Contemplatieve abdijgemeenschappen in de 21ste eeuw. Een etnografische studie naar het hedendaagse contemplatieve gemeenschapsleven.

Contemplative monasteries in the 21st century. An ethnographic study of present-day contemplative community life. The religious landscape of present-day Western-European society is characterized on the one hand by a high level of secularisation and on the other by an increased religious plurality (Berger, 2000). The values intrinsic to a religiously oriented life in community are often diametrically opposed to the dominant Western-European thinking patterns like individualism, utilitarianism and scientism. It is in this context not self-evident to consciously choose monastic life and it is moreover difficult to remain committed as a monk or a nun to a life characterised by a quasi-linear continuity and by exceptional obligations and limitations (Merkle, 1992:13). The aim of this ethnographic study is to describe the physical and social environment of a specific contemplative Trappist community, in this case the Abbey of Sint-Sixtus in Westvleteren (Belgium), and hence to contribute to the creation of a more objective image of contemplative orders in todays society. BibliographyBERGER, P. (2001), Reflections on the Sociology of Religion Today in Sociology of Religion, 62, 4: 443-454 MERKLE, J.A. (1992), Committed by Choice. Religious Life Today, Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 158 p.

Jaar van publicatie:2014

Toegankelijkheid:Closed