ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the situation of the Polish convents by combining a variety of historical and statistical data. It describes the interviewees in terms of age, origins and qualifications. The chapter elucidates the data by offering a portrait of the women who join religious communities in contemporary Poland. Family background and social circles have a significant impact on women's decisions. This argument is constructed around Pierre Bourdieu's notion of the habitus. Women who have developed an appreciation of spiritual goods and are equipped with the spiritual capital choose a convent. The data is placed within the debate on women's religiosity demonstrating that Polish nuns see it as their duty as women to support the Catholic Church. In their own words, nuns are the light cavalry of the Church. Only certain Polish women claim to have been directly called by God and become nuns. Nuns invest their spiritual capital to pursue their mission as both Catholic women and professionally religious women.
