https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/109076 2026-05-27T16:30:16Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/109160 Title: Starting from scratch : realities of older Maltese ex-sisters Abstract: Background: There has been a global decrease in women religious for a number of reasons. Women are not embracing the religious life as frequently as before; frail and older sisters have passed away and another smaller percentage of sisters chose to leave. Statistics revealed how in Malta too, the number of women religious decreased, more or less because of the same reasons. Aims: After realizing the dearth of literature in this area, this study sought to explore the experiences of sisters who left the convent and were now in the old-age bracket. This research aimed to explore the socio-economic factors at play by taking into consideration psychological and emotional challenges, deinstitutionalization and financial constraints. It also looked at the ways the sisters adapted to change after leaving the convent. Method: The researcher opted for a qualitative approach to attempt to make sense of what made sense to these ex-sisters. IPA (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis) was applied to provide detailed examinations of the lived experiences of this particular cohort of persons. Snowball sampling through which a participant recruited the other according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria was utilised for this study. Nine (9) semi-structured face-to-face interviews were held. Six (6) of these were held in a studio apartment rented purposely for this study. Five (5) participants were physically present and one (1) interview was held virtually since the participant relocated to Toronto, Canada. Three (3) older participants in their 70’s preferred that the interviews take place in the comfort of their own home. A pilot study was carried out with 2 participants, a 63-year-old and a 70-year-old ex-sister. Results: After data analysis 5 superordinate themes emerged, namely (a) socio-economic factors (b) socio-economic challenges after leaving the convent (c) deinstitutionalization; psychological and social factors (d) cultural conditions and (e) life as senior citizens. An outstanding factor was that all 9 participants had no remorse neither for the years that they spent in the convent, nor for the step they had taken to transition back to laity. Though the ex-sisters experienced different levels of psychological and emotional challenges and financial constraints, by the end of the interview, a third of the participants no longer portrayed themselves to have remained psychologically or emotionally scarred once they had become senior citizens. Moreover, none of these 3 older participants were undergoing any financial constraints. The other 6 participants however differed; 2 still seemed to have remained moderately affected both psychologically/emotionally and financially and another 2 participants remained affected more severely both ways. One other participant remained mildly affected psychologically/emotionally and had moderate financial constraints while the 9th participant was still moderately affected psychologically/emotionally and still undergoing financial constraints which seemed severe. Conclusion: This research was significant due to the dearth of local studies regarding sisters who left the convent, or any knowledge of what had become of them, especially those who were now in the old-age bracket. There were findings which were similar to other limited studies abroad, especially where psychological, emotional issues and financial challenges were concerned. Recommendations were made for future research regarding both men and women who have left the religious life. Suggestions were also put forward to both Ecclesiastical and Policy Makers to consider the plight of these religious once they have left their respective congregations amongst other things. Description: M. Ger.(Melit.) 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z