The Evolution of the Role of Roman Catholic Monasteries in Belarus from the Nineteenth Century to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This article presents how the role of Roman Catholic monasteries evolved in Belarus from the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth centuries. It defines the traditional internal and external functions of the Catholic monastery and proceeds to convey how, due to Russian policies, Roman Catholic monasteries ceased to fulfill their traditional roles and took on new, unusual, and previously uncommon functions such as serving as prisons and boarding houses