Abstract

The Roman Catholic Church, which once formed a second Pax Romana, has lost significant
impact in its old dominion, Western Europe. The political dimensions, economic shifts, and
cultural changes of this shift are undeniable, but there is few consensus on just what is to be
attributed to this oft-celebrated fall. This paper defines western Europe in the same vein of the
European UNION: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,Croatia, Cyprus, croatia, czech republic, denmark,
estonia, finland, france, germany, greece, hungary, ireland, italy, latvia, lithuania, luxembourg,
malta, the netherlands, poland, portugal, romania, slovakia, slovenia, spain, sweden, and the
United Kingdom.