No Fiancé, No Baptism
Historicizing the Education of Girls through a 1953 Episode in the RCM Convent Girls School, Benin City, Nigeria
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3132317 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Uyilawa Usuanlele (State University of New York at Oswego, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 213 |
| Publication date | 2023-02-04 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel14020213 |
| OpenAlex | W4319317433 |
| Language | PT |
| References cited | 4 |
In 1953, officials of the Roman Catholic Mission (RCM) Church in Benin City, Nigeria, requested schoolgirls of Benin-Edo ethnic origin at the local Convent Primary School preparing for baptism to bring their fiancés to school as a condition for baptism. The demand for the presentation of their fiancé was the first time such a condition for baptism was given to young teenage girls since the establishment of the RCM in Benin City in 1923. The condition and demand affected the girls' relationship with the RCM denomination. In examining and historicizing this episode, this paper asks and answers the following questions: Why did the local RCM officials change their policy to demand fiancés as a condition for the baptism of schoolgirls of Benin-Edo origin? How did the policy affect schoolgirls, particularly their relations with the Catholic faith, and their response? This paper uses archival documents, personal interviews with some former Convent school girls and Catholic church members, and written sources to find answers to these questions and reconstruct the history of women's education under the RCM in Benin City Parish under colonial rule
Baptism · Benin city · Colonialism · Faith · Political science · Sociology · Theology · African history and culture studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Gender Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |