Résumé
Cet article se propose d’interroger les solidarités familiales à l’aune du vieillissement des congrégations religieuses féminines. Il est issu d’une enquête ethnographique sur la transformation de parties de couvents en maisons de retraite médicalisées gérées par un personnel laïc. Les résultats nous donnent l’occasion d’aborder les tensions qui prévalent entre l’autorité de l’Église et les figures fondatrices des congrégations ; entre les hiérarchies internes au couvent et les trajectoires hors norme des religieuses ; entre le profil de religieuse et celui de résidente âgée en maison de retraite. Pour chaque niveau, l’analyse permet de remettre en question les représentations, généralement défavorables, que l’on peut avoir des religieuses. C’est le cas aussi des professionnelles des soins en charge des résidentes, qui considèrent les engagements de ces dernières uniquement comme le résultat de diverses soumissions. Aussi, le savoir-faire et la réappropriation du pouvoir par les religieuses dans le but d’agir pour leur famille congrégationnelle ne sont pas compris comme pouvant servir de leviers aux causes féministes.
This article examines family solidarity in the light of aging in women’s religious congregations. It is based on an ethnographic investigation into the partial transformation of convents into nursing homes staffed by laypeople. The results allow us to sketch out three tensions that structure relationships in this context : between church authorities and the founding members of the congregation ; between the hierarchies within the convent and the unusual trajectories of these nuns ; and between these occupants’ social profile as nuns and their social profile as residents of a retirement home. In each of these areas, our analysis challenges the generally negative representations surrounding nuns. This applies in particular to the staff in charge of these residents, who tend to view the nuns’religious commitments solely as acts of submission. Thus, the know-how and re-appropriation of power that these nuns display in their efforts to care for their congregational family are not understood as tools that could potentially serve the feminist cause.
This article examines family solidarity in the light of aging in women’s religious congregations. It is based on an ethnographic investigation into the partial transformation of convents into nursing homes staffed by laypeople. The results allow us to sketch out three tensions that structure relationships in this context : between church authorities and the founding members of the congregation ; between the hierarchies within the convent and the unusual trajectories of these nuns ; and between these occupants’ social profile as nuns and their social profile as residents of a retirement home. In each of these areas, our analysis challenges the generally negative representations surrounding nuns. This applies in particular to the staff in charge of these residents, who tend to view the nuns’religious commitments solely as acts of submission. Thus, the know-how and re-appropriation of power that these nuns display in their efforts to care for their congregational family are not understood as tools that could potentially serve the feminist cause.