The Franciscan Missionaries of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd in Argentina. Their experience among the poor: building spaces of commitment

Su experiencia en la inserción: tejiendo redes y construyendo espacios de compromiso

Abstract

This writing describes and analyzes the experience of living and working among the poor of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd. The FMMDS originated in Spain and are living in Argentina since 1931. They are part of the group of religious orders that decided to have “inserted” communities in the early 80s, capitalizing the experience of those pioneers who did it in the 60s-70s. The writing analyzes the trajectory of this order in Argentina since their arrival, the path that led them to assume the insertion, their presence among the poor, the challenges they faced, and the balance of the experience. The main argument is that they succeeded because while living among the poor they continued articulating with their schools, with a variety of public and private networks, and because they managed to have autonomy from the local church. The data used are order´s archives, interviews carried out in 2017-2018 with 19 women religious, and ethnographic fieldwork in six of their communities.