From the display of oversized crosses at the US Capitol riots, to a pervasive new rhetoric centred on the defence of the “Judaeo-Christian West” in Europe: right-wing populist movements on both sides of the Atlantic are intensifying their use of Christian symbols and language. Many observers are quick to take such rhetoric at face value and consider conservative Christians and the new populist right as parts of the same "cultural backlash" against secular liberalism and multiculturalism. At closer inspection however the relationship between the new right and Christianity is more complicated. In the U.S. for instance, Donald Trump was perceived to be the least religious GOP candidate in recent history, while in Europe church attendance remains a strong predictor for not voting national populist. This lecture investigates the sources of this ambiguous relationship between right-wing populism and religion. It explores how right-wing populists employ Christianity as a secularized national identity marker in the context of a new rightwing identity politics while remaining distanced from Christian doctrine and institutions. It also investigates the reactions of Christian communities to this strategy across different countries and the ways in which these responses are in turn shaped by the behavior of mainstream parties and religious elites.