Archives of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion Brussels

Collection

Holding institution:: KADOC Documentation and Research Centre for Religion, Culture and Society

Holding institution (official language):: KADOC Documentatie- en Onderzoekscentrum voor Religie, Cultuur en Samenleving

Title (official language):: Archief Zusters van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Sion Brussel

Creator/accumulator:: Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion; Congrégation des Soeurs de Notre-Dame de Sion; Congregatie van de Zusters van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Sion

Scope and content:: The archives of the Brussels chapter of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion firstly contain documents related to the establishment of the community and related organisations, documents concerning the editing and (membership) administration of the periodical Ein Sjalom, and files regarding educational activities. In addition we also find correspondence, addressed to and sent by religious communities, priests, etc. and many Jewish organisations (including the CCOJB, the Centrale, the Consistory, KKL, the Belgian Zionist Federation, Radio Judaïca, Na’amat-Femmes Pionnières, etc.). Furthermore, the fonds contains series of minutes of meetings of the governing bodies of the community, but also of meetings of the Nationale Katholieke Commissie voor de Betrekkingen tussen Christenen en Joden (dated 1967-1990), of the Ondercommissie voor de Relaties tussen Joden en Christenen (1974-1982), of ‘Kerk en Israël’ – Belgische protestantse raad voor de betrekkingen tussen Jodendom en christendom (1972-1985), etc. Lastly, we point out the audiovisual sources, such as audio tapes with Jewish music, Hebrew courses, etc.

Administrative/biographical history:: The congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion was founded in 1843 by the brothers Théodore and Alphonse Ratisbonne, both Catholic converts of Jewish origin from Strasbourg. The mission of the institution was to promote the relations between Christians and Jews. By 1884 the congregation, primarily known for its poor relief and quality education for girls, was already active in seven countries including Belgium. The congregation operated a boarding school in Antwerp from 1902 until 1952. During the Second World War, the sisters sheltered Jewish children. For this, Mother Marie Dora was (posthumously) honoured as Righteous among the Nations in 1998. Since 1970 a small community of sisters is still present in Brussels. (http://www.notredamedesion.org/en/; J. Luyten, “Relatie katholicisme en jodendom. Archieven op KADOC”, in KADOC Nieuwsbrief, July-August 2006, pp. 4-5.)

Subject terms:: Christianity; Conversion to Christianity; Jewish community; Jewish-Christian relations; Music; Publishing; Radio and television; Zionism; Zionism--Zionist organisations and parties

Access, restrictions:: Consultation requires the authorisation of the archival creator.

Finding aids:: F. Hacour, Plaatsingslijst van het archief van de zusters van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Sion, Brussel. Leuven, KADOC, 2004. This list can also be accessed via the search engine on the Lias website.