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Paper short abstract

This paper explores a pilgrimage site of a recently sainted nun in contemporary Israel that remains outside the purview of most pilgrims to the region. Pilgrimage tourism and its logistics is suggested as one of the main explanatory mechanism.

Paper long abstract

The shrine of Mariam Bawardy presents us with an opportunity to further explore enchantment and routinization of pilgrimage sites in a rapidly globalizing world and against growing numbers of spiritual/religious and touristic pilgrims. The emerging site of this Carmelite nun should have been dramatically transformed against her recent canonization (2015) by the Pope. However, pilgrims and tourists, both local and international, do not frequent in growing numbers this unique location in the holy land. This intriguing case forces us to rethink the Weberian notion of enchantment in contemporary pilgrimage sites. The non-routinzation of the site and the pilgrimage (or the lack of) therein is explained against micro and macro geopolitics of tourism both religious and secular.