ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the nature of political Catholicism. It examines the historical development of political Catholicism in Western Europe, the movement’s apparent transformation became obvious. The chapter discusses that political Catholicism was an important political movement, inside as well as outside of Europe, but remained largely under-researched. It discusses the historical development of political Catholicism by drawing on the insightful work of Conway. The new militant and anti-democratic face of political Catholicism was very much an effect of economic depression that struck Europe, which led rural and middle classes to perceive parliamentary democracy as largely unresponsive to their hardships. The chapter provides a more robust definition of political Catholicism than the ones used so far, identifying characteristic primary and secondary features of this movement— an element on which political scientists have so far not satisfactorily elaborated. It shows that political Catholicism was a distinct political phenomenon that often contrasted other political ideologies.
