Manuel António Garcia Braga da Cruz was born in Tadim, Braga in 1946. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy (UCP, Braga) and Sociology (Gregorian University, Rome). He got his PhD and went into Political Sociology (ISCTE, Lisbon). He was a researcher at the University of Lisbon Institute of Social Sciences (1977-2000), where he also directed the Social Analysis magazine (1987-1998). He has been Rector of the Catholic University of Portugal since 2000, where he has been a full professor since 1992. He was the founder and president of the Portuguese Association of Political Science. He is a member of the Portuguese Academy of History, the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, the Real Academia de la Historia de España and the Real Academia de Ciencias Politicas y Morales de Madrid. He is the author of the following works : The Origins of Christian Democracy and Salazarism (1980), Monarchists and Republicans in the Estado Novo (1986), the Party and the State in Salazarism (1988), Sociological Theories. The Founders and the Classics (1989). Political Institutions and Social Processes (1995), The Estado Novo and the Catholic Church (1998), Historical Transitions and Political Reforms in Portugal (1999), Castelo Rodrigo and Santa Maria de Aguiar (2006), Catholic University of Portugal. 40 years in the service of the Church and of Portugal (2009).