All rights reserved; not for citation, quotation or other use, or for reproduction, transmission or copying in any form, without express written consent of Mario Katić. Draft, September ʹͳ, ʹͲͳ7. Will be published in: Simon Coleman and John Eade, eds. (2018) Pilgrimage and Political Economy: Translating the Sacred. Berghahn Books: London and New York. ‘Pilgrimage Capital’, Bosnian Croat Pilgrimage Places, and Transnational Ties through Time and Space Mario Katić University of Zadar Department of Ethnology and Anthropology makatic@unizd.hr Introduction Not every pilgrimage has a sacred object or apparition story but, at the same time, not every pilgrimage needs one. 1 A pilgrimage site possesses something that has enabled it to become a pilgrimage place and which can be used to develop and re-develop it on the pilgrimage market (Reader 2014). I want to explore the translation and transformation of such special features through the analytical category of what I call ‘pilgrimage capital’. 2 Reflecting on this etic category prompts us to observe and analyse the interactions between different religious, political, economic agents, civil society associations and other stakeholders whose actions influence a particular pilgrimage place, and vice versa. The concept of pilgrimage capital encourages us to focus on how these different agents have drawn on cultural, economic and political resources for their particular benefit and helped to develop particular pilgrimage places. It points to the power struggles surrounding such places, as well as the resources used by groups and individuals for their own benefit. It enables us to see more clearly how a particular place can become more prominent and compete more effectively with other pilgrimage sites and, thereby, directly enhance the economic status of local communities and/or an individual’s social position. I focus here on Bosnian Croat pilgrimage sites and the material manifestation of pilgrimage capital through the construction of new sanctuaries and the creation of new pilgrimage places based on their pilgrimage potential. These processes require strong institutional economic and political effort as well as the mobilization of pilgrims. I discuss how the ’pilgrimage capital’ of Bosnian Croat pilgrimage places is being ’profitably’ used to bring together at least once a year those who are visiting their ‘homeland’ and also how it