AGENCY AND THE MORAL RIGHT TO AN EDUCATION FOR WOMEN RELIGIOUS
Keywords:
Declaration of Human Rights, Divini Illius Magistri, Gravissimum Educationis, Moral Agency, Moral Right to Education, Vatican II, Women ReligiousAbstract
With growing numbers of women religious, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America, their capacity for opening and staffing schools and hospitals makes for a very promising future for Catholic apostolic work. Still, many of these vocations are of women with rudimentary education and in many instances, religious and ecclesial superiors do not adequately appreciate and support the importance of an education, despite the fact that Vatican II and the Declaration of Human Rights explicitly insist on the right to an education. This essay analyses the data regarding the education of girls and young women to make the case that the church’s investment in the education of religious women will multiply significantly the impact of heeding and guaranteeing this moral right.
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