Are Catholics a nation? The problem of defining nationalism

Abstract

For all their interest as social phenomena, nations and nationalism have proven to be difficult terms to define, which has resulted in a lack of consensus among scholars working on these subjects. In this paper, it is my intention to expose the deep chasm that engulfs our present knowledge about what nations are. My method for achieving this goal comprises a critical engagement with the most popular definitions of nations and nationalism based upon a single hypothetical premise: that the Holy See of the Catholic Church, with its seat in Vatican City, is a nation-state which represents a purported Catholic nation. The results of this study suggest that current approaches to the definition of nations and nationalism – be they based on alleged objective criteria, voluntary association, political organization, communal imagination, or organizational patterns – are generally incapable of dismissing the claim of Catholics to nationhood. Despite this fact, certain elements sketched within some of these definitions might hold the key to developing more precise and usable definitions of these two concepts in the future.