The Rise and Fall of Catholic Religious Orders: A Social Movement Perspectives

A sociological analysis of the periodically recurring cycles of Roman Catholic religious life, examining why periods of renewal, consolidation, decline, and reform appear repeatedly across the Church’s history.

Drawing on social movement theory, organisational sociology, and intentional community research, the study applies comparative frameworks to historical data — treating major periods as case studies for sociological interpretation.

Key Themes

• Charismatic beginnings and routinisation of religious movements
• Leadership succession and recruitment cycles
• Boundary maintenance, discipline, and identity formation
• How renewal movements arise at the margins before becoming institutionalised
• Why similar phases of fervour, decay, and reform reappear across changing historical conditions

Ideal for students of religious history, sociology of religion, and the history of Catholic institutions.