Anticlericalism

Anticlericalism is opposition to the power, privileges, or political influence of clergy and religious institutions. It ranges from criticism of clerical authority to efforts to separate religious institutions from the state.

Investiture Controversy: A medieval conflict between popes and rulers over who could appoint bishops and other church officials. The struggle over appointing clergy exposed the political stakes of clerical authority.
Secularism: A principle or arrangement that separates religious institutions from state authority or public governance. Secular institutions can limit clergy's formal role in government without prohibiting religion.
Voltaire: A French Enlightenment writer who criticized religious intolerance, clerical authority, and abuses of power. His polemics made attacks on clerical privilege central to public debate.
Clericalism: The advocacy or exercise of clerical influence over political, social, or public affairs. It names the political influence that anticlerical movements seek to curb.
French Law on the Separation of the Churches and the State: A 1905 French law that ended the state's official recognition and funding of religious bodies. It institutionalized a major republican anticlerical settlement while protecting freedom of conscience.
Protestant Reformation: A sixteenth-century movement that challenged Roman Catholic doctrine and authority and produced new Christian churches. Reformers attacked clerical institutions, though many sought religious renewal rather than secular government.
Laïcité: A French model of secularism that restricts religious influence in state institutions and public administration. It expresses anticlerical goals through a distinctive legal ideal of state neutrality.
Jules Ferry: A French statesman who promoted secular public education and republican reforms in the late nineteenth century. His school laws reduced the Catholic Church's influence over French education.
Anti-Catholicism: Hostility, prejudice, or discrimination directed specifically at Catholicism or Catholics. Anticlericalism targets institutional power and can coexist with respect for Catholic belief.
Mexican Constitution of 1917: Mexico's postrevolutionary constitution, which established a secular state and imposed restrictions on religious institutions. Its articles codified restrictions that later fueled conflicts between the government and Catholics.

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