Spiritual Sacrifice or Social Exclusion? A Critical Insight into the Life Trajectory of Three Indonesian Religious Women in Italy

This research paper presents the life trajectory of three Indonesian religious women in Ita-ly. Coming from East Nusa Tenggara Province of Indonesia, three Indonesian juveniles (Filomena, Carmina, Monica) looked for a better future by assembling into religious life as the members of Italian congregation within the Roman Catholic Church. By belonging to one ‘religious institution’ (commonly known as “the congregation”) and becoming religious women, these young Indonesian girls explain their migration to, and daily activities in, their religious communities in northern, central, and southern Italy. As a member of their con-gregation, they sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the congregation under religious vows (poverty, chastity, obedience), both for temporary and perpetual, and they follow their formation (basic, juniorate, on-going) built upon the constitutive elements of the con-gregation (rules and constitutions). However, away from patriarchal system in their original region, they end up in social exclusion in Italy. They experienced blocked access from the opportunities to develop their human capabilities. Rather, they received a set of domestic overload-works in their religious communities. Apparently, their daily routine activities un-veils the assertion of exclusion, that manifests in a particular way. By employing qualitative methods, case study and ethnographic participant observation, this research aimed to col-lect primary data and field findings. Data and field findings will disclose the invisibility of social exclusion where the blocked access transforms spiritual sacrifice into workforce.