Call of Duty. Why does the Catholic Church support the European Integration?

• Department of Political and Social Sciences

The Catholic Church, which at that time was also in the course of building a new identity in relation to the changing policies all around the globe, was open to this process for at least two reasons.

I investigate the puzzlement caused by the situation in which an international religious institution, the Catholic Church, which is urged by its believers and political institutions to engage in criticism of the EU and the integration process, and itself sees the changes in EU policies as well, still advocates in favour of the Union in each instance where a choice must be made concerning a country’s membership.

The dissertation features also two case studies. The first one concerns Poland in 2004 and the referendum on joining the European Union, and the second – 2016 UK with its Brexit referendum on leaving the EU. In both countries, despite considerable difference in the position of the Catholic Church and its political influence, as an institution, it strongly supported European integration – joining the EU in the former case, and remaining in it in the latter. The case studies analysis is preceded by an overview of the development of Catholic Social Doctrine as a vital background for understanding the logic of the actions undertaken by the Church.

Radoslaw Jan Michalski holds an MA in theology (2006) and Licentiate of Sacred Theology in Catholic Social Teaching (2010) from the Papal Theological Faculty in Wroclaw as well as the title of MA in political sciences. Before commencing his doctoral programme in Florence, he engaged in various social initiatives in Wroclaw. During his research, he worked as a research assistant in the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and the School of Transnational Governance (2017–2018), participated in a research project with Washington’s Ethics and Public Policy Center think tank.