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{{Short description|Catalan Benedictine nun, theologian, physician and activist}}
{{Short description|Catalan Benedictine nun, theologian, physician and activist}}
{{BLP sources|date=October 2019}}
{{BLP sources|date=October 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Teresa Forcades
| name = Teresa Forcades
Line 9: Line 9:
| caption = Forcades in 2015
| caption = Forcades in 2015
| birth_name = Teresa Forcades i Vila
| birth_name = Teresa Forcades i Vila
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1966}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|5|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Barcelona]], [[Catalonia]], Spain
| birth_place = [[Barcelona]], [[Catalonia]], Spain
| death_date =
| death_date =
Line 18: Line 18:
| alma_mater = {{ubl | [[University of Barcelona]] | [[Harvard University]]}}
| alma_mater = {{ubl | [[University of Barcelona]] | [[Harvard University]]}}
}}
}}
{{Family name hatnote|Forcades|Vila|lang=Catalan}}

'''Teresa Forcades i Vila'''{{efn|Catalan pronunciation: {{IPA-ca|t(ə)ˈɾɛzə fuɾˈkaðəs|}}.}} {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Order of St. Benedict|OSB]]}} (born 1966) is a Catalan physician, [[Benedictine]] [[nun]] and [[social activist]]. Forcades i Vila is known for her outspoken and sometimes controversial views on the church, [[public health]] and Catalan independence, and for her [[vaccine skepticism]].
'''Teresa Forcades i Vila'''{{efn|Catalan pronunciation: {{IPA-ca|t(ə)ˈɾɛzə fuɾˈkaðəs|}}.}} {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Order of St. Benedict|OSB]]}} (born 10 May 1966 in [[Barcelona]]) is a Catalan physician, [[Benedictine]] [[nun]] and [[social activist]]. Forcades i Vila is known for her outspoken and sometimes controversial views on the church, [[public health]] and Catalan independence, and for her [[vaccine skepticism]].


==Education==
==Education==
Born in [[Barcelona]] in 1966, Forcades grew up in a home where her parents rejected religion. She was sent, however, to the private [[Sacred Heart]] school, where she discovered religious faith through the study of the [[Bible]] given by the [[religious sister]]s who ran the school.<ref name=BC>{{cite web|url=http://www.benedictinescat.com/Montserrat/Teresacas.html|work=Benedictinos de Catalunya|title=Charlas con Teresa|language=es}}</ref> She went on to study medicine at the [[University of Barcelona]]. In 1992 she moved to the United States, where in 1995 she completed a residency at the [[University at Buffalo, The State University of New York|University of Buffalo]] School of Medicine, specialising in [[internal medicine]]. After obtaining a scholarship, she moved to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], where she gained the degree of [[Master of Divinity]] from [[Harvard Divinity School]] in 1997.
Born in [[Barcelona]] in 1966, Forcades grew up in a home where her parents rejected religion. She was sent, however, to the private [[Sacred Heart]] school, where she discovered religious faith through the study of the [[Bible]] given by the [[religious sister]]s who ran the school.<ref name=BC>{{cite web|url=http://www.benedictinescat.com/Montserrat/Teresacas.html|work=Benedictinos de Catalunya|title=Charlas con Teresa|language=es}}</ref> She went on to study medicine at the [[University of Barcelona]]. In 1992 she moved to the United States, where in 1995 she completed a residency at the [[University at Buffalo, The State University of New York|University of Buffalo]] School of Medicine, specialising in [[internal medicine]]. After obtaining a scholarship, she moved to [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], where she gained the degree of [[Master of Divinity]] from [[Harvard Divinity School]] in 1997.


