Friends

This month, we celebrated America’s 250 years of Independence and the proclamation that all people are created equal and possess inherent, unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Against this backdrop, we bring highlights of the 80th anniversary celebrations of IYCS coordination along with detailed texts and reports of the events, a homily on freedom by Fr. Chris Malano and a reflection by Richard Putz dangers of new forms of technology-driven slavery.

Also, we remember Blessed Enrique Angelelli and his companions on the 50th anniversary of their martyrdom in Argentina, share words of wisdom from a recent synodal meeting of lay movements on Peru and consider the unfinished business of Vatican II by Stefan Gigacz.

Special Announcement: Registration is open for the Cardijn Jubilee event to be held in Rome May 1-, 2027.

The Cardijn Associates Team

IYCS celebrates 80th anniversary of international coordination

The International Young Catholic Students (IYCS) celebrated the 80th anniversary of international coordination on June 28, 2026 in Silver Spring, MD with former members, leaders and chaplains from many parts of the world. In 1946, Sally Cassidy and Fr. Louis Putz, CSC from USA were instrumental to the establishment of the International Secretariate. In the links below, we bring you coverage of the formal celebration, the full texts of the inspiring keynote speeches by IYCS Secretary Generals, Manoj Mathew (2003-2007) and Roshan Lobo (2024-2028), an article on the reflection session that was held prior to the celebration and the reflections of Msgr. Bob Vitillo, Catholic Charities USA who also served on the IYCS advisory board.

Honoring our Legacy, Inspiring our Future

Yesterday, Today and Always: Students Who Dare to Change the World - Keynote by Manoj Mathew, IYCS Secretary General 2003-2007

We are here to build the future of YCS - Keynote by Roshan Lobo, IYCS Secretary General, 2024-2028.

Youth and young adult formation for Catholic action - Highlights of the reflection session

Panel Discussion - Catholic Youth Formation and Action - Some Reflections from Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo

USA 250: Fr Chris Malano reflects on freedom

What slavery’s technology teaches us today

There is a temptation, when we study history, to place ourselves safely on the correct side of it, writes Richard Pütz. We read about slavery and think: I would never have done that. I would have known better. But history does not offer us that comfort so easily.

The machine and the margin: What slavery’s technology teaches us about today (Cardijn Reflections)

Remembering the martyrs of La Rioja

This year, 2026, the Church of La Rioja commemorates the 50th anniversary of the martyrdom of YCW and YCS chaplain Blessed Enrique Angelelli, Carlos de Dios Murias, Gabriel Longueville, and Wenceslao Pedernera, four witnesses of the faith murdered in 1976 during the Argentine military dictatorship, Vatican News reports.

The diocese has declared this year a Diocesan Jubilee Year, under the motto “Easter in La Rioja, joy of the people,” as a time of grateful remembrance, prayer, pilgrimage, and renewal of Christian commitment.

Remembering the martyrs of La Rioja

Peru lay movements meet in synodal assembly

The lay movements of the Archdiocese of Lima, Peru joyfully began their Synodal Assembly with a presentation by Silvia Cáceres, advisor to the Episcopal Commission for Youth and Laity and general secretary of Caritas Lima as well as Pax Romana ICMICA vice-president for Latin America, who reflected on the role of the laity in the life of the Church and their commitment to social reality.

Lima lay movements in synodal assembly (Australian Cardijn Institute)

Serving, educating and representing lay people in the Church

“Educate, serve and represent” was one of Cardijn’s most famous trilogies. It was based on what theologians have labeled the “tria munera,” namely Christ’s “three roles” as prophet, king and priest, in which Christians share by virtue of their baptism.

He often drew on this trilogy to characterise the role of the YCW and young workers in educating, serving and representing their fellow young workers.

Serving, educating and representing lay people in the Church (Synodal Reflections)

Special Announcement

May 1-5, 2027 | Rome, Italy | Cardijn Pilgrimage and Lay Apostolate Jubilee 2027 | Australian Cardijn Institute and partners.

April 30-May 5, 2027 | 4th International Young Catholic Students (IYCS) alumni reunion.

The year 2027 marks a historic convergence of anniversaries that shaped the modern Church’s understanding of the lay vocation. Most notably, it marks the 60th anniversary of the passing of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn—founder of the Young Christian Workers (YCW/JOC) and a foundational voice of Vatican II—and the centenary of Specialised Catholic Action.

To honor this legacy and propel it into the future, the Australian Cardijn Institute and international partners propose a 4-day Pilgrimage, Lecture, and Conference Program in Rome. This event will not merely look backward; it will actively connect Cardijn’s transformative See, Judge, Act methodology to the modern Church’s synodal journey and the ethical frontiers of our time, including the rise of Artificial Intelligence, economic inequality, and global migration.

In conjunction with this event, the International Young Catholic Students (IYCS) will hold its 4th alumni reunion beginning on April 30 and plan to join selected sessions of the ACI-led Cardijn Jubilee. More details will be released as in the upcoming months.

Cardijn Associates USA

Contact

Email: cardijnassociates@gmail.com

YCS Panel Discussion

Catholic Youth Formation and Action — Young Christian Students (YCS) Movement

Some Reflections from

Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo, of Catholic Charities USA

And former Advisor on the HIV/AIDS Pandemic to

the International Secretariat of IYCS

28 June 2026

RESPONSE 1: “How has our past YCS experience helped us to grow as persons of faith and action?”

There is a phrase that often was echoed in the YCS movement: “Every YCS member is a missionary.” Not the classic missionary who leaves her or his home country, culture, and moves to an area of the world that may not have heard anything about Jesus’ Gospel or the Catholic Church. YCS missionaries were encouraged to preach and live the gospel, now, today, in the classroom, in the hallway, in the neighborhood. Perhaps this is the main reason that YCS has the power to form young people not just as churchgoers, but as disciples who act especially in today’s secularized world.

YCS was founded by Cardinal Joseph Cardijn with a singular vision: to bring students to Christ, and Christ to students. What set Cardijn’s method apart was his refusal to treat young people as passive recipients of formation. He believed that the best apostle to a student is another student. And so he built a movement structured around what we came to know as the Review of Life — the See-Judge-Act methodology. You look honestly at your world. You bring it into judgment with the light of the Gospel. And then you act as part of a holistic way of life.

Pope St. John Paul II captured this vision when he wrote in Christifideles Laici that “youth must not simply be considered as an object of pastoral concern for the Church: in fact, young people are and ought to be encouraged to be active on behalf of the Church as leading characters in evangelization and participants in the renewal of society” (Christifideles Laici, §46). In the same document, St. John Paul II called adolescence and young adulthood “particularly significant and decisive moments for discerning God’s call and embracing the mission entrusted by Him” (Christifideles Laici, §58). YCS takes that claim seriously. This is the reason the YCS movement asks young people not to wait until they are older, more educated, or more spiritually polished before they engage. It asks them to act now — and to discover their faith in the acting.

In Christus Vivit (2019), Pope Francis strongly echoed this conviction strongly. He affirms that young people are not just the future of the Church — they are the present. They are not receptacles for evangelization; they are its protagonists. The peer-to-peer model that YCS embodies — the Review of Life conducted by students, for students, facilitated but not dominated by adults — is precisely the kind of structure Francis envisioned when he called the Church to trust youth with genuine responsibility.

And at the heart of this formation is love. Pope Benedict XVI wrote in Deus Caritas Est that “love is the light — and in the end, the only light — that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working” (Deus Caritas Est, 2005). That is what See-Judge-Act produces in students who engage with it faithfully: not an ideological program, not a checklist of good works, but a growing capacity to see the world with the eyes of love, and to respond. Benedict’s words to young people at World Youth Day 2007 ring just as true today: “Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything.”

The data supports what experienced youth ministers have always known. A 2023–24 international survey by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Footprints Research Group — conducted across 4,889 young people in eight countries — found that 50% of young people reported an increased interest in spirituality over the past five years, while only 15% reported a decline. Young people are not indifferent to faith. They are hungry for a faith that connects to real life. The Diocese of San José’s 2024 Young Adult Survey, with nearly 1,000 responses, found that 85% of respondents had participated in community service projects, with younger respondents aged 18 to 23 reporting the highest levels of involvement. The desire for meaningful action is already there.

In his address to Italian Catholic Action Youth on December 19, 2025, Pope Leo XIV called on young people to holiness with an urgency that felt personally directed: “To become saints, like Pier Giorgio Frassati — who was part of Catholic Action — and like Carlo Acutis: I encourage you to imitate their passion for the Gospel and their works, always animated by charity.” He went further, offering a definition of Catholic action that strikes to the core of what YCS has always sought to be: “To make peace is the quintessential ‘Catholic action’, because it is the gesture that makes us witnesses of Jesus, the Redeemer of the world.”

This is the formation that YCS offers. Not merely skills. Not merely information. But a life shaped by encounter with Christ — an encounter that overflows into encounter with neighbor, and neighbor, and neighbor after that. When we ask how our past YCS experience has helped us grow as persons of faith and action, the honest answer is: it gave us a method that is also a spirituality. It taught us to look, to judge, to act — and to do it together, as a community of friends who also are missionaries.

RESPONSE 2: “What opportunities does the Church offer for youth and young adult formation for Catholic action?”

If you walked into most parishes and asked to see the pathways they offer for forming young people for genuine Catholic action — not just participation, but formation for mission in the world — you might find a lot of energy and a fair amount of confusion. There are programs, there are events, there are conferences. But do they form young people to be protagonists? Do they help them move from service to solidarity, from charity to justice? The Church offers extraordinary opportunities. The question is whether we are deploying them with the clarity and intentionality they deserve.

Let us start with a crucial distinction — one that Pope Benedict XVI makes with characteristic precision in Deus Caritas Est. He cited both the Church’s duty of charity and the pursuit of justice: “The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State. Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice” (Deus Caritas Est, §28–29). Both dimensions are necessary. A Church that only feeds the hungry but never asks why people are hungry has not yet fully obeyed the Gospel. And a Church that only advocates for structural change but never kneels beside the suffering person has forgotten something essential about love.

