is professor at and the president of the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS). Publications include Catholicisme. La fin d’un monde, Paris, 2003; Sociologies et religions, Paris, 2003 (with J. P. Willaime); La religion en miettes ou la question des sectes, Paris, 2001; Le Pèlerin et le converti. La religion en mouvement, Paris 1999; Les identités religieuses en Europe (co-editor), Paris, 1996; La religion pour mémoire, Paris, 1993.
Nostalgic references to a religious past will not help solve the question of a “European soul”. Yes, this past is both glorious and painful, but it no longer exists, writes Danièle Hervieu-Léger. Instead, the weakening of the foundations of religion could prove to be a good starting point for a more specific reconsideration of European religious heritage.
