This article explores transnational spiritual motherhood in women’s
congregations from a historical
and anthropological perspective, considering the question as to how ideas of
motherhood
have changed across geographic borders and over an extended period of time.
Within a religious
context, kinship terms (mother, sister, daughter) are based not on biological,
but on ritual relationships.
In the past, social contact to biological parents and to the family of origin
was reduced to a
minimum or cut off entirely when a young woman entered a religious congregation.
In view of the
transnationalization of convent life and the accompanying increased mobility of
Catholic sisters,
this presents new challenges for many religious orders.
Keywords:
transnational motherhood, Catholic nuns, migration, mobility, Europe, United
States
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