I once was asked to address a distinguished group of professors and their families who frequented the Catholic Chapel at Yale University – they asked me to speak on the topic “Is Charity Just?” I said that I only would speak on this topic only if I could ask the second question
Is Justice charitable?” While I served at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as the Executive Director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, we often called charity and justice as the “two feet if social development”.

St. John Paul II had already drawn this same double line in Christifideles Laici: “Charity towards one’s neighbor... represent the most immediate, ordinary and habitual ways that lead to the Christian animation of the temporal order, the specific duty of the lay faithful” (§41). But he was equally clear that “the lay faithful are never to relinquish their participation in ‘public life’... the defense and the promotion of justice” (§42). Formation for Catholic action must hold both. Soup kitchens and policy advocacy. Tutoring children and challenging the systems that under-resource their schools. Service and solidarity.

In Christus Vivit, Pope Francis pushed this even further. He called young people to be protagonists — not passive participants — in the life of the Church and of society. He explicitly encouraged youth engagement in political life and solidarity with the poor, insisting that young people who are formed in authentic faith will not remain indifferent to the suffering of the world around them. In his message for the 40th Anniversary of World Youth Day on October 7, 2025, Pope Leo XIV strongly echoed this call: “work together, from volunteerism to ‘political charity,’ to build new living conditions for all.” He warned young people: “Do not follow those who use the words of faith to divide; instead, make plans to remove inequalities and reconcile divided and oppressed communities.” And at the Jubilee of Youth on August 2, 2025, he was even direct: “Seek justice in order to build a more humane world. Serve the poor, and so bear witness to the good that we would always like to receive from our neighbours.”

The Church’s landscape of formation opportunities for youth spans both dimensions. The Young Christian Students and Young Christian Workers movements, connected globally through the International YCS and the International Young Christian Workers, offer the most methodologically rigorous peer-led formation available to Catholic youth today — the See-Judge-Act Review of Life remains unmatched as a tool for connecting faith to the realities of daily life. Catholic Relief Services and Caritas youth programs provide pathways for both direct service and global solidarity advocacy. The USCCB’s Sons and Daughters of Light pastoral plan offers a national framework. The National Catholic Youth Conference, Steubenville Conferences, and Campus Ministry programs reach young people at key formation moments. The Laudato Si’ Action Platform, for which I serve as focal point on behalf of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, engages youth around integral ecology. And the upcoming World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul, following the Jubilee of Youth 2025, provides anchor moments of universal encounter.

Speaking to the National Meeting of Catholic Religion Teachers on April 25, 2026, Pope Leo offered a reminder that grounds all of these efforts: “The religious dimension ‘is a constitutive element of the human experience and cannot be marginalized in the educational process of the younger generations.’” Formation is not an add-on to education. It is its deepest purpose.

And yet the data calls us to honest reckoning. The Life Teen 2024 State of Catholic Youth Report found that only 24% of American youth identify as Catholic. That is not a crisis to be managed — it is a mission to be embraced. But there is genuine reason for hope: Barna Group 2025 data shows that Gen Z now attends church an average of 1.9 times per month, the highest of any generation currently, suggesting a genuine hunger for community and encounter. And Springtide Research Institute’s 2025 findings show that Catholicism is the most popular denomination among young Christians aged 13 to 25 in the United States, with 28% identifying as Catholic. The opportunities are real. The hunger is real. What remains is the question of whether our formation structures are ready to meet it.

RESPONSE 3: “What recommendations do we have to develop these opportunities for Catholic action among youth and young adults?”

With your permission, I will propose some concrete recommendations, rooted in the evidence and in the Church’s own Teaching, for developing genuine formation for Catholic action among young people.

Before we name them, let us hold one phrase steady as our foundation. Pope John Paul II wrote in Christifideles Laici: “The Church has so much to talk about with youth, and youth have so much to share with the Church. This mutual dialogue... will be a source of richness and youthfulness for the Church and civil society” (§46). Formation is not the Church dispensing wisdom to empty vessels. It is a conversation — mutual, generative, Spirit-led.

First: we could revitalize the Young Christian Students movement and similar peer-led movements built around the See-Judge-Act methodology. The Review of Life works because it roots formation in the real lives of real young people, rather than imported content from outside their experience. It forms the habit of reflection. It builds the capacity for discernment. It makes missionaries, not merely attendees. Where YCS chapters exist, they should be nourished. Where they do not, they could be planted.

Second: we must invest in adult mentors and chaplains. Cardijn’s own insight was paradoxical but profoundly wise: “the chaplain is everything and nothing.” Everything, because without an adult who is genuinely present, spiritually grounded, and willing to step back, peer-led movements collapse. Nothing, because the moment the chaplain takes over, the movement ceases to be peer-led. We need adults who know how to be present without being dominant — a formation challenge for ministers and educators in its own right.

Third: we should consider building explicit pathways from charitable service to justice analysis. When a young person spends a Saturday at a food bank, that is beautiful, and it must not stop there. The next question is: why are people hungry? The one after that: what can I do about the systems that produce hunger? Pope Benedict XVI wrote that formation requires “hearts which see” — people formed not merely in technique but in the capacity to be moved by love (Deus Caritas Est, §31). A heart that sees does not stop at the immediate need. It traces the chain of cause and asks harder questions.

Fourth: we need to integrate digital platforms that intentionally aim to engage in formation — not merely for entertainment or promotion. The Diocese of San José’s 2024 Young Adult Survey found that 51% of active young adults use religious apps or websites, making digital formation not a luxury but a necessity. This does not mean replacing community. It means extending it — providing resources for reflection, connecting young people across geographies, and meeting them where they already spend significant time.

Fifth: programs must be developed with genuine sensitivity to enculturation, particularly for Hispanic and Latino youth, who constitute approximately 33% of Catholic youth in the United States. One-size-fits-all formation is a failure of pastoral imagination. The richness of Latino Catholic culture, its communal spirituality, its devotional traditions, and its lived sense of the faith, are not deficits to be corrected. They are gifts to be built upon. Of course, on this joyous occasion, we have representatives of a plethora of cultures and diverse religious and liturgical expressions even within the one Catholic Church. Our young people need to learn how to preserve those cultural and religious traditions but also to share the gospel and action in charity and justice with a wider group of people in today’s world.

Sixth: we could connect youth to global solidarity networks — the International Young Christian Students, Caritas Internationalis, Catholic Relief Services — so that formation opens outward to the world, not inward to a single parish or diocese. At the Jubilee of Youth in August 2025, Pope Leo offered a vision of exactly this kind of expansive missionary identity: “How much the world needs missionaries of the Gospel who are witnesses of justice and peace! How much the future needs men and women who are witnesses of hope.” That is our goal. That is who we are forming.

And seventh, we must center the Eucharist and prayer as the non-negotiable source of Catholic action these are constitutive elements in our Catholic faith — not optional extras, not add-ons to the program, but the spring from which everything else flows. The Footprints Research Group survey found that Catholics who are knowledgeable about and committed to their faith show distinct patterns of regular religious practice. Formation and practice are not separate tracks. They are the same journey.

Pope Francis, in Christus Vivit, asked the Church to listen to youth “with the same seriousness and interest that young people can show when they speak to one another” (§174). Pope Leo XIV told young people at the Jubilee of Youth: “Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less. Then you will see the light of the Gospel grow every day, within you and around you.” And Leo also reminded us that “Jesus chose to call his disciples ‘friends’... Christian witness is the fruit of a relationship of faith and love with Jesus” — from his WYD 40th Anniversary message of October 7, 2025.

These seven recommendations are not a master plan. They are an invitation — to dioceses, to parishes, to movements, such as YCS to each of us YCS alumni in this room — to take seriously our shared responsibility for the formation of a generation, including youth and young adults, that the Church needs, and that the world desperately needs, to be missionary disciples.

Citations:

• Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici (1988), §§41, 42, 46, 58, 63

• Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est (2005), §§28–29, 31; World Youth Day 2007 Message

• Pope Francis, Christus Vivit (2019), §174

• Pope Leo XIV, Address to Italian Catholic Action Youth (19 December 2025)

• Pope Leo XIV, Message for World Youth Day 40th Anniversary (7 October 2025)

• Pope Leo XIV, Jubilee of Youth Address (August 2–3, 2025)

• Pope Leo XIV, Address to National Meeting of Catholic Religion Teachers (25 April 2026)

• Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Footprints Research Group International Survey (2023–24), 4,889 youth in 8 countries

• Diocese of San José 2024 Young Adult Survey (nearly 1,000 responses)

• Life Teen 2024 State of Catholic Youth Report

• Barna Group 2025 Gen Z Church Attendance Data

• Springtide Research Institute 2025 Youth Religious Identity Data

• Pew Research Center 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study

• PRRI 2025 Youth Church Attendance Data

In the spirit of Cardijn and the YCS movements, the IYCS 80th anniversary events also included a reflection session prior to the formal celebrations.

The reflection session was accompanied by panelists Msgr. Robert Vittilo, Chief Innovation and Program Officer at Catholic Charities USA and former IYCS Advisory Board member, and Rudy Dehaney, Director of Campus Ministry at Notre Dame of Maryland University, also a Cardijn Associates Board member.

The session opened with attendees sharing personal stories of how YCS has made a difference in their lives as persons of faith and action. It then asked what opportunities the church offers for youth and young adult formation for Catholic action.

Msgr. Vittilo highlighted multiple pathways that the church offers for youth and young adult formation including opportunities such as the Caritas youth programs, the National Catholic Youth Conference, and campus ministry programs. He noted that a recent youth report data showed that young people are seeking community and encounter as a sign of hope.

Dehaney pointed to the experience of a hierarchical church that often impedes lay initiatives especially at the parish level. Some attendees noted that their experience of church in the US is very different than that in the countries they came from. They had the sense that money drove parish concerns rather than the growth of the people. Now as parents, former YCS members also noted that it is very challenging to engage their children in church activities at the parish level and often did not feel supported if they voiced their concerns.

