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Those living the monastic life are known by the generic terms monks (men) and nuns (women). The word monk originated from the Greek μοναχός (monachos, 'monk'), itself from μόνος (monos) meaning 'alone'. [1] [2] Christian monks did not live in monasteries at first; rather, they began by living alone as solitaries, as the word monos ...
The religious status of women is a very important aspect of the history of the religion and one of the most critical issues between the oldest religious divisions of the religion, Svetambar and Digambar. The major distinction between these two divisions is the position of women in their societies.
Women as theological figures have played a significant role in the development of various religions and religious hierarchies. Throughout most of history women were unofficial theologians. They would write and teach, but did not hold official positions in Universities and Seminaries.
Women in Church history have played a variety of roles in the life of Christianity—notably as contemplatives, health care givers, educationalists and missionaries. Until recent times, women were generally excluded from episcopal and clerical positions within the certain Christian churches; however, great numbers of women have been influential in the life of the church, from contemporaries of ...
Many Catholic women, both lay and in religious orders, have become influential mystics or theologians – with four women now recognised as Doctors of the Church: the Carmelites have produced two such women, the Spanish mystic Saint Teresa of Avila and French author Saint Therese of Lisieux; while Catherine of Siena was an Italian Dominican and ...
In spite of that, the Catholic Church conducted a large number of beatifications and canonizations of Catholic women from all over the world: St. Josephine Bakhita was a Sudanese slave girl who became a Canossian nun; St. Katharine Drexel (1858–1955) worked for Native and African Americans; Polish mystic St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905 ...
Nevertheless, throughout history, women have achieved significant influence in the running of Catholic institutions – particularly in hospitals and schooling, through religious orders of nuns or sisters like the Benedictines, Dominicans, Loreto Sisters, Sisters of Mercy, Little Sisters of the Poor, Josephites, and Missionaries of Charity.
A religious (using the word as a noun) is, in the terminology of many Western Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, and Anglican Communion, what in common language one would call a "monk" or "nun". [1] [2] [3]