It's a Total Way of Life? Catholic Priests, Women's Ordination, and Identity Work
Research has shown Catholic priests to be polarized on a few issues, including women's ordination. Explanations have been offered for why priests are initially polarized-particularly the influence of ordination cohort-but not for how attitudes are maintained over time. Using 31 in-depth intervi...
| Published in: | Journal for the scientific study of religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
[2018]
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| In: |
Journal for the scientific study of religion
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Great Britain
/ Catholic church
/ Priest
/ Religious identity
/ Woman
/ Priestly ordination
/ Debate
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| RelBib Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality CH Christianity and Society KDB Roman Catholic Church RB Church office; congregation |
| Further subjects: | B
identity work
B Women's Ordination B Attitudes B Catholic priests |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Research has shown Catholic priests to be polarized on a few issues, including women's ordination. Explanations have been offered for why priests are initially polarized-particularly the influence of ordination cohort-but not for how attitudes are maintained over time. Using 31 in-depth interviews with Catholic priests in the United Kingdom, I find that priests are indeed polarized into groups I call "Total Identity Priests" and "Plural Identity Priests." Taking the example of women's ordination, I show that these two groups of priests maintain their anti- or pro-women's ordination attitudes (respectively) via patterned, everyday identity work, in which they mobilize available cultural schemata. I highlight four areas in which their identity work differs: explicit identity talk, narratives of calling, clericalism and titles, and clothing. This identity work serves to summarize, communicate, and reinforce their personal identities, which in turn reinforce their existing attitudes towards women's ordination. |
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| ISSN: | 1468-5906 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12530 |