As the result of a stay in order to prepare for some examinations which Forcades made at the [[Monastery]] of [[St. Benedict]] in [[Monistrol de Montserrat|Montserrat]], Spain, founded in 1952,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.benedictinescat.com/Montserrat/indexceramang.html|work=Monastir de Sant Benet|title=Monastir}}</ref> and connected to the famed [[Abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat]], she felt a call to monastic life.<ref name=BC /> In September 1997, she entered the monastery, where she follows the Benedictine pattern of life, while still working in the fields of [[religious study]], [[theology]] and medicine. In 2004 she obtained a [[doctorate]] in [[public health]] from the [[University of Barcelona]] {{Citation needed|reason="Not available in [https://www.educacion.gob.es/teseo/irGestionarConsulta.do TESEO]; author not listed in [https://www.tesisenred.net/browse?order=ASC&rpp=100&sort_by=-1&etal=-1&offset=15601&type=author Tesis Doctorals in Xarxa]; author not listed in the [http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/handle/2445/34657/browse?type=author&order=ASC&rpp=100&offset=3984 University of Barcelona's repository of PhD theses]; there is no information available on the title of her thesis, supervisors, department in which it was read, defense date nor jury"|date=October 2020}}. In 2005 she obtained a degree in theology. After four years, in 2009 she received a doctorate from the School of Theology of Catalonia.
As the result of a stay in order to prepare for some examinations which Forcades made at the [[Monastery]] of [[St. Benedict]] in [[Monistrol de Montserrat|Montserrat]], Spain, founded in 1952,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.benedictinescat.com/Montserrat/indexceramang.html|work=Monastir de Sant Benet|title=Monastir}}</ref> and connected to the famed [[Abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat]], she received a call to monastic life.<ref name=BC /> In September 1997, she entered the monastery, where she follows the Benedictine pattern of life, while still working in the fields of [[religious study]], [[theology]] and medicine. In 2004 she obtained a [[doctorate]] in [[public health]] from the [[University of Barcelona]].{{Citation needed|reason="Not available in [https://www.educacion.gob.es/teseo/irGestionarConsulta.do TESEO]; author not listed in [https://www.tesisenred.net/browse?order=ASC&rpp=100&sort_by=-1&etal=-1&offset=15601&type=author Tesis Doctorals in Xarxa]; author not listed in the [http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/handle/2445/34657/browse?type=author&order=ASC&rpp=100&offset=3984 University of Barcelona's repository of PhD theses]; there is no information available on the title of her thesis, supervisors, department in which it was read, defense date nor jury"|date=October 2020}} In 2005, she obtained a degree in theology. After four years, in 2009 she received a doctorate from the School of Theology of Catalonia.


==Political positions==
==Political positions==
===Feminism===
===Feminism===
Teresa Forcades understands [[feminism]] as a form of [[liberation theology]]. Forcades has openly criticised the Catholic church as "[[misogynist]] and [[patriarchal]] in its structure".<ref name="guardian2013" /> She has developed her thoughts on this in the light of [[liberation theology]].
Forcades understands [[feminism]] as a form of [[liberation theology]]. Forcades has openly criticised the Catholic church as "[[misogynist]] and [[patriarchal]] in its structure".<ref name="guardian2013" /> She has developed her thoughts on this in the light of [[liberation theology]].


===Catalan independence===
===Catalan independence===
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| url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/17/teresa-forcades-nun-on-mission
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/17/teresa-forcades-nun-on-mission
| accessdate = 20 May 2013
| accessdate = 20 May 2013
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


In 2015, as another major vote for Catalan independence approached, Forcades received permission from her superior and the [[Holy See]] to set aside her habit and don secular attire, entering the political arena to lead the [[leftist]] [[Procés Constituent]] movement. She remarked, "Criticisms are to be expected. I follow somebody called Jesus and he had a lot of that."<ref>{{cite news| work = El Diario | language = es | url=http://www.eldiario.es/politica/Teresa-Forcades-convento-asamblea-estelada_0_406309949.html|title=Teresa Forcades, del convento a la asamblea, y del hábito a la "estelada"}}</ref><ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|url =https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/07/homily-to-catalonia-nun-entering-spains-regional-politics|title=Homily to Catalonia: the nun entering Spain's regional politics|first=Ashifa|last=Kassam|date=7 June 2015|newspaper= The Guardian}}</ref> In 2018, she returned to the monastery of Sant Benet in Montserrat to resume her life as a contemplative nun.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}
In 2015, as another major vote for Catalan independence approached, Forcades received permission from her superior and the [[Holy See]] to set aside her habit and don secular attire, entering the political arena to lead the [[leftist]] [[Procés Constituent]] movement. She remarked, "Criticisms are to be expected. I follow somebody called Jesus and he had a lot of that."<ref>{{cite news| work = El Diario | language = es | url=http://www.eldiario.es/politica/Teresa-Forcades-convento-asamblea-estelada_0_406309949.html|title=Teresa Forcades, del convento a la asamblea, y del hábito a la "estelada"}}</ref><ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|url =https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/07/homily-to-catalonia-nun-entering-spains-regional-politics|title=Homily to Catalonia: the nun entering Spain's regional politics|first=Ashifa|last=Kassam|date=7 June 2015|newspaper= The Guardian}}</ref> In 2018, she returned to the monastery of Sant Benet in Montserrat to resume her life as a contemplative nun.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}


