By the mid-1960s, these financial struggles, coupled with an academic and ecclesiastical climate that was not conducive to research in ecclesiastical history, hindered the development of a critical mass to support the field. This made it impossible to maintain the planned annual publication schedule for LS . Regular issues were only produced between 1956 and 1959 (Volumes I–IV). From 1960 to 1963, the magazine was published biennially (Volumes V–VI), and from 1964 to 1969, triennially (Volumes VII–VIII). The editorial commission underwent changes in 1967, with most previous members stepping down except for Bernardo Xavier Coutinho and Miguel de Oliveira, who, due to health reasons, requested a new leader for LS from the Patriarch at the end of 1967. The revised commission included Fernando Félix Lopes and Isaías da Rosa Pereira, the latter effectively taking over the direction of LS . Pereira initiated efforts to institutionalise the CEHE, with plans for its future integration into the newly established Portuguese Catholic University. Under the new commission, two volumes were published: Volume IX (1970–1971) and Volume X (1978). Throughout, the União Gráfica [Graphic Press] imprint continued to print all the volumes of the 1st Series.

The institutional consolidation of the CEHE, which aimed to expand its activities and establish a stronger academic presence, coincided with the advent of a new socio-political context. This environment was not particularly favourable to the deepening of ecclesiastical history, leading to significant transformations within the Portuguese university system. Indeed, many defining characteristics of the historiography that LS represented in its initial phase were increasingly out of sync with international historiographical trends. These shifts also influenced approaches to the study of religious phenomena.

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