ABSTRACT
This chapter situates the forms of Social Catholicism observed here within the context of a three-pronged doctrinal and historical movement. We first locate the mobilizations observed during this study against the backdrop of a normative debate concerning the plural doctrinal sources of Social Catholicism. The second viewpoint is that of the Nation-State; the three territories observed are part of three European states that have historically developed their own specific models of political regulation of religion. Even if these Church–State relations do not constitute our main angle of observation, from an institutional perspective it is indispensable to outline them in order to understand the rules and norms which link and differentiate the Catholic institutional orders. Finally, by going down to territory level and moving away from formal institutionalism, we can grasp in fine detail the whole set of regulatory interactions between Catholicism and society. With this objective in mind, it is advisable to look again at the phenomenon of secularization, which has made itself felt in all the territories.
