Religion in Contemporary Europe (Texts & Studies in Religion)

In this volume, leading academic authorities on the social analysis of religion examine its contemporary role in Europe. It opens by tracing the shifting shape of European religion, focusing on the dynamics of the emerging situation in Central and Eastern Europe. The study then reviews the interaction of theology and politics in shaping European cultural identity, and presents empirical analyses of the situation in Eastern Europe, in studies of the role of Roman Catholicism and Islam. Considering Western Europe, the contributors examine Britain and France, Jews and Europe, and Muslim women. They outline the attitudes of Protestantism to the European Community, and discuss the contribution of Catholicism in the development of subsidiarity and the task of reconstructing a Catholic identity. Further essays confront the impact of war and the political effects of the Green Movement on European Christianity. The book concludes with a consideration of its main themes.