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As the first comprehensive monograph on the relations between the Catholic Church and the European Union, this book contains both a detailed historical overview of the political ties between the two complex institutions and a theoretical analysis of their normative orders and mutual interactions.

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1. The Study of Religion and European Integration: The State of the Art 2. Catholicism and European Integration: A Historical Overview 3. Institutions and Embedded Ideational Orders 4. Discourse of the Catholic Church and European Integration 5. Discourse of the European Union and the Catholic Church 6. Competing Ideational Orders and EU Politics Conclusions

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"This is a timely book on an important social theme, the relations between the European Union and the Roman Catholic church. ... a valuable contribution to interdisciplinary social research which will be of interest to anyone concerned with the evolution of attitudes to the European project, or to the role of religion or the Catholic church, within the EU." (Douglas Mark Ponton, Journal of Language and Politics, Vol. 15 (5), 2016)

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Petr Kratochvíl is the Director of the Institute of International Relations and President of the Academic Council of the Diplomatic Academy, Prague. His research is focussed on theories of International Relations, European integration and the role of religion in world affairs.

Tomás Dolezal is a researcher at the Institute of International Relations, Prague. He also lectures at the Faculty of International Relations, University of Economics, Prague. His research and teaching interests focus on religious and cultural aspects of international relations.

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