Thy kingdom come a study of Roman Catholic education in Richmondshire from the reformation to 1904

Abstract

Since the second Vatican Council, religious congregations have been urged to seek their initial char ism. This study primarily concerns the charism expressed in the motto of the Assumption Sisters, 'Thy Kingdom Come', as pursued in their educational apostolate, particularly in the Richmond area. Founded and guided by members of the Mennaisien school, whose thinking was based on an interpretation of Augustine of Hippo's 'City of God', their outlook was both ultramontane and liberal. The Congregation operated within an eschatological optic, to be worked out according to each local situation. The aim was to 'Restore all things in Christ’. The starting point of the study is the idea of conflict and opposition in the Gospels and in Augustine's work. There follows an outline of the Church's educational role, a general picture of pre-Reformation schools in the area, and a brief account of recusant educational effort from 1548. The ideals of the Jesuits and their work, both internationally and locally, are seen to rest on similar foundations to those of the Assumption sisters. The body of the thesis commences with the growth of liberal Catholicism in Europe, England and America. The American Louisa Caton, later Duchess of Leeds, influenced by the educational and political activities of her family, invited the Assuirption sisters to work in England in 1849. Their background and their educational philosophy and practice occupy the major section 'The transformation of society'. The final part 'From principles to practice', is more domestic in scope, and deals mainly with the educational works undertaken by the sisters in Richmond from 1850 to 1904, in conjunction with the local Jesuit clergy. The concluding section returns to the ideal of Jesus Christ, liberator and King of the world, seen as the one in whom the universe will be 'restored' through the work of education.