The Role of the Roman Catholic Church in Co-Shaping Czech Foreign Policy Cover Image

Analýza role římskokatolické církve při spoluutváření české zahraniční politiky
The Role of the Roman Catholic Church in Co-Shaping Czech Foreign Policy

Author(s): Petr Kratochvíl
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Ústav mezinárodních vztahů
Keywords: Roman Catholic Church; religion; foreign policy; Czech Republic; church-state relationship

Summary/Abstract: This article explores the question of whether the increasing importance of religion in international relations is also reflected in the role the Roman Catholic Church plays in the formulation of Czech foreign policy. In the first half of the study we will briefly investigate in what ways the role of the Church is described in the key documents of Czech (foreign) policy and how the Church-politics relationship is interpreted in the Czech media discourse. Our attention will be dedicated primarily to the thematic analysis and the actorness of the Church. In the article’s second half, we will focus on the way(s) the Church is trying to change the situation of its relation to Czech politics, which is currently unfavourable to it. We will identify three fundamental strategies that can be used by the Church as a reaction to its expulsion from the public sphere and also assess their empirical presence in the Czech milieu.

  • Issue Year: 46/2011
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 20-34
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Czech