The session also raised an important observation. As YCS members, many alumni felt the bond with the chaplains, priests, religious and other adults who served as animators. Today, there is a sense of distance and fear of youth engagement, felt by priests and laity alike, which can be traced to the scandals that have rocked the church and the policy around Protecting God’s Children. While there is good reason for this policy to be in place, we raised the question - are we at the point where Protecting God’s Children has become a barrier? There was consensus that this is an important issue that needs to be addressed.

In this intergenerational session, participants also voiced their own questions. The youth in the room would like to better understand why people do “bad” things. Others voiced the need to support immigrants as they navigate the US culture and systems.

The session ended with an introduction to Cardijn Associates and an invitation to continue the conversation.

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Panel Discussion - Catholic Youth Formation and Action - Some Reflections from Msgr. Robert J. Vitillo

Dear Friends of the YCS Family,

Greetings from the International Secretariat of the International Young Catholic Students (IYCS).

First and foremost, I convey to you the greetings and prayerful blessings of our International Chaplain, Rev. Fr. Justo de la Fuente Fernandez, who sends his warm greetings from Quito, Latin America, where he is currently on mission.

Today, we gather to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the International Coordination of IYCS. As we commemorate this remarkable milestone, we also look forward to another historic celebration, the Centenary of the Young Catholic Students Movement in 2028, marking 100 years since its foundation.

The dream and vision of the early student leaders gave birth to this movement. The establishment of the International YCS Centre for Documentation and Information in Paris, the International Secretariat, and later, in the early 1970s, the Regional Coordinations strengthened the movement across the world. These developments have formed generations of leaders rooted in faith, values, commitment, and service.

I believe each one of us gathered here is a living testimony to this journey. Whether you have served as a student member, coordinator, animator, chaplain, donor, parent, or partner, the movement has shaped your life in one way or another.

We have come together today to sow a seed, a seed of hope, commitment, and vision. We trust that this seed will grow into a strong plant in the coming years and eventually into a mighty tree bearing abundant fruit. When we gather again during the Centenary of the International Coordination in 2046, we will proudly say that here in Maryland we sowed this seed with faith.

Dear members of the YCS family,

We may come from different countries, cultures, languages, and backgrounds, but one thing unites us all: our movement, YCS.

Each one of us joined this movement with a dream, a desire, an expectation, a spirit of friendship, a shared vision, and above all, one common methodology, See, Judge, Act.

The movement has transformed our lives. It has helped us reflect on our realities, confront our challenges, strengthen our faith, and make informed decisions for ourselves and for society.

Our world has changed dramatically. Today, knowledge and information are available at the touch of a mobile phone. This is truly one of the greatest achievements of modern technology. Technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives and has accelerated human progress.

However, technology and innovation can never replace what truly makes us human, Magnifica Humanitas, the greatness and dignity of the human person.

Faith without action has no meaning. Young people should embrace technology as a tool for learning, service, innovation, and social transformation, while ensuring that it is guided by ethics, responsibility, compassion, and respect for every human person.

Our greatest investment should not merely be in buildings or structures. Rather, it should be an investment in people, in values, leadership formation, and the education of young people.

We must form young leaders with strong values so that they are empowered to give back to society with integrity, compassion, and commitment.

Today, we are here because of the dedication and commitment of the YCS Alumni who have made this historic gathering in the United States possible, the first major international celebration of the 80th Anniversary. What has brought us together today is not simply an event, but the movement itself.

The alumni understand that the future of YCS depends on the next generation. Every alumnus and alumna carries a testimony of how the movement transformed their lives. It is now our responsibility to ensure that future generations experience the same transformation.

When we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the International Coordination, we will remember that the dream for the future of the movement was renewed here in Maryland.

We dream of establishing a global centre dedicated to leadership formation, values education, research, and accompaniment, a centre that will strengthen future generations of leaders. We envision an International Academy of Formation and Excellence and, perhaps, within the next decade, an IYCS University of Formation and Excellence dedicated to forming leaders rooted in faith, service, justice, and human dignity.

This is our dream.

A dream of forming leaders who will serve the Church and society with faith, competence, compassion, and integrity.

I believe that today, here in Maryland, we are sowing the seeds of that dream. May these seeds grow and bear abundant fruit for our movement and for the world.

At this important moment, I would also like to acknowledge with deep gratitude all the former international and regional leaders, chaplains, partners, donors, and friends who laid the foundations of the International Coordination and faithfully supported the growth of our movement.

We remember them with gratitude and prayer.

Finally, I invite each one of you to continue supporting the mission of IYCS by investing your time, expertise, experience, and resources in the formation of young people.

Let us accompany young people by listening to them, walking with them, and empowering them, not by imposing our ideas, but by understanding their realities, their hopes, and their dreams.

Together, let us continue building a movement that forms leaders committed to faith, justice, peace, and the dignity of every human person.

Thank you once again for your presence, your commitment, and your continued support.

May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless the International Young Catholic Students Movement.

Thank you.

Roshan Melwyn Lobo

Secretary General of IYCS-JECI

Presented this speech on 28th June 2026 during the 80th Anniversary Celebration of the International Coordination of IYCS at Silver Spring Maryland USA.

Good evening.

We gather here tonight in Maryland, in the heart of a nation shaped by movements of courage, conscience and conviction, to celebrate something extraordinary. We celebrate not merely an organization. We celebrate a movement: a movement born not in the corridors of power, but in the hearts of young people who refused to separate their faith from their lives.

We celebrate the International Young Catholic Students, the IYCS, and its 80 years of international coordination, a missionary role in the Church and society, particularly for our own personal transformation. Our primary role is to bring the teachings of Jesus to the world, today we are reminded of Mark 16:15: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” We have a vision to educate and train students through formation to work for solidarity, freedom, justice, and peace.

And we do so, at a moment of remarkable historical convergence. This year, the United States of America marks 250 years of independence: two and a half centuries since courageous men and women dared to believe that a new kind of society was possible: built on dignity, freedom and the conviction that every human being is created equal and endowed with God-given rights.

That spirit: the spirit of people who refuse to accept the world as it is when they know it can be better, is not so different from the spirit that has animated IYCS from its very beginning.

Introduction

As we prepare to celebrate one hundred years of the movement in 2028, it seems like a long time and yet, when we pause to consider what humanity has lived through, built, destroyed and rebuilt in that century, words feel almost too small.

We have witnessed the worst of ourselves: two World Wars, a Cold War that held the planet in anxious suspense, and conflicts that scarred every corner of the globe. We have seen empires crumble and nations rise from their ruins, peoples long silenced finally claim their rightful place in history.

Through it all, through every tremor that shook the foundations of the modern world, the Catholic Church stood as both witness and participant in history. In the darkest hours of the twentieth century, the Church faced pressures unlike any since the age of the martyrs: totalitarian regimes: (Fascist, Nazi, Communist) tried to silence her voice, close her doors and erase her influence from public life. Many priests, bishops and faithful lay people paid with their lives for refusing to bow to the idols of the age. Yet the Church endured.

And she did not merely survive, she renewed herself. The Second Vatican Council, convened by Pope John XXIII and concluded under Pope Paul VI, opened windows, invited dialogue and called the Church to read the signs of the times with fresh eyes, engaging the modern world with confidence in the Gospel.

The late twentieth century brought Pope Saint John Paul II, whose pontificate helped topple the Iron Curtain, evangelized a new generation and offered a luminous vision of human dignity rooted in God’s love. The Church has also walked through valleys of shadow, including the clergy abuse crisis: which demanded painful reckoning and continues to call for humility, accountability and deep reform.

Today, under Pope Leo XIV, the first Pope from the Americas, elected in May 2025, the Church enters a new and hopeful chapter: reaching to the margins, caring for creation and reminding humanity that every person bears the image and dignity of God.

We have seen breakthroughs in medicine, technology and human rights. We have connected the world, extended life, expanded freedoms and lifted millions out of poverty, yet new shadows have gathered: ecological challenges, social fragmentation, and a crisis of meaning in a world of endless noise.

So, we must ask: what does this century of upheaval, heroism, failure and renewal, in the world and in the Church teach us? And what does it demand of us, as disciples and citizens, standing at the threshold of a new era?

The answer is the same one the Church has proclaimed for two thousand years and never more urgently than now:

We are called to be people of hope.

I. Where it all began

To understand where we are, we must remember where we came from.

In the 1920s, as the world recovered from the First World War, a young Belgian priest, Father Joseph Cardijn, looked at young workers and dared to say: “You matter. Your dignity matters. Your faith and your daily life are not two separate things – they are one.”

From that conviction was born a simple, revolutionary method: See. Judge. Act.

Look at the world as it is. Measure it against the Gospel. Then do something about it. That method, forged in the factories of Belgium, quietly changed the Church forever.

II. A movement that shaped history

As the Young Christian Workers movement flourished, students caught the flame. Through the 1930s, YCS (Young Christian Students) groups emerged across Europe, Canada and the United States, young Catholic students who wanted to transform their world from the inside.

Then came the Second World War. Barely weeks after the guns fell silent, in November 1945, young people were already gathering in London, because that is what young people do: they refuse to give up.

At that World Youth Conference, two YCSers: Pierre Juneau from Canada and André Rauget from France began dreaming of something bigger. In September 1946, in Fribourg, Switzerland, during the Pax Romana General Assembly, representatives of eight YCS movements came together and the International Young Catholic Students was born.

Think about that: a world just emerging from the deadliest conflict in human history and Catholic students were already building bridges.

America was there from the beginning. Fr Louis Putz CSC of Notre Dame University, chaplain of College YCS USA, was present at the World Student Congress in Prague in 1945. When others attempted to manipulate and divide, he and his fellow YCSers stood firm, championed solidarity and helped lay foundations for the international movement we celebrate tonight. I had the privilege of studying his archives in Notre Dame University in Indiana and understanding the history of our movement in the United States.

