European populism can be seen as paradoxical because it has been fuelled by Christian rhetoric and symbolism, even though religious observance across much of the continent remains at a low ebb. After defining populism, this chapter explores five factors of the post-Christian/post-Soviet context of Europe that make the continent especially conducive for religion-oriented populisms. It then investigates varieties of European populism in a range of national cases from France to Poland, arguing that there are two main types that roughly correspond to geographic zones. These are Christian-traditionalist populism towards the south and east and liberal anti-Muslim populism in Northern and Western Europe. The overall argument advanced in the contribution is that Christianity in most of Europe has become thinly culturalised and - much like a hammered out thin piece of metal - it is highly malleable for use in populist politics.