The phenomenon of power inequality recurs at various levels within the Catholic Church and demonstrates a remarkable persistence. One explanation for this phenomenon views the power asymmetries within the religious community as reflections of the distinction between immanence and transcendence, which is central to monotheistic thought. God is presented as a radical otherness to empirical reality - and thus the experiences of limited power or powerlessness characteristic of the realm of immanence are contrasted with an omnipotence guaranteed by transcendence. But what does the process look like in which this concept of God is embedded in the shaping of human forms of community? To get to the bottom of this question, the paper analyses various approaches from the field of modernisation theories, which identify traces of the theological pattern of alterity as transcendent unavailability even in secular societies. In this context, the approaches of Hans Joas (Die Macht des Heiligen) and Martin Saar (Die Immanenz der Macht) can be discussed; however, of particular interest is Marcel Gauchet's theory of secularisation (The Disenchantment of the World). Building on these approaches, one can ultimately formulate the thesis that the departure from metaphysical conceptions of transcendence does not lead to a reduction in power imbalances but - on the contrary - is compensated for by the establishment of an exceedingly strong alterity within an immanent framework of thought.