We also remember today, Sally Cassidy, the only American in the International YCS, who after her graduate studies, worked at our office, who gathered information on the needs of post- war student. She returned to the U.S. in early 1948 specifically to organize an international meeting of the Young Christian Students in Chicago, which helped establish the national movement. She pursued a doctorate in Sociology at the University of Chicago. Her dissertation fieldwork compared French and American Catholic layman movements, and she later helped launch the Sociology Department at the Université de Montréal.

Our gratitude and prayers to the family and friends of our movement, particularly to those who served the International YCS. It’s to be noted that 71 individuals from 33 national movements contributed by sending their leaders and chaplains to serve the International YCS Secretariat in France, with highest from France with 8 members, followed by Brazil with 5 members, and Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and India with 4 members. Argentina, Canada, Lebanon, Nigeria, Uganda, Australia with 3 members. The International YCS is grateful also to all these national movements and its members, regional coordinators (past and present), animators and chaplains, many partner movements, we remember particularly IYCW, CIJOC and IMCS-Pax Romana, the many supporters and partners, funding agencies, CIDSE, the Bishops Conferences, Holy See and Secretariat of State who believed in our mission.

III. The Church was watching

There is a moment in our history that never fails to move me. In 1947, the Papal Nuncio to France: a diplomat, churchman, gentle and curious soul came to address a small gathering of IYCS members in Pontoise. His name was Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli. You may know him better as Pope John XXIII.

He watched these young students. He listened to them. He encountered their See–Judge–Act method. Something took root in him. Years later, as Pope, he called the Second Vatican Council, the most significant gathering of the Church in four centuries. At its heart was the very spirit Cardijn’s young people had embodied: the Church must read the signs of the times, engage the modern world and listen before it speaks.

This is why Cardijn was affectionately called “the grandfather of Vatican II.” The young people of IYCS helped shape the Church we know today.

IV. Walking through the storms

Our story has never been without struggle.

The upheavals of the 1960s and 70s, the end of colonialism, the Cold War, cultural revolutions, created a “generation gap” that cut deeply into Catholic lay movements. It was a season of turbulence that tested the faith and resilience of young Catholics everywhere.

Yet the movement did not retreat. Through the 1970s and 80s, IYCS spread to Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, carried by missionaries, travelling students and ordinary young people with extraordinary faith, committed to forming one another in Catholic Social Teaching.

The Church walked through her own shadows, including the clergy abuse crisis, which demanded, and still demands accountability, humility and reform. As a movement formed in the values of human dignity and truth, IYCS has always understood that fidelity to the Gospel sometimes means asking the hardest questions.

V. The blood of the faithful: martyrs of the movement

Before we speak of growth and reach, we must pause.

The story of this movement is written not only in minutes and declarations – it is written in blood. Across the decades, members and chaplains of YCS and other Catholic Action movements have paid the ultimate price for their faith and commitment, from Nazi concentration camps to zones of conflict, from Guatemala to South Sudan.

Among them is Jean Chavet, a young French student and YCS member, whose courage under forced labour, imprisonment and suffering led to his death in 1945 and to his recognition today on the path to beatification.

He stands for many chapains and student leaders who refused to let their faith become merely private or safe. Their witness asks us a simple question: if they gave everything, what are we prepared to give?

VI. In global solidarity

IYCS has played a crucial role in helping young people confront some of the most difficult realities of our times, from Apartheid in South Africa, to HIV/AIDS to violent conflict – through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching, while also fostering inter-religious dialogue and ecumenism.

In the peak years of the HIV/AIDS crisis, YCS groups in many countries used the methodology to help students to build awareness at the epidemic in their schools and communities, judge it in the light of the Gospel and the Church’s teaching on dignity, solidarity and care for the sick, and act with compassion and responsibility rather than fear or stigma.

At the same time, IYCS has formed young Catholics as peace builders across the world, organizing encounters, trainings and forums where students from different Christian traditions and religions reflect together on war, injustice and ecological threats and commit themselves to justice, freedom and respect for human dignity.

By bringing Catholic students into dialogue and common action with peers of other faiths, the movement shows that Catholic Social Teaching on human dignity, solidarity and the common good can become a shared language for cooperation, so that young people learn to see religious diversity as a resource for mutual understanding and become ambassadors of peace, reconciliation and hope in societies marked by stigma, conflict and division.

We took our values and voices to the consultations in United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) contributing to the economic, social, and environmental policies. We ensured student participation in deliberations in UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) by promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education. Our engagement started with the UNESCO since 1947 annual conference for the international study for reconstruction of education within war- devastated countries.

VI. Here, in this country, at this moment

We are here tonight in Maryland, the very first state in this nation to pass a law guaranteeing religious freedom, a place where Catholics helped build the foundations of American democracy. It is deeply fitting that we celebrate IYCS here in the year of the 250th anniversary of American independence.

For what is the American experiment, at its best, if not the conviction that ordinary people: young people, people of faith, people from every nation, can come together and build something that has never existed before? That is what the student founders of IYCS believed.

Former YCS members living in this country have embodied that conviction quietly and faithfully across decades. We must pause tonight and honor them.

They are men and women formed by this movement gathered today across the globe, who now call the United States home. They came carrying not only suitcases, but values: the dignity of every person, the call to serve, the habit of seeing the world through the eyes of faith and acting with courage.

They are in parishes and universities and business environment. They are doctors and nurses who remember what it means to serve the poor. They are teachers who carry Cardijn’s belief in the dignity of every young person into their classrooms. They are community leaders and advocates who learned at a YCS meeting, perhaps decades and continents away that faith without action is incomplete. Tonight we say to them: your formation was not wasted. Your movement shaped you. Through you, it continues to shape this country and this world.

VII. For such a time as this: youth, technology, conflicts

We live in a remarkable and demanding moment.

Pope Leo XIV, the first Pope from the Americas, leads a Church called to go to the peripheries, to listen, to accompany. His election is a sign that the center of Christian gravity is shifting, the Global South is rising, and young people: your generation, are at the heart of what comes next.

The world you inherit is one of breathtaking possibility and sobering challenge. Artificial intelligence is reshaping work and creativity. Social media connects billions while isolating millions. The hunger for meaning: real, rooted meaning: has rarely been greater.

At the same time, conflicts and political violence wound communities across the world; propaganda and polarization can turn neighbours into enemies; young people often pay the highest price: as victims, refugees, and those whose futures are delayed.

Just as YCS has helped students face past crises with faith and responsibility, today it must help them face the challenges of technology and conflict with honesty, compassion and moral clarity.

And into all of this, YCS speaks with a voice one hundred years in the making: “You are not alone. Your faith is not private. Your actions matter. See the world. Judge it with the eyes of the Gospel. And act together.”

VIII. A charge to the young and to those who were young

So tonight, I want to speak to everyone in this room. To the young people: You are heirs of Cardijn’s revolution. You carry the legacy of students who stood up at Prague in 1945 when others tried to use them. You carry the spirit of those who sat with the future Pope John XXIII and unknowingly helped plant the seeds of a Council. You are part of a movement that has walked with the challenged, stood with students in conflict zones from Sudan to Palestine to Sierra Leone, and raised its voice at UNESCO and the United Nations.

Do not let anyone tell you that you are too young, too small or too insignificant to change the world. Father Cardijn once said every young person is a masterpiece of God. Masterpieces are not made to be hidden.

To the YCS & JEC former members: the alumni of this great movement now living and serving in this country: you are living proof that YCS works. The seeds planted in you sometimes in small, humble meetings, sometimes in difficult circumstances, in countries far from here: have borne fruit. In your families, professions, communities and faith, the movement lives on in you. We need you to tell your stories. We need you to mentor the next generation. We need you to remind the young people here that this formation lasts, that it builds people of lasting character and deep faith. The bridge between yesterday and tomorrow is built by people like you.

Conclusion

I want to conclude by reminding that 250 years ago, a new nation declared that freedom and dignity are not privileges: they are birthrights. One hundred years ago, a young Belgian priest declared that young workers and students are not objects of history, but its makers.

Tonight, in Maryland, those two great convictions meet and we are called again to put our faith into action through our life and our commitment to freedom and peace in the world.

We gather not to look backward with nostalgia, but to look forward with hope, the hope that is not passive but active, not wishful but rooted, not individual but together.

May we in Maryland, in America, and in 72 countries were the YCS exist across this beautiful, broken, beloved world, have the courage to answer it.

Peace be with you to all gathered here today in this school auditorium and who are connected with us online in advancing the mission of International Young Catholic Students (IYCS) to evangelize and transform the student milieu.

Thank you, and God bless you all.

*Manoj Mathew

Former Secretary General

International Young Catholic Students (IYCS) Jeunesse Étudiante Catholique Internationale (JECI) Juventud Estudiante Católica Internacional (JECI) 2003-2007

IYCS is a Catholic Action Movement of the Apostolate of Laity. It has a status of Private Juridical Personality according to Canons 298-311 and 321-329 of the Code of Canon Law. IYCS is recognized by the Holy See as an International Catholic Organization under the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. IYCS maintains close links with the Vatican Secretariat of State, particularly the section in

charge of relations with the States. The International Young Catholic Students movement has been registered in France under the 1901 association law.

mail@iycs-jeci.org www.iycs-jeci.org

In 1946, the IYCS secretariat was born in Brussels, Belgium. 80 years later, current IYCS Secretary General, Roshan Lobo (2024-2028), former IYCS Secretary General Manoj Mathew (2003-2007) and many former YCS members and leaders originally from many countries around the world, now residing in the US, came together in Silver Spring, MD to celebrate, and to remember. The event was the first time in recent memory that intentionally identified and brought together YCS alumni in the US.

Rejoicing together

Contributions by both current and former YCS members and chaplains made the event a memorable one. Fr. Jacob Anil D’sa (former IYCS Asian Chaplain) led a fun mixer that had everyone moving and smiling and helped everyone remember names. The mixer closed with a rousing song of praise, Alabaré, led by Rudy Dehaney.

The formal celebrations were launched with a beautiful traditional Bengali dance by three young students, choreographed by Ms. Shilpi Rozario (former YCS Bangladesh leader).

