The Catholic Church in Tunisia: a transliminal institution between religion and nation

Since Tunisian national independence in 1956, the Catholic Church has maintained its presence in Tunisia despite the demographic collapse of Catholics in the country and despite the Church’s historic ties to the French state under the protectorate regime. The Church in Tunisia succeeded in maintaining a position within the country after independence by transforming itself from a triumphalist colonial institution into what can be termed a transliminal institution. Situated in a liminal position with regards to both the Tunisian and the Catholic worlds, the Church in Tunisia after independence continued to exist through a constant process of translation and mediation between these two spaces. This article examines the historical development of this situation and the key dimensions which constitute the institutional Church’s transliminality.