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‘They Just Dig St Antony, He’s Right Up Their Street, Religious Wise’: Transnational Flows and Inter-Religious Encounters in an East London Parish

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Migration, Transnationalism and Catholicism

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Abstract

This chapter examines the gendered, performed and embodied dimensions of devotion to St Antony in an inner city, London parish. It explores the ways in which institutional rituals and customs are transformed through the transnational flow of people, cultural practices and historic understandings, through an examination of the Tamil Catholics and Tamil Hindus worshipping together at the Tuesday Novena, alongside a diverse community from around the world which includes a large Irish Traveller contingent. As both of these case studies illustrate, contemporary migrant religious practice is redefining and enriching this pre-conciliar extra-liturgical sacramental, thereby enabling a ‘traditional’ Catholic devotional to function as an innovative space for prayer, communion and convivial, inter-religious encounter.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Jeyachandra Jacuma (b.1978), Interview, 15 April 2014, transcript #114.

  2. 2.

    Ethnographic material within this chapter is based on fieldwork undertaken over various Tuesday evenings throughout 2009, 2012, and Tuesday evenings in February and March 2014. All material gathered and interviews conducted have passed through ethics clearance, via the University of Oxford Central Research Ethics Committee, CUREC1A/14-201 and are available within the Bishopsgate Institute, London EC2M 4QH.

  3. 3.

    Bulletin, No. 27, 31 May 1964, 1 (Archives of the Franciscans Minor (AOFM), Box 17).

  4. 4.

    Account of Receipts and Payments (1963) (AOFM, Box 41).

  5. 5.

    Rev. John Moloney (b.1969), Interview, 17 March 2014, transcript #113.

  6. 6.

    Rev. Denis Hall (b.1941), Interview, 17 July 2009, transcript #92 & 93.

  7. 7.

    Ann Marie (b. 1970s), Interview, 18 December 2015, transcript #114.

  8. 8.

    Handwritten petition, 25 March 2014, #11. My thanks to Sivashanke Sivashanmugam for invaluable translation assistance.

  9. 9.

    Handwritten petition, 25 March 2014, #14.

  10. 10.

    Handwritten petition, 25 March 2014, #26.

  11. 11.

    Handwritten petition, 25 March 2014, #34.

  12. 12.

    Ann Marie (b. 1970s), Interview, 18 December 2015, transcript #114.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. King’s College London, London, UK

    Alana Harris

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  1. Alana Harris
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

    Dominic Pasura

  2. Peace Research Institute Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Marta Bivand Erdal

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Harris, A. (2016). ‘They Just Dig St Antony, He’s Right Up Their Street, Religious Wise’: Transnational Flows and Inter-Religious Encounters in an East London Parish. In: Pasura, D., Erdal, M. (eds) Migration, Transnationalism and Catholicism. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58347-5_5

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