Intercultural Challenges

This chapter focuses on issues of concern to Catholic international sisters. These issues involve structural, social, and emotional concerns. Some of these relate to language. Others relate to issues of health and social connectedness. The survey questions asked for the sisters’ concerns about specific individual health issues (i.e., illness, anxiety, tiredness, depression, weight issues, overwork), or about social connectedness (e.g., loneliness, a sense of belonging, ability to participate in the life of the respondent’s own institute). Data are analyzed relative to variables including living arrangements, ethnic/cultural background, and age. These concerns varied by the ethnic backgrounds of the sisters and by their current living arrangements.