International Chaplain, Rev. Fr. Justo de la Fuente Fernandez, M.Id joined the celebration online with a Thanksgiving prayer he composed specially for the occasion, which he shared in Spanish. Elisabeth Gobu, (Cote D’Ivoire), also led a hymn of praise in French, Nous Chanterons Pour Toi Seigneur, emphasizing the international character of the IYCS and the celebration.

Keynote Speeches

In a stirring keynote speech, Manoj Mathew reminded us that through the profound social, political and cultural changes of the 20^th century, the YCS has never retreated.

As a movement formed in the values of human dignity and truth, IYCS has always understood that fidelity to the Gospel sometimes means asking the hardest questions.

Mathew highlighted the role of Fr. Louis Putz, CSC of Notre Dame University, who accompanied the World Student Congress, Prague in 1945, and Sally Cassidy, the only American who worked at the IYCS coordination office and then returned to the US to organize the 1948 IYCS meeting in Chicago which established the national movement.

Mathew also paid tribute to the men and women formed by YCS who now live in the US who are now professionals and community leaders and who now live out Cardijn’s belief in the dignity of every person.

Next, current IYCS Secretary-General Roshan Lobo, remarked on the bond that united all former and current YCS. Lobo went on to outline his hope for the future and called for investment in people and leadership formation rather than buildings or structures.

Cardijn Associates congratulates the IYCS for this historic milestone and embraces the call to support the formation of youth and young adults in a changing world. With the grace of God, we are excited to work with the global IYCS movement and explore opportunities at home with former alumni networks, and existing Catholic organizations and programs.

Related posts

Celebrating 80 years of YCS impact in the student world

Yesterday, Today and Always: Students Who Dare to Change the World

We are here to build the future of YCS

Friends,

Cardijn Associates has entered a new chapter with a new President and several additions to our Board of Directors. Plans are in the works to renew the growth of our members and to support youth and young adults in the See-Judge-Act approach.

In commemoration of Juneteenth, the recording of a dialogue held by the GU Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life helps us take stock of where we are as we also mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.

Pope Leo’s landmark encyclical Magnifica Humanitas is undoubtedly the biggest news of the last month and we share several significant reflections by Bill Murphy, Richard Pütz, and Stuart Moran as well as See-Judge-Act resources, from Stefan Gigacz.

Sam Young from the UK explains the influence of the Young Christian Workers movement in France and its relevance in the wake of Pope Leo’s first encyclical while Paul Lentern explores the call of the Gospel in this week’s text.

Plus a reminder of 80th anniversary celebration of IYCS coordination with International YCS leader Roshan Lobo and a reflection session on June 28. All are welcome.

The Cardijn Associates Team

New Leadership of Cardijn Associates

Cardijn Associates is pleased to announce the recent election of its Board of Directors with Dr. Martin Dramou as President. Dr. Dramou is an educator, community leaders, and advocate for youth development and human services across Africa and the United States. He was President of the Young Catholic Students movement of Ivory Coast after high school when he organized a regional retreat of students from eight countries in West Africa. He is currently President of PATHS - Peaceful Actions for the Enhancement of Human Services.

Also on the Board: Karim Mourad, Treasurer; Teresa Mourad, Secretary; and members at-large: Nancy Conrad, Rudy Dehaney, Elisabeth Lama Gobou, Fr. Chris Malano, Bonny Palma, and Fr. Ty Hullinger.

We express our deep gratitude to Nancy Conrad, Past President and Fr. Ty Hullinger, Past Vice President, for their many years of service at the helm. In particular, their critical insights of an active Catholic lay apostolate guided our efforts before anyone realized the significance of Pope Francis’s call for the Synod on Synodality. We are blessed that they will remain on the Board.

We also take this moment to congratulate new Board member Fr. Chris Malano, CSP, on the first anniversary of his ordination!

With Dr. Dramou’s leadership, a new strategic plan is being developed that will guide our path forward. Stay tuned — the whole Cardijn Associates community is invited to engage!

Commemorating Juneteenth - 250 Years Towards Racial Justice: Progress, Promise, and Challenges

Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life brings us a recording of the dialogue on 250 Years Towards Racial Justice: Progress, Promise, and Challenges. Discussants include Bishop-elect Robert Boxie III, new auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington; Melvin Rogers, co-director of the Democracy Project at Brown University, and Diann Rust-Tierney, associate professor of law at the University of the District of Columbia.

Additional Resource: JUNETEENTH: A PASTORAL REFLECTION ON RACIAL JUSTICE by Bishop Daniel E. Garcia and Bishop Roy E. Campbell, (USCCB)

Pope Leo and Magnifica Humanitas in Spain

As Leo explains in Magnifica Humanitas, Catholic Social Doctrine (CSD) is the way the Church is faithful to the Gospel in history. It is a theology of building communion in history, and directs how the Church is present to the human family in history.

READ MORE Leo’s Magnifica Humanitas in Spain (Bill Murphy, Better Politics)

A See–Judge–Act Reflection on Magnifica Humanitas

There is something almost head-scratching about a papal encyclical on artificial intelligence — the oldest institution in Western civilization issuing formal teaching on the newest technology in human history, writes Richard Pütz. But Magnifica Humanitas: On the Protection of Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence is not a panic document, and it deserves more than a quick scroll and a dismissal. Beneath its technical concerns about algorithmic bias, labor displacement, and weaponized disinformation lies a much older question: *What does it mean to be human, and can anything take that from us?*

READ MORE The Machine Doesn’t Have the Last Word: Rahner, Merton, and the Soul of Artificial Intelligence (Richard Putz, Cardijn Reflections)

Nehemiah in Leo’s Magnifica Humanitas

Many readers will be struck by the biblical leitmotif that runs through Magnifica Humanitas, namely the contrast between the building of the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9) and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem described in the book of Nehemiah. The story of Babel is at least culturally familiar, although the nuances of the story may be unclear. In a future piece, I’ll come back to that. Few readers, on the other hand, will know much about Nehemiah or realise that this is the very first time the book of Nehemiah has been cited in a papal encyclical.

READ MORE. A papal first: Nehemiah in Leo’s Magnifica Humanitas (Stuart Moran, Logical Apocalypse)

MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS RESOURCES

Stefan Gigacz, Australia Cardijn Institute, has developed a set of valuable See Judge Act and study resources for people, parishes and small groups including a summary, videos, most frequent words and common phrases.

LEARN MORE Magnifica Humanitas Resources (Stefan Gigacz, Australia Cardijn Institute)

History: God’s artisans

Life was hard for young workers in interwar France, writes Sam Young. Most left school at fourteen, beginning a life of exhausting, insecure and poorly paid industrial labour.

Things weren’t much better at home: working-class housing was overcrowded, public services were scarce, and alcohol abuse was rife. Poverty bred disaffection, and disaffection bred radicalism. In 1925, an insurgent Communist Party performed startlingly well in municipal elections, surrounding Paris with a ‘red belt’ of industrialised suburbs. To many political observers, social upheaval seemed inevitable.

Like the interwar JOC, Magnifica Humanitas suggests adapting the productive technology of capitalism to a Catholic economic vision. It argues that AI, rather than eliminating skilled jobs and eroding worker control, should instead become a tool for workers to hone their métiers and thereby better contribute to humanity’s common good. One hundred years after the foundation of the French JOC, its successors are still fighting for the soul of the global economy.

READ MORE God’s artisans (Sam Young, History Workshop)

Gospel Enquiry: Called and Commissioned

Last Sunday’s Gospel text begins with an expression of Jesus’ compassion for the people in their suffering, writes Paul Lentern. In earlier chapters of the Gospel it is Jesus himself who responds to this suffering through his ministry of healing (Mt 4:23, 8:3, 9:33). Now, it is the turn of the apostles to continue this ministry, just as they had observed, while following Jesus.

The text includes the often quoted reflection on Mission that ‘the harvest is rich but the labourers are few’ (Mt 9:37). The Mission of the disciples is to be twofold – proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is close at hand, just as Jesus had done at the beginning of his ministry (Mt 4:17), and healing the sick, cleansing lepers etc. which had also been central to Jesus’ ministry.

READ MORE Called and Commissioned (Cardijn Reflections)

Events

***IYCS/JEC 80th Anniversary of International Coordination Celebration

June 28, 2026 | IYCS 80th anniversary | Silver Spring, MD. Meet Roshan Lobo, IYCS Secretary General and reunite with IYCS alumni from around the world!

Be sure to also join the special Reflection session from 4 pm - 6 pm. It will be a time to share experiences of how YCS had an impact and generate ideas that allow our youth and young adults to discover the spirit of Catholic Action through See-Judge-Act for themselves.

REGISTER TODAY

***Unpacking Magnifica Humanitas: Brief Takeaways webinar
July 1, 2026 | 1:00 pm EDT | Catholic Apostolate Center

Looking for more clarity of Magnifica Humanitas? Systematic Theologian Dr. David Rohrer Budiash, Director of Programs for the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, will be giving a brief presentation on the encyclical and provide some insights into its wider understanding of Catholic Social Teaching.

REGISTER

Cardijn Associates USA

Contact

Email: cardijnassociates@gmail.com

JOIN THE CELEBRATION

Cardijn Associates congratulates the International Young Catholic Students (IYCS - JECI) on the 80th anniversary of IYCS International Coordination! The IYCS is a student movement of secondary and college students, a Catholic Action Movement of the Apostolate of Laity, inspired by the work of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn with young workers. To celebrate this great achievement, IYCS is hosting a two-part celebration with IYCS-JECI Secretary General, Roshan Lobo, and YCS alumni, animators, chaplains, friends and collaborators from around the world!

4:00 - 6:00 pm Reflection Session: Beyond Catholic school and religious formation - Opportunities for youth and young adult formation for Catholic action. Details and speakers TBD. (Pre-registration required)

5:30 pm General admission open for Celebration mixer, prayer, dinner and fellowship. $10 per person. Opportunities available for patrons and sponsors to support the event.

