Les ursulines à Java : un siècle d'éducation catholique (1856-1956)

In: Archipel, Band 81, Heft 1, S. 47-80

Abstract

The Ursulines in Java : A Century of Catholic Education (1856-1956)
Being the first catholic order to settle in the Netherlands East Indies in 1856, the ursulines experienced a great expansion in Java during almost a century. Based on the archives of the order stored in Rome, this article explores this history and highlights the contradictions in the collective memory of the nuns, torn between their ideal of a missionary apostolate in a distant land and the reality of local expectations, namely the education of girls belonging to the upper classes of colonial society. Despite the spectacular development of their activities in the archipelago, it was in fact only from the 1920s that the ursulines began timidly to open the door to indigenous society. Secluded in two ways – inside their convents and as part of the isolated European environment – the ursulines were kept away from the souls they were hoping to convert for a long time. In that sense, their history probably represents one of the most striking examples of the ambiguities of missionary activities in a colonial context.