Women’s Convents as Enclaves of Female Independence

Marcelina Darowska and Józefa Karska – Suffragettes in Nun’s Clothing

Abstract

The article comprises two parts. The first part, following a brief outline of key Church addresses related to the emancipation movement, explores how female religious orders, through their long history, can be viewed as communities fostering a specific form of women’s “emancipation.” Beyond their primary mission of fulfilling spiritual vocations, women’s monasteries served as enclaves of freedom – both from the societal norms prescribing roles such as mother, wife, or homemaker, and for intellectual development, creative expression and for access to written culture and artistic pursuits. The second part examines the contributions of Marcelina Darowska and Józefa Karska, founders of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate, in advancing the dignity of women within ecclesiastical but also social contexts. It highlights their efforts to expand women’s autonomy and independence and their commitment to providing Polish women with solid education and fostering independent thought. The article underscores aspects of the Sisters’ formation that anticipated many 19th-century emancipatory demands and identifies in Darowska’s teachings values later associated with John Paul II’s concept of “new feminism”.