Contact: 3476494241 Leonard Bonny Palma | leonardbonny@gmail.com

May 30, 2026 | Archdiocese of Washington DC Black Ministry Pastoral Plan Listening Sessions. The Office of Cultural Diversity and Outreach and the Black Ministry Pastoral Plan Committee will host listening sessions at various parishes and locations through August 2026.

Location: St. John the Evangelist - Church Lower Level

8908 Old Branch Avenue Clinton, Maryland 20735

Learn More

Learn more about the St Frances Xavier Cabrini route

Friends,

This month we begin with Richard Pütz’s reflection on the importance of Catholic institutions respecting the rights of workers to unionize. And we recall the vital work in this field being done by the Catholic Labor Network.

We share news of Belgian scholar Sam Kuijken’s successful defense of his doctoral dissertation on the role of the International YCW in crafting Catholic internationalism.

From Palestine, we report the expulsion by the Israeli government of Fr Louis Salman, chaplain to the Catholic youth movement, including the YCS.

Stephen McNulty writes in America magazine of the role of Jesuit John Courtney Murray in the drafting of the Vatican II Declaration on Religious Liberty. Fr Murray was also a key player in the development of the Pax Romana movement in the US.

As Pope Leo prepares to release his first social encyclical, Stefan Gigacz recalls Cardijn’s own emphasis on promoting and teaching Catholic social doctrine.

Follow upcoming events, including Pizza, Beer and conversation on the role of the laity, the Eucharistic Pilgrimage and the St Frances Xavier Cabrini route and the 80th YCS anniversary reunion!

The Cardijn Associates USA Team

Practice what you preach: Catholic institutions and trade unions

It’s uncomfortable when a Catholic hospital administrator discourages unionization while a local bishop endorses labor dignity, writes Richard Pütz. This contradiction can be resolved. Catholic institutions shouldn’t just accept worker organizing—they should welcome it as true to their identity.

Catholic social teaching does not speak in vague generalities on this point. Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world, names the right to organize as a basic human right — one that must be exercised “without risk of reprisal.”

It does not say workers may organise if management permits it. It says this right belongs to workers as persons.

READ MORE

Preach What You Practice: Why Catholic Institutions Must Welcome the Union (Cardijn Reflections)

PhD: The International YCW and the rise of International Catholic Organizations

Sam Kuijken’s dissertation at KU Leuven reconstructs the history of Catholic internationalism through one of its most dynamic and contentious embodiments: the Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne internationale.

It builds on existing scholarship while challenging prevailing assumptions about the motivations, geography, and chronology of Catholic international engagement. Rather than treating Catholic internationalism as a derivative of anti‑communism or Cold War politics, the study uses it as a lens to reassess these familiar narratives.

The dissertation also advances a deliberately decentered approach, counterbalancing the European focus of institutional histories by integrating Asian, African, and Latin American experiences.

READ MORE

Crafting Catholic Internationalism: The Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne and the Rise of International Catholic Organizations (1920-1960) (KU Leuven, Research)

PHOTO

Natalia Núñez-Bargueño (Facebook)

John Courtney Murray & religious freedom at Vatican II

Perhaps no other Vatican II document reveals a more significant American contribution to Vatican II than Dignitatis humanae, the Council’s Declaration on Religious Liberty, writes Stephen McNulty.

Its key architect was none other than John Courtney Murray, the American Jesuit and academic who devoted his career to finding a synthesis between Catholicism and democracy, a public intellectual who’d become a household name by the time of his death in 1967.

For the Church, Dignitatis humanae represented a radical change: a little more than a century after Pius IX’s infamous Syllabus of Errors (1864), which unilaterally condemned, among other things, liberalism and freedom of religion, Dignitatis humanae issued a full-throated defense of religious free exercise.

READ MORE

Leo Looks to the Council (Commonweal)

Palestine YCS chaplain expelled by Israel

Father Louis Salman, a Jordanian priest who served as parish priest in Beit Sahour, a majority Palestinian Christian town near Bethlehem and was also chaplain for the Palestinian Christian youth movement, including the Young Catholic Students (YCS), has been forced to leave the country, Independent Catholic News reports.

Following an unusually long and intensive security interrogation by Israeli authorities, Israel refused to renew his visa and ordered him to leave before 11 May.

In a poignant farewell, Father Louis presided over his final Mass in Beit Sahour - the ‘Shepherd’s Field’ - on Sunday.

Father Louis is considered one of the most influential figures among Palestinian Christian youth.

READ MORE

Israel forces much-loved Catholic priest to leave Palestine (Independent Catholic News)

Louis Salman (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Cardijn and Catholic Social Doctrine

As he often recalled, Cardijn’s first encounter with what we now call Catholic Social Teaching came when, as a nine year old boy, he was asked by his illiterate father to read him Pope Leo XIII’s foundational 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, writes Stefan Gigacz.

When, after being ordained in 1906, he was finally posted to the parish of Notre Dame at Laeken in 1912, Cardijn encouraged the study of Catholic Social Teaching by leaders from the very beginning.

READ MORE

Cardijn and Catholic Social Doctrine (Cardijn Research)

Formation in Catholic Social Doctrine (Cardijn Research)

Networks and Events for Global Solidarity

***People of the North East Catholic Communities, Baltimore

May 15, 2026 | Baltimore, MD | People of the North East Catholic Communities. Pizza, Beer and Conversations Monthly meeting. Focus: The Vocation of the Laity in the service of justice and peace. Share your reflections on:

• Lumen Gentium Chapter 4 The Laity

• The Lay Apostolate. Apostolicam Actuositatem

Location: Saint Matthew’s Rectory at 5401 Loch Raven Blvd Baltimore MD
6:30 pm Fellowship. RSVP irishnancy52@gmail.com

***St. Frances Xavier Cabrini - Patron of 2026 Eucharistic Pilgrimage

May 24 - July 5, 2026 | Eucharistic Pilgrimage In honor of America’s 250th birthday, join the pilgrimage journeying through the historic landmarks along the East Coast and learn more about St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, patron saint of immigrants, and the first American to be canonized a saint.

Learn more about the St Frances Xavier Cabrini route

***Archdiocese of Washington DC

May 30, 2026 | Archdiocese of Washington DC Black Ministry Pastoral Plan Listening Sessions. The Office of Cultural Diversity and Outreach and the Black Ministry Pastoral Plan Committee will host listening sessions at various parishes and locations through August 2026.

Location: St. John the Evangelist - Church Lower Level
8908 Old Branch Avenue Clinton, Maryland 20735

Learn More

***ACTION ALERT: Protect Communities from Coal Ash Pollution

Jun 10, 2026 |The Catholic Climate Covenant, Franciscan Action Network, the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, and the Sisters of Mercy is urging people of faith across the country to sign a joint public comment opposing EPA rollbacks of federal coal ash regulations that would weaken protections for waterways and communities. Learn More and Sign the Statement by Jun 10.

***Save the Date: IYCS/JEC 80th Anniversary Reunion

June 28, 2026 | IYCS Reunion | Silver Spring, MD. Meet Roshan Lobo, IYCS Secretary General and reunite with IYCS alumni from around the world! More information soon about tickets for dinner and fellowship.

Cardijn Associates USA

Contact

Email: cardijnassociates@gmail.com

Friends

Following Pope Leo’s refusal to endorse the Iran War as a “just war,” commentators have subjected his theology from unrelenting attack. Simultaneously, his critique of “imperialist occupation of the world” has also struck a nerve.

Catholic leaders in the US have also responded strongly, beginning with Cardinals McElroy, Tobin and Cupich, as illustrated in several articles that we feature in this edition.

Similarly, our Gospel Reflection from last Sunday highlights the need for Christians to work continuously to build peace, a message endorsed by Fr Chris Malano CP in his own homily.

This month, we also present two articles by Stefan Gigacz, the first highlighting the gact that the Vatican II Decree on Lay Apostolate, Apostolicam Actuositatem, remains the least read document of the Council, while the second focuses on the French priest and marriage specialist, Fr Henry Caffarel, now declared Venerable by Pope Leo.

For those who wish to study more deeply, we present a newly developed website, which sets out the essentials of Cardijn’s thought along with a study guide.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Cardinal McElroy: From prayer to action

As the peace negotiations between the USA and Iran fail, Pope Leo XIV and Cardinal Robert McElroy (above) have both issued powerful condemnations of war and called on Catholics and all people of good will to urgently pray and to act for peace.

This enquiry aims to help us respond to those appeals.

READ MORE

Social enquiry: From prayer to action (See Judge Act)

Three cardinals explain Pope Leo’s Church

In a segment called “Pope Leo’s Church” on the CBS News program “60 Minutes” on April 12, the three U.S. cardinals heading archdioceses reflected on the pope’s leadership and on why Catholic Church leaders have voiced opposition to the United States’ war against Iran and the Trump administration’s policy of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

READ MORE

In ’60 Minutes’ interview, three U.S. cardinals reflect on Pope Leo’s leadership and Church’s opposition to Iran war and mass deportation (Catholic Standard)

Cross disrupts ‘imperialist occupation of world’: Pope Leo

The Cross disrupts “imperialist occupation of the world from within,” Pope Leo said in a pointed comment during his homily for the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday 2 April 2026.

“The violence that until now has been the law is unmasked,” he added. “The poor, imprisoned, rejected Messiah descends into the darkness of death, yet in so doing he brings a new creation to light.”

READ MORE

Cross disrupts ‘imperialist occupation of world’: Pope Leo

Enough of war: Pope Leo’s three-word mandate for a wounded world

In a world fractured by conflict, writes Richard Pütz, Pope Leo XIV’s prayer at the Vatican Vigil for Peace stood out for its clarity: “War divides; hope unites. Arrogance tramples others; love lifts them up. Idolatry blinds us; the living God enlightens.”

Crucially, the heart of Pope Leo XIV’s message is clear: the divisions that erupt in violence and war stem from a deep spiritual blindness. The Pope’s mandate is not about improved politics or information, but about conversion that addresses the core spiritual condition—idolatry displacing the living God. Every part of his call flows from this diagnosis, forming the central thesis of his vigil.

