Abstract
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.
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