The forum Relins-Europe aims to foster international, comparative research on religious institutes in (Western) Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. In general church history and in general history itself, there still is insufficient recognition of the history of the development of religious institutes in Western Europe. Historians all too often see religious institutes as separate entities and ignore the fact that members of religious orders and religious experience also influence the rhythm of cultural history. This does not mean that historiography has not given any attention to religious institutes. In fact there is an impressive number of monographs which give the careful reader a good view of the development of individual institutes both in relation to the wider religious movements as well as in relation to their own apostolate (education, health care). However, we are still waiting for an approach focused on an international comparison. The possibility of such an approach presupposes a forum for research and discussion in a (Western) European setting.

The idea of creating a European Forum on the History of Religious Institutions in the 19th and 20th centuries arose in the context of the annual meetings of the German Arbeitskreis für Katholizismusforschung (Schwerte, Paderborn). Since 2001 the forum Relins-Europe has been organising annual workshops on particular topics, for a limited group of invited participants, alternating with conferences directed to a broader public. The proceedings of these workshops are published in the series KADOC Studies on Religion, Culture and Society.

The Historiography of Religious Institutes in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Academia Belgica – Rome, 2001

The Legal Position. Church Law and the Foundation of Religious Institutions in the 19th and 20th century
Philosophisch-Theologischen Hochschule - Vallendar-Schönstadtt (Germany), 2002

Religious Institutes and the Roman Factor in Western Europe, 1802-1917
Academia Belgica – Rome, 2004

Religious Institutes and Catholic Culture in 19th and 20th Century Europe
University of Fribourg (Switzerland) – Fribourg, 2005

Missiology, Science and Modernity. Interaction and Comparison of Protestants and Catholics 1850-1939
Academia Belgica http://www.academiabelgica.it/ - Rome, 2006

Patrimony, Business and Management of Religious Institutes in Europe, 1789-1914/1918
K.U.Leuven, 7-8 November 2008

Educating a Catholic elite. Religious institutes, faith, and gender in Catholic secondary education in Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth century
Study Centre Soeterbeeck, Ravenstein, the Netherlands, 5-7 February 2009

Le Forum Relins-België/Belgique
Il s’agit d’ériger un réseau de recherche afin de promouvoir les contacts structurels entre les chercheurs actifs dans le domaine de l'histoire des instituts religieux sur le territoire belge (du Moyen âge jusqu'à maintenant). Le réseau veut favoriser les échanges et la concertation au niveau des problématiques et des méthodes, et stimuler la recherche sur l’histoire des instituts religieux en Belgique. Cela devrait amener à une plus grande visibilité de la recherche sur la Belgique à l’étranger. Le Forum Relins België/Belgique permettra la constitution de liens personnels et offrira un canal de communication avec les autres réseaux nationaux et internationaux, notamment Relins Europe.
Le secrétariat du Forum Relins België/Belgique est pris en charge par le KADOC-K.U.Leuven. Les langues véhiculaires sont le néerlandais et le français. 

Le 19 octobre 2007, le réseau organisa une première journée d'étude avec un aperçu de l’historiographie des instituts religieux des Pays-Bas du Sud et de la Belgique, et une présentation des perspectives de recherche à venir.

Les actes du colloque de 2007 sont publié dans la Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire/Belgisch Tijdschrift voor FIlologie en Geschiedenis (Van Dijck, Maarten, De Maeyer, Jan en Henneau, Marie-Elisabeth (eds.) Historiographie et perspectives de recherche des ordres et congrégations sur le territoire des Pays-Bas méridionaux/Belgique. Historiografie en onderzoeksperspectieven van ordes en congregaties op het grondgebied van de Zuidelijke Nederlanden/België. Revue belge de philologie et d’histoire/Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis, 86(2008), nr. 3.).

Le 24 avril 2009, une deuxième journée d’étude concernant les instituts religieux et identité(s) était organisée à Louvain. Les actes vient d’apparaître dans la revue Trajecta.

The website www.relins.be, hosted by KADOC, supplies a basic bibliography about the history of religious institutes in (Western) Europe and a database of the archives of Belgian religious institutes which are preserved in Rome. The website also functions as a noticeboard for ongoing research, new publications and conferences . It provides a forum for the exchange of research findings, requests for information and for discussions about the historical development of the religious institutes.

The Forum is supported by a number of national research groups such as the Stichting Echo, AKO Arbeitskreis Ordensgeschichte 19./20. Jahrhundert, the study group "Consecrated Women", the Association Française d' Histoire Religieuse Contemporaine (AFHRC), as well as the French Centre André Latreille (Université Lumière-Lyon 2) and the Institut d'Histoire du Christianisme (Université Jean Moulin-Lyon 3). KADOC is reponsible for the secretarial work of the Forum.

Relins-Europe intends to extend its reach into Southern and Eastern Europe and to strengthen its contacts with Ireland and the United Kingdom. Future workshops will be instrumental in reaching these goals.