===Vaccination===
===Vaccination===
Forcades has espoused views about the dangers of vaccines since at least 2009.<ref name="VaccineGuardian">{{cite web |title=Keeping up with Teresa Forcades, a nun on a mission |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/17/teresa-forcades-nun-on-mission |website=the Guardian |language=en |date=17 May 2013}}</ref> In 2021 she was criticized for her vaccine skepticism in relation to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name="NYTVaccine">{{cite web |last1=Casey |first1=Nicholas |title=A Nun and a Doctor, She’s One of Europe’s Longstanding Vaccine Skeptics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/23/world/europe/spain-covid-vaccine-nun.html |website=The New York Times |date=23 April 2021}}</ref>
Since at least 2009, Forcades has espoused views about what she says are the dangers of vaccines.<ref name="VaccineGuardian">{{cite web |title=Keeping up with Teresa Forcades, a nun on a mission |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/17/teresa-forcades-nun-on-mission |website=The Guardian |language=en |date=17 May 2013}}</ref> A 2009 article in ''[[El País]]'' criticized Forcades' [[Vaccine hesitancy|stance on the reliability]] of [[influenza vaccines]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Desmontando a la monja-bulo | author = MARÍA R. SAHUQUILLO / EMILIO DE BENITO | language = Galician | newspaper = [[El País]] | date = 1 November 2009 | url = http://elpais.com/diario/2009/11/01/sociedad/1257030001_850215.html | accessdate = 20 May 2013 }}</ref> The critical stance taken by the article was later defended by the newspaper's [[public editor]] {{ill|Milagros Pérez Oliva|es}}.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.elpais.com/articulo/opinion/monja/teorias/conspiracion/elpepuopi/20091108elpepiopi_5/Tes | title = La monja y las teorías de la conspiración | accessdate = 14 July 2013 | author = Milagros Pérez Oliva | newspaper = [[El País]] | date = 8 November 2009}}</ref> In 2021, the ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' criticised her for her vaccine skepticism in relation to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name="NYTVaccine">{{cite web |last1=Casey |first1=Nicholas |title=A Nun and a Doctor, She's One of Europe's Longstanding Vaccine Skeptics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/23/world/europe/spain-covid-vaccine-nun.html |website=The New York Times |date=23 April 2021}}</ref>


==Writings==
==Writings==
Forcades has written three books:
Forcades has written three books:
* ''La Trinitat avui'' (''The [[Trinity]] Today'') (Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2005)
* ''La Trinitat avui'' (''The [[Trinity]] Today'') (Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2005)
* ''Els crims de les grans companyies farmacèutiques'' (''The Crimes of big Pharmaceutical Companies'') (Cristianisme i Justícia, 2006)
* ''Els crims de les grans companyies farmacèutiques'' (''The Crimes of Big Pharmaceutical Companies'') (Cristianisme i Justícia, 2006)
* ''La teologia feminista en la història'' (''Feminist Theology in History'') (Fragmenta Editorial, 2007)
* ''La teologia feminista en la història'' (''Feminist Theology in History'') (Fragmenta Editorial, 2007)

==Recognition==
She was recognized as one of the [[BBC 100 Women]] of 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-10-20 |title=100 Women: Who took part? |language=en-GB |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-24579511 |access-date=2022-12-18}}</ref>


==Notes==
==Notes==
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* [http://www.cristianismeijusticia.net/en/crimes-and-abuses-pharmaceutical-industry Crimes and abuses of the Pharmaceutical Industry]. Cristianisme i Justícia, December 2006, {{ISBN|84-9730-152-8}}
* [http://www.cristianismeijusticia.net/en/crimes-and-abuses-pharmaceutical-industry Crimes and abuses of the Pharmaceutical Industry]. Cristianisme i Justícia, December 2006, {{ISBN|84-9730-152-8}}


{{100 Women by BBC in 2013}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


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[[Category:Harvard Divinity School alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Divinity School alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:20th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:Spanish Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns]]
[[Category:20th-century Spanish nuns]]
[[Category:Benedictine nuns]]
[[Category:Benedictine nuns]]
[[Category:Christian feminist theologians]]
[[Category:Christian feminist theologians]]
[[Category:Spanish public health doctors]]
[[Category:Spanish public health doctors]]
[[Category:Catalan women writers]]
[[Category:Women writers from Catalonia]]
[[Category:Women religious writers]]
[[Category:Women religious writers]]
[[Category:Catholic socialists]]
[[Category:Catholic socialists]]
[[Category:Christian socialist theologians]]
[[Category:Christian socialist theologians]]
[[Category:BBC 100 Women]]
[[Category:Female Christian socialists]]
[[Category:Female Christian socialists]]
[[Category:20th-century Christian nuns]]
[[Category:21st-century Spanish nuns]]
⚫
[[Category:21st-century Christian nuns]]
[[Category:Liberation theologians]]
[[Category:Liberation theologians]]
[[Category:21st-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:21st-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians]]
⚫
[[Category:21st-century Spanish women politicians]]
[[Category:Women public health doctors]]

Latest revision as of 01:37, 16 July 2024

Teresa Forcades
OSB
Teresa Forcades i Vila
Forcades in 2015
Born
Teresa Forcades i Vila

(1966-05-10) 10 May 1966 (age 58)
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Alma mater
OccupationBenedictine nun
Known for
In this Catalan name, the first or paternal surname is Forcades and the second or maternal family name is Vila; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".

