Migration for Mission ― International Catholic Sisters in the United States

Patterns of migration for the purpose of religious mission are an unexamined dimension of the immigration narrative. Catholic sisters from many countries around the world come to the United States to minister and to study. Sociologists from Trinity Washington University and CARA at Georgetown University combined forces to document and understand this contemporary and historical phenomenon. Together, they located more than 4,000 "international sisters" who are currently in the United States for formation, studies, or ministry, from 83 countries spread over six continents. Through surveys, focus groups, and interviews, they heard the stories of these sisters and learned of their joys and satisfactions as well as their struggles and challenges.
This book examines the experience of these sisters in depth and offers valuable suggestions for religious institutes, Catholic dioceses and parishes, and others who benefit from their contributions. More broadly, this book also raises awareness of immigration issues at a time of great contention in the public policy debate in the United States. Illustrated with instructive graphics and tables, it is an accessible and inviting resource for academics and the media, as well as bishops, and leaders of Catholic health care, social service, education, pastoral, and philanthropic institutions.

Mary Johnson is Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C. She is a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur.

Mary L. Gautier (Ph.D. in Sociology from Louisiana State University, 1995) is a senior research associate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She specializes in Catholic demographic trends in the United States, edits The CARA Report, a quarterly research publication, and has co-authored eleven books on Catholics and the Catholic Church in the United States.

Patricia Wittberg is a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati and an emeritus professor of Sociology at Indiana University. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago and has written extensively about Roman Catholic religious orders and Catholic parishes.

Thu T. Do is a Sister of the Lovers of the Holy Cross-Hanoi, Vietnam, and a visiting scholar at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. Her research interests include Catholic higher education, college students and religious life.