Towards a transnational history of "feminine Catholicism" (19th-20th C) : missionary travels, spiritual devotions, social and sexual revolutions

The history of contemporary Catholicism constitutes an important page in national historiographies. We readily speak of French, German, Italian Catholicism... much less of European Catholicism, sometimes of North American, Latin American, African Catholicism... As we sketch out a "global history of Catholicism", in the United States in particular, the transnational approach presents a real heuristic value, starting from the processes of connection and circulation. An example illustrating a possible "transnational history" of contemporary Catholicism can be one of "feminine Catholicism". Three areas of investigation are explored here : the role of missionary congregations, the influence of spiritual devotion, the revolution in social and sexual practices.