Using the See-Judge-Act method, we can delve deeper into the mechanics of our current discord and find a path forward.

READ MORE

Enough of war: Pope Leo’s three-word mandate for a wounded world (Cardijn Reflections)

Apostolicam Actuositatem: Vatican II’s least read document

The final reports from the various Synodal Study Groups have now started to appear. So perhaps it’s time to look again at various issues that have been raised.

Thus, reading the final report of the Study Group on “To hear the cry of the poor and the earth,” I was struck – and heartened – to see the number of references – 92, in fact – to the need for “formation,” a theme that has recurred throughout the whole process of the Synod on Synodality as well as during the Australian Plenary Council.

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Apostolicam Actuositatem: Vatican II’s least read document (Synodal Reflections)

Henri Caffarel’s new spirituality of marriage

Pope Leo has approved a decree declaring venerable Henri Caffarel, a French YCW chaplain, who later founded the Teams of Our Lady movement, writes Stefan Gigacz.

During an audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, on 23 March 2026, Pope Leo authorised the promulgation of a decree recognising “the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Henri Caffarel, diocesan priest, founder of the ‘Equipes Notre Dame’ (Teams of Our Lady) and the ‘Fraternité Notre-Dame de la Résurrection’ (Our Lady of the Resurrection Fraternity),” Vatican News reports.

He also began his priestly ministry as a YCW chaplain.

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Venerable Henri Caffarel, YCW chaplain and founder of the Teams of Our Lady (Cardijn Research)

YCW chaplain Henri Caffarel declared venerable

Website: Cardijn study guide

Cardijn Resources is a newly revamped website presenting several key Cardijn resources for leaders animators of YCW-inspired groups.

But if there’s one document above all to read, it’s surely his famous 1935 Three Truths article, which concisely summarises the whole Cardijn methodology under the headings of Truths of Faith, Experience and Pastoral Method.

The site also includes study guides for those who wish to go deeper.

READ MORE

Cardijn Resources

Fr Chris Malano : We do it scared - Because Christ Is Risen

On the night of Sunday 12 April 2026,
a social media post described Pope Leo XIV
as “weak” and criticized the Church,
especially on issues like nuclear weapons and foreign policy.

And immediately, people reacted.
Some echoing it.
Others coming to the defense of the Pope and the Church.

We know that pattern and spiral..
We’ve seen it.
Perhaps, we’ve done it in other situations.

But in the Acts of the Apostles, the early Church is also attacked:
publicly, politically, directly.
And what does the Church do?

They don’t react first.
They pray first.

And the Church prays:
“Enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness…
as you stretch forth your hand to heal.”

READ MORE

Homily for Monday of the Second Week of Easter (Bridging Our Worlds)

We do it scared because Christ is risen (Bridging Our Worlds)

Gospel Enquiry: What if peace is a verb?

The first Sunday after the Feast of Easter is known as Divine Mercy Sunday. It comes with a focus on the forgiveness of God and calls upon followers to repent and seek forgiveness.

The Gospel account, from the fourth Gospel, is set on two consecutive Sundays, the first is the evening of the day of the resurrection, the second, eight days later. The first scene finds the disciples in hiding for fear that they would suffer the same fate of Jesus, at the hands of the religious authorities.

Jesus appears among them, despite the locked doors, indicating the risen Lord is not subject to the same physical constraints as the human Jesus.

READ MORE

Gospel Enquiry: What if peace is a verb? (Cardijn Reflections)

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Friends

As the war in the Middle East continues unabated, echoing a famous photo of Mobi Warren, Marion Shintel, Merle Ratner, Fr Kenneth Keulman and Dan Berrigan SJ (Religious News Service photo above), Pope Leo has called for a ban on aerial bombing and reiterated his appeal for a ceasefire.

In a similar vein, Fr Chris Malano shares a Gospel reflection recalling the example of St Oscar Romero, emphasizing our responsibility to see clearly what is happening in the world.

Separately, recalling the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, Pope Leo also invited presidents of bishops conferences to Rome in October to discuss the pastoral needs of families. Indeed, families will shape the Church’s future, Richard Pütz adds.

Perhaps providentially, this week Leo also declared venerable Henri Caffarel, the YCW chaplain and Teams of Our Lady founder, who pioneered a renewed spirituality and theology of marriage, as Stefan Gigacz writes.

Rudy Dehaney highlights emerging trends in adult faith formation while Fr Ty Hullinger reflects on struggle and lament.

We also share a classic text from Joseph Cardijn, who insists on the permanent need to re-imagine and re-think our work and our movement.

In other good news, we are pleased to share that our Lenten Compassion campaign for Baby Eliana has reached its target. We will share news of her progress in coming issues.

And we conclude with a series of forthcoming events.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Ban aerial bombing: Pope Leo

“Airplanes should always be carriers of peace, never of war!” Pope Leo has said. “No one should be afraid that threats of death and destruction might come from the sky.”

Pope Leo recalled the aerial bombardments of the World Wars and other conflicts, which still continue today.

“After the tragic experiences of the twentieth century, aerial bombings should have been banned forever!” he said. “Instead, they still exist, and technological development, positive in itself, is being placed at the service of war. This is not progress; it is regression!”

Pope Leo XIV: Planes should bring peace, not war and destruction (Vatican News)

Pope Leo appeals for peace

Learn More

See Catholics for a Free Palestine below

Emerging trends in young adult faith formation

Rudy Dehaney, Cardijn Associates Board member and Director of Campus Ministry, Notre Dame of Maryland University, joined Paul Jarzembowski, Associate Director, USCCB Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and Dr. Tracey Lamont, Associate Professor of Religious Education and Young Adult Ministry, Loyola University New Orleans, in a panel organized by the National Community for Catechetical Leaders on implementing more synodal, intercultural, and relationship-centered approaches to ministry with young adults across multiple touch points.

READ MORE

Journeying Together: A Handbook for Intercultural Encounter [PDF]. 2026. USCCB Secretariat of the Cultural Diversity in the Church

Era of change affects families: Pope Leo

“Our era is marked by rapid changes which make it necessary, even more than ten years ago, to give particular pastoral attention to families,” Pope Leo observed, announcing a meeting of presidents the world’s bishops conferences to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia.

“There are, in fact, places and circumstances in which the Church “can become the salt of the earth” only through the lay faithful and, in particular, through families,” he added.

“For this reason, the Church’s commitment in this area must be renewed and deepened, so that those whom the Lord calls to marriage and family life can, in Christ, fully live out their conjugal love, and that young people may feel attracted, within the Church, to the beauty of the vocation to marriage.”

Pope Leo’s own parents were active members of the Christian Family Movement in Chicago.

READ MORE

Tenth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia (Vatican)

Christian Family Movement

Families will shape the Church’s future

Pope Leo XIV’s framing for October 2026 is striking. He notes that in many places, “the Church can become the salt of the earth only through the lay faithful and, in particular, through families,” writes Richard Pütz That is not a throw-away line. It is an acknowledgment that institutional structures and clergy alone cannot reach where families live. The future of the Church’s mission depends on forming laypeople who know how to carry it out.

Amoris Laetitia called for new forms of “missionary creativity.” It urged the Church to move beyond simply repeating doctrine and to actively strengthen marital love “under the impulse of grace.” Cardijn’s See–Judge–Act offers a tested, grassroots method for doing that. CFM provides over eighty years of practical experience using this method with real couples in real circumstances.

The convergence feels significant. It is not manufactured, but genuinely available — if the bishops’ summit is willing to listen not just to each other but also to the families who have been doing this work quietly for generations.

If the summit is to be more than bishops talking about families, it needs families talking to bishops. That means the work starts locally, now.

ACT NOW

Kitchen Tables and Cathedrals: How Ordinary Families Could Shape the Church’s Future at the 2026 Bishops Summit (Cardijn Reflections)

Venerable Henri Caffarel, YCW chaplain and Teams of Our Lady founder

Pope Leo has approved a decree declaring venerable Henri Caffarel, a French YCW chaplain, who later founded the Teams of Our Lady movement.

During an audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, on 23 March 2026, Pope Leo authorised the promulgation of a decree recognising “the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Henri Caffarel, diocesan priest, founder of the ‘Equipes Notre Dame’ (Teams of Our Lady) and the ‘Fraternité Notre-Dame de la Résurrection’ (Our Lady of the Resurrection Fraternity),” Vatican News reports.

READ MORE

Venerable Henri Caffarel, YCW chaplain and founder of the Teams of Our Lady (Cardijn Research)

Struggle and lament: Sunday is coming

Reflecting on Lent, Ramadan and the preparation for Passover with Fr Ty Hullinger at the Freedom Church of the Poor

Cardijn: Re-imagining the movement

Sometimes you hear people say: “The YCW is outdated, it’s had its day.” Others go further and say: “The YCW has gone bankrupt,” wrote Cardijn in 1950.

It’s only when you constantly rethink the movement, its purpose, its raison d’être, that you see it must continually surpass itself, must always renew itself in order to remain the YCW, the movement that responds to the needs, problems, and difficulties of young workers today.

We must rethink the very essence of the movement, its essential reason for being. And this is what I ask you to do: to simply, openly, and frankly rethink some essential, fundamental aspects of the movement.

READ MORE

The YCW, a movement that constantly needs to be re-imagined (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)

Gospel: Our responsibility to see clearly

In the Gospel of March 24, Jesus is speaking to people who are questioning him, pushing back on him, not sure they believe him, writes Fr Chris Malano. And he says to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man… then you will realize…” He is speaking to the very people in front of him: people who are listening, but not recognizing who he is. The truth is already there: that no authority can require what is against God’s law, and that conscience does not disappear when orders are given. But the people listening to him do not recognize it.

And that is not only about them. It is about us, too.

