Religion et modernité: le cas de “Comunione e Liberazione”

The movement “Comunione e Liberazione” has long held the attention of the world press. The breadth of influence developed by this movement, its role within the Catholic apparatus, and its entry into Italian political and economic life go to make up its sociological interest. Faced with a lay and secularized society, Comunione e Liberazione presents itself as a herald of the regeneration of Catholic culture and tradition within modern society. The penetration of this movement into Italian society has not been without consequences. The upheaval within liberal society in 1968, the shake-up of the Italian Catholic cosmos following its relegation to minority status within society, and finally the onslaught of the myth of unlimited economic growth, guaranteed by the Welfare State, coalesced in a way which opened up to this movement numerous avenues of influence within modern society. Its current success is thus to be measured against a background of upheavals in secular life, whose impact is no less significant than those which have recently shaken religious institutions.