All rights reservedForlenza, RosarioTurner, Bryan Stanley2025-10-1620212024-01-23978-1-003-15836-310.4324/9781003158363https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14802/9668This chapter examines the question of democracy and Catholicism along two dimensions: the internal structure of the Church and its external dimension in relation to the realm of secular politics. The chapter questions to what extent its hierarchical structures remain in tension with modern notions of democratic participation. It considers the consequences of Council Vatican II (1962–1965) in terms of the external involvement of the Church in secular politics. In the conclusion, we reflect on what might be termed ‘the long Protestantization of Catholicism’ and on the combination of internal authoritarianism and external liberalism in the shape of Christian democracy.PoliticsInternational RelationsSocial SciencesBook chapterControlledPUB0201096403