Rethinking the evolution of the portuguese catholic centre, in dialogue with three questions that have explained its history

This article discusses the life cycle of the Portuguese Catholic Centre (CC – Centro Católico) between 1919 and 1940, considering that this organization possessed a structural problem of tactical and strategic weakness that prevented its consolidation as a party formation with wide popular support. It also discusses how the regime question was not the main obstacle preventing it from carrying out its plan for the ‘political union of Catholics’ cherished by the religious authorities. Some fracturing issues within the CC, such as the party question or the emergence of the paradigm of Catholic Action, are considered. The article also reflects on the final years of the CC, from its deactivation policy in 1926 to its extinction in 1940, which was formally decided by the bishops following the negotiation of the Concordat between Portugal and the Holy See, demonstrating that the performance of Salazar on the CC was not the determining factor in its dissolution.