How can religion contribute to democracy in a secular age? And what can the millennia-old Catholic tradition say to church-state controversies in the United States and around the world? Secularism, Catholicism, and the Future of Public Life, organized through the work of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies (www.ifacs.com), responds to these questions by presenting a dialogue between Douglas W. Kmiec, a leading scholar of American constitutional law and Catholic legal thought, and an international cast of experts from a range of fields, including legal theory, international relations, journalism, religion, and social science.

Gary J. Adler, Jr. is the Director of Research at the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies and Research Scientist in the School of Religion at the University of Southern California.
Douglas W. Kmiec is the Caruso Family Chair at Pepperdine School of Law. He has served in the Office of Legal Counsel for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and more recently as the U.S. Ambassador to Malta for President Barack Obama.

Preface - J. Bryan Hehir
Part One: Secularism and Catholicism
Introduction: Secularism, Democracy, and Catholicism - Gary J. Adler, Jr.
Secularism Crucified? - Douglas W. Kmiec
Part Two: Relations Between Church and State
Proposal for a Theoretical Linchpin for Church-State Relations - Michael Anderheiden
Secularism Resurrected? The European Court of Human Rights after Lautsi - Geoffrey R. Watson
Part Three: The Catholic Church, Moral Authority, and Secularism
Public Religion, Secularism, and the Ethos of Love - Hans Joas
The Secularization of Sin and the New Geo-Religious Politics of the Vatican - Massimo Franco
Part Four: Secularism and International Affairs
Religion, Secularism, and Social Justice Beyond the Nation-State - Erin K. Wilson
A Strategic Perspective for a New Era in Euro-Mediterranean Relations: Religion, Immigration, and a Post-Arab Spring World - Stephen Calleya
Epilogue
The Future of Secularism in Public Religious Life: The Author's Response - Douglas W. Kmiec
Index