Abstract
The object of this article is to compare the Church-State relationship in several European countries which traditionally profess a single faith, either Catholic or Protestant. Its aim is to inform. It also seeks to understand the process which made the relationships between Church and State what they are nowadays. Those relationships in the shape we know them now were first established at the end of the 18th century, the period around which western societies were completing the process of emancipation from religion. Two different ideal-typical logics led to this achievement: a logic of laïcizing in countries of Catholic tradition, a logic of secularizing in countries of Protestant tradition. France, Spain, Belgium, Italy, England and Denmark are the countries studied.