The Alliance between the Catholic Church and the PiS Government? An Analysis in the Field of Asylum Policy

In the context of the migration crisis in Europe (2014-16) radical right parties have increasingly presented themselves as the better defenders of a Christian Europe. In Poland the PiS government won the 2015 presidential and parliament elections on a platform, among other things of defense of Polish Christianity from Islamic invasion. Even though the greater relevance of religious tropes in the rhetoric and political action of the Law and Justice government has been welcomed by the conservative nationalist Catholic wing, by mid-2016 it was facing increasing opposition by the Vatican and mainstream conservative Catholic bishops. This paper will provide a first analysis of the relation between the Polish Catholic Church and the PiS government and account for its changing form in the field of asylum policy by taking account of institutional and ideological factors