Almeida, João Miguel2026-02-132026-02-132016-09-01http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/21297This article seeks to show that the national alliance between Estado Novo and the Catholic Church favored the rise to prominence of those Catholics who, in 1958, abruptly broke with the Salazarist dictatorship and felt legitimated by the theological renewal associated with the Vatican II Council. These “progressive Catholics” were not the only Catholics who opposed the Estado Novo but they were certainly the most visible on the Portuguese political scene and took the most radical positions during the colonial war (1961-1974). May 68 and liberation theology also left their mark on the Portuguese Catholic left, though it retained a pluralist outlook. The post-conciliar crisis was reflected in high-profile departures from the institutional Catholic Church and radical criticism of the ecclesiastical and political authorities.engCatholic Church“Progressive” CatholicsEstado NovoVatican IIPost-Conciliar CrisisHistória do catolicismoHistória da Europajournal article2026-02-11cv-prod-302175410.3917/hp.030.0060