This book offers a groundbreaking sociological analysis of the Catholic priesthood at a time of profound institutional crisis. Controversies over clerical celibacy, the Church’s handling of sexual and gender-based violence, the exclusion of women from ordination, and Catholic mobilizations against the recognition of same-sex relationships and parenthood have all contributed to destabilizing the figure of the priest in largely secularized Western societies. Against the backdrop of declining ecclesiastical authority and the rise of “sexual democracy,” Josselin Tricou traces the socio-historical formation of clerical masculinity and examines the strategies through which the Catholic Church seeks to preserve its legitimacy while maintaining a normative order centered on heterosexual marriage. Featuring a preface by Éric Fassin and an afterword by Danièle Hervieu-Léger, this book is an essential read for scholars and graduate students in the sociology of religion, masculinity studies, Catholic studies, and gender and sexuality studies.

Josselin Tricou is currently a Lecturer in Sociology at the Institute of Social Sciences of Religions (ISSR), University of Lausanne, Switzerland. His research explores contemporary Catholicism, with a particular focus on gender and sexuality and on religious performances on social media.