1st Edition
Geopolitics of Global Catholicism Politics of Religion in Space and Time
Geopolitics of Global Catholicism uncovers the key trends in today’s Catholicism, providing an incisive analysis of its deep entanglement with national, regional, as well as global politics.
This book offers an exciting exploration of five versions of local Catholicism(s) and sheds light on the various theo-political constellations that not only differ widely across these national contexts but also have global geopolitical consequences. It is built around a novel theoretical argument showing that Catholic geopolitics contains not only a spatial dimension (as classic geopolitical studies would have it) but also a temporal one. As a consequence, the Catholic role in the world cannot be simply understood as a result of the spatial expansion of the Church but rather as a result of the complex relationships between Catholicism and colonization, inculturation, backwardness, and modernization(s). To counter the lingering Eurocentrism of most studies of the Catholic Church, this book’s case studies explore Catholic geopolitics in five non-European contexts, focusing mainly on the Global South (plus the United States): Latin America (Brazil), North America (the United States), Asia (India and China), and Africa (the Democratic Republic of the Congo). These case studies also show that the successes and failures of Catholicism cannot be explained by a recourse to a single, top-down interpretation of Catholic geopolitics, but rather by exploring the various Catholic spatio-temporal constellations on the global, regional, and local levels. With the accelerating diversification of the Church and the growing role of the Global South, these local and regional influences gain further importance as they are likely to increasingly define the future of Catholicism.
This book will be of utmost interest to scholars of International Relations, Religious Studies, Political Science, and Theology, as well as Geopolitics, especially to those studying the global rise of religion. Its accessible language will also appeal to the wider public beyond academia, especially those interested in global Christianity, as well as church leaders, and members of Catholic organizations.
Introduction
1. The Catholic Church in Brazil: The Lost Monopoly
2. Catholicism in the United States: A House Divided?
3. Indian Catholicism: A Vibrant Microcosm under Threat
4. Catholicism in China: Between Great Hopes and Stagnation
5. The Democratic Republic of the Congo: The Rise of A Different Catholicism
6. The Geopolitics of Global Catholicism: A Conclusion (or Is It?)
Biography
Petr Kratochvíl is a full professor and a senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations in Prague, Czech Republic, and a lecturer at Sciences-Po in Paris, France, and Metropolitan University of Prague, Czech Republic (courses on international relations theories, research methods in international relations, geopolitics of religion, and religion and world politics). His main research interests include the religion-politics nexus, critical geopolitics, and theories of international relations. He has published extensively on religion and politics, particularly about the Catholic Church, including in top journals such as Geopolitics, Cooperation and Conflict, Politics and Religion, and many others. His most recent texts include his chapter on Catholicism and Europe in the Oxford Handbook of Religion and Politics and a series of academic studies about politics and religion in Central and Eastern Europe. His previous book (co-authored by Tomáš Doležal) received the Distinguished Book Award of the REL Section of the American International Studies Association. His recent study titled The Patriotic Turn in Russia: Political Convergence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the State? (co‑written with Gaziza Shakhanova) received the 2023 Ted Jelen Award for the best article on religion and politics, awarded by the American Political Science Association.
“From a renowned expert of Christianity and international affairs comes a new and refreshing perspective on the geopolitics of the Catholic Church that is focused on the “south of the world”. The story of Catholicism in the 21st century needed to be told and Petr Kratochvíl was brave enough to take the task on.”
Luca Ozzano, University of Turin, Italy
"Petr Kratochvil's meticulously written new book critically examines our current understanding of Catholicism with such thoroughness and precision that it prompts deep questioning. This comprehensive study, which is open to challenging Eurocentric and exclusively institution-oriented perspectives, serves as both an exemplar in terms of the countries it examines and a ground-breaking contribution to the field of religion-politics theories. Far from being solely intended for experts of social sciences, this book will also serve as a reference point for those interested in comprehending the roles of religion in both local and global politics."
Ahmet Erdi Öztürk, London Metropolitan University, UK
"This book is a very important contribution that helps us understand the transition of Catholicism from a globally extensive Church to a truly globalized Church. It is a phenomenon of enormous complexity, not only culturally and theologically, as it also has significant geopolitical implications. This analysis has the much-needed virtue of being free from a certain “global Catholic” exoticism which tends sometimes to look romantically at the idea of the replacement of the Western-European hegemony over the Church with one of the “global South”. We have entered an age of diversification and encounter but also fragmentation."
Massimo Faggioli, Villanova University, USA
“Eschewing the grand narratives of Catholicism’s culture warriors today, this book offers insights into the many faces of global Catholicism. Its case studies on Brazil, Congo, India, China, and the USA show how the character and significance of Catholicism are shaped by a greater longing to understand one’s place in one’s own context and culture – a longing that has often been accompanied by a struggle for liberation, authenticity, belonging, recognition, and power. Taken together, the case studies command the reader to examine the relationship between religion, politics, and International Relations beyond the classic frames of “religion vs secularism”, “traditionalists vs progressivists”, and “left vs right”. What is more, the book shows that the future of Catholicism is not in the hands of some high-profile culture warriors, but in the hands of a tradition seasoned in finding its place amidst the challenges and contradictions of each time period.”
Marietta van der Tol, University of Oxford, UK
“This book, in the tradition of multiple modernities, argues that space and time are important in the geopolitics of Catholicism. Petr Kratochvíl demonstrates that despite the formally hierarchical and unitary structure of the Catholic Church, in practice, different regional and theological ideations within Catholicism’s diverse and vibrant world community create a multiplicity of localized geopolitical agendas across world Catholicism. While these diverse theologies are all linked to a single temporality, their diversity explains the change and evolution in the Catholic Church. I find the insight that large, world-spanning religions cannot be anything other than diverse over time and space key to understanding not only the geopolitics of Catholicism, but the evolving role religions such as Christianity’s multiple denominations, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism play in world politics.”
Jonathan Fox, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
“Geopolitics of Global Catholicism: Politics of Religion in Space and Time by Petr Kratochvíl is a pivotal work that extends the boundaries of geopolitical analysis within the realm of global Catholicism. With its rigorous approach to intertwining spatial and temporal dimensions through the novel concept of "geopolitical theoscape," this book offers a profound reevaluation of religious geopolitics. It is an essential read for scholars and practitioners interested in the intersections of religion, politics, and global dynamics. It promises not only to inform but also to inspire further research in the geopolitics of religion.”
Jocelyne Cesari, University of Birmingham, UK, and Georgetown University, USA
