappreciated and neglected resource. Lay women’s experiences of overseas mission point to a need for change – lay women seek not only to participate but to be valued partners in their Church. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/274908 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Atkinson, Diana Mary |
| Publisher | ResearchSpace@Auckland |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Whole document restricted but available by request. Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated., http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm, Copyright: The author |
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