Teresa Forcades i Vila[a] OSB (born 10 May 1966 in Barcelona) is a Catalan physician, Benedictine nun and social activist. Forcades i Vila is known for her outspoken and sometimes controversial views on the church, public health and Catalan independence, and for her vaccine skepticism.

Education

[edit]

Born in Barcelona in 1966, Forcades grew up in a home where her parents rejected religion. She was sent, however, to the private Sacred Heart school, where she discovered religious faith through the study of the Bible given by the religious sisters who ran the school.[1] She went on to study medicine at the University of Barcelona. In 1992 she moved to the United States, where in 1995 she completed a residency at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine, specialising in internal medicine. After obtaining a scholarship, she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she gained the degree of Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in 1997.

As the result of a stay in order to prepare for some examinations which Forcades made at the Monastery of St. Benedict in Montserrat, Spain, founded in 1952,[2] and connected to the famed Abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat, she received a call to monastic life.[1] In September 1997, she entered the monastery, where she follows the Benedictine pattern of life, while still working in the fields of religious study, theology and medicine. In 2004 she obtained a doctorate in public health from the University of Barcelona.[citation needed] In 2005, she obtained a degree in theology. After four years, in 2009 she received a doctorate from the School of Theology of Catalonia.

Political positions

[edit]

Feminism

[edit]

Forcades understands feminism as a form of liberation theology. Forcades has openly criticised the Catholic church as "misogynist and patriarchal in its structure".[3] She has developed her thoughts on this in the light of liberation theology.

Catalan independence

[edit]

In 2013, Forcades co-authored the Manifesto for the Convening of a Constituent Process in Catalonia with economist Arcadi Oliveres. In it they proposed achieving independence for Catalonia through new political and social model based on self-organisation and social mobilisation.[4] Her political activism resulted in The Guardian labelling her as "one of the most outspoken ... leaders of southern Europe's far left".[3]

In 2015, as another major vote for Catalan independence approached, Forcades received permission from her superior and the Holy See to set aside her habit and don secular attire, entering the political arena to lead the leftist Procés Constituent movement. She remarked, "Criticisms are to be expected. I follow somebody called Jesus and he had a lot of that."[5][6] In 2018, she returned to the monastery of Sant Benet in Montserrat to resume her life as a contemplative nun.[citation needed]

Vaccination

[edit]

Since at least 2009, Forcades has espoused views about what she says are the dangers of vaccines.[7] A 2009 article in El País criticized Forcades' stance on the reliability of influenza vaccines.[8] The critical stance taken by the article was later defended by the newspaper's public editor Milagros Pérez Oliva [es].[9] In 2021, the New York Times criticised her for her vaccine skepticism in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10]

Writings

[edit]

Forcades has written three books:

  • La Trinitat avui (The Trinity Today) (Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2005)
  • Els crims de les grans companyies farmacèutiques (The Crimes of Big Pharmaceutical Companies) (Cristianisme i Justícia, 2006)
  • La teologia feminista en la història (Feminist Theology in History) (Fragmenta Editorial, 2007)

Recognition

[edit]

She was recognized as one of the BBC 100 Women of 2013.[11]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Catalan pronunciation: [t(ə)ˈɾɛzə fuɾˈkaðəs].

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Charlas con Teresa". Benedictinos de Catalunya (in Spanish).
  2. ^ "Monastir". Monastir de Sant Benet.
  3. ^ a b "Keeping up with Teresa Forcades, a nun on a mission". The Guardian. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Teresa Forcades i Arcadi Oliveres promouen un manifest 'per un procés constituent a Catalunya'". VilaWeb.cat. 10 April 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Teresa Forcades, del convento a la asamblea, y del hábito a la "estelada"". El Diario (in Spanish).
  6. ^ Kassam, Ashifa (7 June 2015). "Homily to Catalonia: the nun entering Spain's regional politics". The Guardian.
  7. ^ "Keeping up with Teresa Forcades, a nun on a mission". The Guardian. 17 May 2013.
  8. ^ MARÍA R. SAHUQUILLO / EMILIO DE BENITO (1 November 2009). "Desmontando a la monja-bulo". El País (in Galician). Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. ^ Milagros Pérez Oliva (8 November 2009). "La monja y las teorías de la conspiración". El País. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  10. ^ Casey, Nicholas (23 April 2021). "A Nun and a Doctor, She's One of Europe's Longstanding Vaccine Skeptics". The New York Times.
  11. ^ "100 Women: Who took part?". BBC News. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
[edit]
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