History of Contemporary Religious Identities and IDeas
CRIID research group
History of Church and Theology Research Unit
KU Leuven Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies
About us
The CRIID research group is committed to studying the history of religious ideas and expressions with a particular focus on the Catholic Church in the twentieth century.
Situated in the Research Unit of History of the Church and Theology of the KU Leuven Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, it draws on a long tradition of archival and textual research, but aims to creatively challenge its own discipline through interdisciplinary exchanges and methodological innovation.
Research
Religious Identities and Ideas
With a focus on travelling concepts as a point of departure, the research group aims to explore historical processes of identity formation and meaning making in religious contexts. The history of European Christianity, in particular the Catholic Church and its theology is central with a great openness to the history of underrepresented groups, multifaceted identities and tensions around theological and identitarian normativity.
Second Vatican Council
Vatican II (1962-1965) deeply defined the self-understanding of the Catholic Church and marked a turning point in its dealings with modernity. The research team considers the preservation of conciliar material and research of this event and its documents as a service to its continued reception.
(Digital) Methods in the Study of Religion
The CRIID team is committed to exploring new avenues for studying the religious past. Building on classic archival history and textual research, it finds inspiration in the other SSH disciplines and seeks to integrate insights from Digital Humanities. in the first place it looks at the added value of oral history, historical network research, archive digitization and the use of qualitative text analysis software.
Our Team
Dries Bosschaert
Lieneke Timpers
Natalia Núñez Bargueño
Chidiebere Obiora Nnabugwu
Maite De Beukeleer
Leen Deflem
Arputha Lilly Antony
Dániel Vörös
Sinoj Jose Mathew
Matt Whiffen
Giorgio Maria Millesimi
Eric Martinez Tomasini
Our Research Projects
MSCA Project
TheoFem: Lay Women as International Experts and Theologians avant-la-lettre. Legacies and Entangled Histories (1945-1962). More information
Vatican II and the African Struggle for Justice (GS 63-72): An Historical Study of the Contribution of the African Bishops to “Gaudium et Spes” and its Reception in Africa (Dioceses of Awka and Yaounde). More information
The “Auxiliaires de l’Apostolat”: A 20th-century Network of Belgian Catholic Lay Women and their Role in Societal and Ecclesiastical Change (1940-1977). More information
Bystandership in power and sexual abuse of minors in local Catholic contexts from historical, empirical-theological, and social psychology perspectives (REACT). More information
The (Un)told Mission History of the sisters of the Society of Jesus Mary Joseph (JMJ) in India: An Historical Study of Missionary Generations Shifting Between Dutch Legacy and Indian Inculturation (1904 – 1969). More information
PANIC- Processes of Agency, Negotiation and Identity Construction: Lived Religion and LGBTQ+ in relation to Catholic Norms and Practices in Europe from Historical, Ethical and Practical Theological Perspectives.
More information
To Preserve and to Enhance: A History of Collective and Individual Religious Identity Construction of Hungarian Migrants in the Region of Liège, Belgium (1956–1989). More information
Reconceptualizing Church and Society: A Historical Inquiry into the 1969 All India Seminar on ‘The Church in India Today’ and the Reception of Vatican II in India.
More information
CRIID Collaborations
Centre for the Study of the Second Vatican Council is an interdisciplinary research center at the KU Leuven Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies that aims to preserve source material documenting the history of Vatican II and to advance and support research regarding the Council. More information
RESILIENCE is a unique, interdisciplinary and invigorating research infrastructure for all Religious Studies, building a high-performance platform, supplying evolving tools and big data to scholars from all the scientific disciplines crossing religions in their diachronical and synchronical variety. More information
Vatican II: Legacy and Mandate aims to develop an intercontinental and intercultural theological commentary of Vatican II. With over 130 international scholars involved this project will accomplish a twelve volume history and commentary of the Vatican II documents. More information
Get in touch
Sint-Michielsstraat 6 – box 3101
3000 Leuven – Belgium
Processes of Agency, Negotiation and Identity Construction: Lived Religion and LGBTQ+ in relation to Catholic Norms and Practices in Europe from Historical, Ethical and Practical Theological Perspectives 