Priests, prelates, and people : a history of European Catholicism since 1750

nicholas Atkin And Frank Tallett Offer The First One-volume Historical Overview Of European Catholicism From The 18th Century To 2002. The Authors Record The Church Struggling To Adapt To The New Political Landscape Ushered In By The French Revolution And Show How The Formation Of Nation States And Identities Was Both Helped And Hindered By The Catholic Establishment. They Portray The Vatican Increasingly Out Of Step In The Wake Of World War, Cold War, And The Massive Expansion Of The Developing World, With Its Problems Of Population Growth And Under-development. This Is Not The Story Of The Church In All Its Glory, But One Of Adaptation And Change, Of Decline And Resilience As The Church Has Responded To Social, Political, And Cultural Changes Over The Last 250 Years. "The Catholic Church has always been a major player in European and world history. Whether it has enjoyed a religious dominance or existed as a minority religion, Catholicism has never been divorced from political and social life." "The alliance between altar and crown had been an established fact for several centuries. Priests, Prelates and People records the Church struggling to adapt to the new political and social landscape ushered in by the French Revolution and shows how the formation of national states and identities was both helped and hindered by the Catholic establishment. Faced with the emergence of modern mass politics, the Catholic Church has frequently diverged from lay opinion. Nicholas Atkin and Frank Tallett show the Vatican increasingly out of step in the wake of World Wars, the Cold War and the massive expansion of the developing world, with its problems of population growth and under-development."--BOOK JACKET TO seize hold of eighteenth-century Catholicism is no easy matter.