Paper short abstract:

Based on case studies from Austria drawing on ethnography it is analysed, in what ways and based on which media actors of three transnational lay movements − a Catholic charismatic, an integrative and an emancipatory movement − combine and spread elements of several spiritual Catholic traditions.

Paper long abstract:

It is analysed, based on case studies from Austria drawing on ethnography, in what ways and based on which media actors of three transnational Catholic lay movements combine and spread elements of several spiritual Catholic traditions and emotional styles. The "Charismatic Renewal within the Catholic Church (CE)" is a variation of the worldwide Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) movement. The "Focolare" movement, chosen as an example for an integrative movement, practises his ideal of a "spirituality of universal brotherhood" in 182 countries. The "We Are Church" movement, chosen as an example of an emancipatory Catholic movement, having come into being only in 1995, brings together attempts from 42 countries to democratise the official church. The following hypothesis will be presented in the lecture: Multiple active actors of the movements, who are accompanied by the researcher in their travels to take part in religious events, groups and contexts allover Europe, are agents of an intrapersonal, selective hybrid Catholicism, which emerges among them. Moreover it is analysed, in what ways the selected movements are actors of a new transnational Catholic regime that is destabilising the centrally organised, equally transnational but Rome-centred Catholic regime, or contribute at least to the establishment of a parallel Catholic regime.