Christian Europe Redux

Abstract

The notion of 'Christian Europe' has returned with a vengeance in recent times. It figures prominently in the political rhetoric of conservative nationalists, who link appeals to Europe's Christian heritage and identity to avowedly illiberal political projects. This article examines this revived idea of Christian Europe by contrasting it with the meanings that prominent Christian Democratic leaders ascribed to the term in the post-war era. This contrast is insightful because it reveals what is distinctive about present understandings of Christian Europe, and it is politically relevant because some of the most committed contemporary proponents of Christian Europe claim to be 'true' Christian Democrats. Using Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde's work on the emergence of the modern state as a broad analytical frame, I show that today's visions of Christian Europe are more modern, statist and secular than their post-war counterparts.

Governance of religious diversity in Central Europe: A religious nationalism inspired illiberal turn in Hungary and Slovakia?

“…However, soon enough, the liberal regimes of the governance of religion gave way to a civilizationist primordialism-infused forms of the governance of religious diversity which increasingly acquired features of religious nationalism. The Christian heritage of the nations, particularly in the wake of the so-called ‘European migrant crisis’ of 2015-2016, was declared to be preserved and nourished (Wolkenstein, 2022) apparently, at the expense of other walks of life and belief systems. With new instalments of relevant legislation, ‘alien’ faiths and religious groups deemed ‘dangerous sects’ have been increasingly securitized, sometimes to the point of their virtual banning.…”