“Old Church Women”: An Insight into the Less Understood and Their Contribution to the Life of the Orthodox Church

Lavinia Țânculescu

doi:10.3390/soc9030063

Abstract

In this study, I aim to explore the role of old women in the life of the Christian Orthodox Church in the Romanian space. The analysis is based on empirical evidence (qualitative fieldwork and case studies) gathered between 2017 and 2019, and it mainly employs the framework of theory of tradition, and theories of attachment and of parent–infant relationship. I will show that old women going to church have a double role: To educate the community in keeping the religious tradition, and to initiate other members, especially the very young ones (blood-related or not), in the Romanian Orthodox faith. The paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages offered by both aforementioned roles, putting forth possible explanations for the tensions arising between generations. I conclude by underlining the crucial role that old women have in today’s struggle for survival of the Romanian Orthodox Church and in its spiritual identity.

Highlights

I would like to clarify three crucial points regarding this paper.I have chosen to discuss “old church-going women” while borrowing and at the same time appropriating the derogatory dimension of this phrase
I conclude by underlining the crucial role that old women have in today’s struggle for survival of the Romanian Orthodox Church and in its spiritual identity
These roles are, on the one hand, accepted and consciously employed. They are unpremeditated and played without previous planning. My interest for this subject was kindled by the polarized spectrum of perceptions it seems to generate, due to the positive and negative connotations which accompany the typical figure of the “old church woman”

Summary

Introduction

I would like to clarify three crucial points regarding this paper.I have chosen to discuss “old church-going women” while borrowing and at the same time appropriating the derogatory dimension of this phrase. I have made this choice in order to create a point of contrast with the extreme significance of the multiple roles that these women fulfill. These roles are, on the one hand, accepted and consciously employed. One can find, in Romanian space, that there is a stereotype associated with the old women going to church. This can be seen expressed in the discussions with the informants of this study. My intention was that of deconstructing a stereotype regarding the negative image that this group is normally associated with

Objectives

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion