ABSTRACT
This chapter links the political strategies of the church hierarchies during the transition to the fate of introverted National Catholicism as a political identity. Comparing the Polish and the Spanish churches as actors in the negotiations leading to democratic transitions shows the importance of church strategies for the mobilization of political identities. The chapter then describes the changing dynamics of the Polish church's political involvement and explains it in terms of the hierarchy's struggle for recognition of clerical authority in the new democratic regime. In both Poland and Spain the church's response to the changing political situation was of the highest strategic importance for the fate of transition. In contrast, during Francoism the Spanish church had a deep-rooted position in the political and social fields. The church supported the 1975 transition to democracy and accepted disestablishment, following a modest approach in defense of its privileges in the new regime, while adopting a neutral position towards emerging parties.
