Using two clinical cases showing how impossible de-idealization is in late adolescence, the article explores the specific nature of religious idealizations. It shows the intrinsic relation between the ideal, the need for the absolute and faith in a divine figure. The ensuing study of paths followed by three adolescents helps give an idea of an ambiguity intrinsic to the religious ideal.

Adolescence, 2013, T. 31, n°4, pp. 835-851.