On March 23, 1980, in a homily at the Cathedral in San Salvador, the day before he was killed, Archbishop Oscar Romero spoke to soldiers in his country. He said:

“ No soldier is obliged to obey an order counter to the law of God. No one has to comply with an immoral law. It is time now that you recover your conscience and obey its dictates rather than the command of sin.”¹

READ MORE

The responsibility to see clearly: Memorial of Saint Oscar Romero (Bridging our worlds)

Networks and Events for Global Solidarity

Pax Christi

April 6, 2026 | 8:00 PM ET |Pax Christi International Fund for Peace | With Courage to Hope. The gathering will be a moment to be in community for prayer and reflection, featuring remarks from Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., bishop president of Pax Christi USA, and Martha Inés Romero, secretary general of Pax Christi International.

Catholics for a Free Palestine

Catholics for a Free Palestine seeks to mobilize Catholics as part of an intersectional, liberatory movement. It is part of an ecumenical, grassroots, nonviolent movement dedicated to mobilizing Christians across the U.S. to take action in solidarity with Palestinians. Sign up for their mailing list and join the upcoming events:

May 5-7, 2026 | Washington D.C. Churches for Middle East Peace Joint Christian Advocacy Summit

May 10, 2026 | 1:30 PM ET | The Bridges: A Christian Vision for Reconciliation with Fr. David Neuhaus, S.J. Sister Parish Solidarity: Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington D.C. & St. Catherine Catholic Church in Bethlehem, Palestine Webinar Series. Listen to better understand the lived realities of our Palestinian sisters and brothers at St. Catherine’s in Bethlehem, as we learn about and discuss the physical and structural walls in our worlds, and examine shared theological foundations for bridging worldly divides. Register for the series and to receive more information by emailing holyland@trinity.org

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Contact
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We begin this issue with a Lenten call to ecological conversion from the US bishops.

We share with you an appeal for Lenten solidarity for Eliana Kira, the tiny daughter of Philippines YCW worker Jho Letada and her husband Marwin, who urgently needs a hole in the heart operation.

Continuing in the Lenten spirit, Richard Pütz invites us to reflect on the digital revolution in the light of Catholic Social Teaching while Paul Lentern reflects on the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

In a recent video, Fr Ty Hullinger reminds us that Christmas foreshadows Easter. Renée Roden from the US Catholic Worker, contrasts the Church of the Poor envisaged by Helder Camara and the signatories of the Pact of the Catacombs with the one envisaged by Jeffrey Epstein and Steve Bannon.

We note how, as a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost now Pope Leo worked to reconcile and integrate the lay (Cardijn-inspired) movements into the work of his diocese. We see how the Maryknoll Institute continues to use the classical see-judge-act method.

And we share a new website featuring Joseph Cardijn’s own autobiographical notes.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Lent: A call to ecological conversion

We enter this season of Lent recognizing the yearnings of our hearts which can be fulfilled only in Christ. The Desert Fathers and Mothers understood that in order to hear Christ’s voice, we must enter into the solitude of the desert. For the one who listens, the desert is not a barren place that is dead and desolate. Rather, it is a place that teems with life, and whose pregnant solitude reveals the Lord, present to us in all of creation.

This time of Lent reminds us that we are in need of conversion—for as Pope Francis wrote in Laudato si’:

“‘The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast.’ For this reason, the ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion” (no. 217).

The conversion that we need is both metaphorical and physical.

READ MORE

An Invitation to Ecological Conversion for U.S. Catholics (USCCB)

PHOTO

Lisa / Pexels

Let’s open our hearts for Eliana Kira

Here is a really tough situation that we’ve learnt about recently, namely the medical problems facing Eliana Kira, the tiny daughter of Jho Letada, a former full time worker and national president of the Philippines YCW, and her husband, Marwin.

In short, Eliana has a hole in the heart and needs an urgent operation as the hole is already enlarging. Aged eleven months, she weighs only 4.8kg, which places her below the 3% mark for babies her age, another major concern.

The cost for surgery comes to near $US18,000, which is completely beyond the family’s means. As Lent begins, we are asking for your support for Eliana and her family. Please give generously.

FULL STORY

Lenten campaign: Baby Eliana Kira

USD DONATION DIRECT LINK

https://events.humanitix.com/baby-eliana-kira-usd

Church of the Poor or an Epstein-Bannon church?

In the deluge that is the Epstein files, journalists have found threads of the divine, writes Renée Roden. Reporters like Claire Giangravé at Religion News Service have found mentions of the Vatican and the church, including indications the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was in conversations with Steve Bannon, discussing ways to undermine Pope Francis. Epstein seemed fascinated by religious power, particularly the pope.

So, imagine this scene. On the surface, it seems like a scene Epstein would understand: in an underground room, 60 years ago, a group of bishops gathered on a November night on the outskirts of Rome.

But what the bishops were signing on Nov. 16, 1965 — now this would be news to Epstein — was the Pact of the Catacombs. Together, they vowed to be a “poor servant church.”

READ MORE

The church of the poor vs. the church according to Jeffrey Epstein (NCR Online)

Pact of the Catacombs

Black History Month: Let us be faithful stewards of memory

“This February marks one hundred years of commemorating Black history in the United States,” the USCCB Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation reminds us.

“During this year’s observance of Black History Month, we encourage the faithful to consider the lessons of history, honoring our heroes of the past and learning from the mistakes of the past. Although we may at times encounter people or situations in our country that seek to erase ‘memory’ from our minds and books, it can never be erased from our hearts.

“May our reflections strengthen our faith and communities. Let us be faithful stewards of memory. Let us be courageous witnesses to truth. Let us pray and work to honor the inherent dignity of every person and the sacred stories of every people.”

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Let Us Be Faithful Stewards of Memory (USCCB)

As bishop in Peru, Pope Leo reconciled lay movements with the diocese

As bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, Robert Prevost, the future Pope Leo XIII, reconciled the diocese with lay movements, which had become estranged under previous bishops.

Several lay-led organizations had emerged outside formal church structures, carrying out education, youth formation, family support and nutrition programs in poor neighborhoods across the region, while remaining outside of the diocese and parish structures.

However, in his first year as bishop, Prevost accepted an invitation to meet with lay movements active in Chiclayo. Following that initial contact, the Chiclayo Diocese recognized several lay-led organizations under Prevost’s direction, signing agreements to facilitate their collaboration.

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Leo reconciled lay movements & his Peruvian diocese

Maryknoll helps students to see, judge and act

Students at three schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago are learning the connection between the faith they learn in class and the good they can do in the world.

The schools are working with the Maryknoll Discipleship Institute, which started in the Archdiocese of Seattle.

In Seattle, the institute forms the religion curriculum for middle school students, first teaching them the “see, judge, act” method embedded in Catholic social teaching, said Maryknoll’s Jackie Hopper.

Maryknoll curriculum helps students learn Catholic social teaching (Maryknoll)

Whole of life formation needed: Cardinal Farrell

Opening the third plenary assembly of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, Cardinal Kevin Farrell emphasized the need for “basic formation” in the Christian life among lay people. The assembly took place at the Jesuit General Curia in Rome from 4-6 February 2026.

Noting what he characterized as “the alarming increase in the number of people who do not know Jesus Christ at all,” Cardinal Farrell called for a “formation of the heart”, which involves the whole life: at the origin of Christian life there is an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ, who first changes the heart, then our mindset, and eventually transforms daily conduct and all of life.

READ MORE

Whole of life formation needed: Cardinal Farrell (Vatican News)

Cardijn’s life: In his own words

Strictly speaking, YCW founder Joseph Cardijn never wrote an autobiography. At least not in the form of a complete book. Nevertheless, he often told the story of his life in various talks and speeches around the world.

Towards the end of his life, he also wrote a series of notes and gave several interviews describing various incidents in his life and the development of his work, which are compiled in this new website.

VISIT THE WEBSITE

Joseph Cardijn – My life (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)

Lenten Theme: Catholic Social Wisdom – Foundations in a Digital Age

This Lent, as adults, let us reflect and meaningfully engage with artificial intelligence and emerging technologies through the lens of Catholic social teaching, encyclicals, and contemporary Catholic thought, writes Richard Pütz

Using the See-Judge-Act method, together we will connect our lived experiences with Church wisdom, guided by key thinkers: Thomas Merton (technology and spirituality), Marshall McLuhan (media environments), Mortimer Adler (shared inquiry), Omar Arias Zurita (AI literacy), and Matthew J. Gaudet (AI and encounter).

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Lenten Theme: Catholic Social Wisdom – Foundations in a Digital Age (Cardijn Reflections)

Gospel: Jesus tempted in the wildnerness

With the commemoration of Ash Wednesday a few days ago, the liturgy now moves to the first of the Sundays of Lent, leading to Holy Week and the Easter Triduum, writes Paul Lentern. The Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent (22 February) shares the account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.

The fast of forty days and forty nights is an echo of the forty years that the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness after the Exodus from slavery in Egypt, prior to entering the promised land. An echo highlighting the author’s theme of Jesus as the new Moses.

The forty days of the text is also a foreshadowing, for Christians, of the six weeks of Lent where fasting, abstinence and almsgiving are central themes.

READ MORE

Jesus tempted in the wilderness (Cardijn Reflections)

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Welcome back for our first edition of 2026.

Far from the peaceful Christmas we had hoped for, the last month has been a time of trouble and conflict. Invasion of Venezuela, ICE shootings, homelessness - so many problems that call us to action. In this issue, we begin with the response of Cardinals Cupich, Tobin and McElroy to these challenges.

We note that Pope Leo has declared 2026 the Year of Francis, the peacemaker. And we share news of his catechesis on the teachings of Vatican II. Fr Ty Hullinger alerts us to action against homelessness while Fr Chris Malano offers an important reflection and warning on how easily force is justified by authority. The International YCW condemns the US intervention in Venezuela. Richard Pütz warns against the way in which Christian nationalism turns faith into a fist while Bill Murphy reminds us of the inspiration of Martin Luther King.

We share a newly translated talk by Joseph Cardijn from 1947 in which - just 22 years years after the founding of the YCW - he already speaks of the need to re-imagine the movement.

We link to a significant reflections by Liam Myers on the relevance today of the late Dominican, Gustavo Gutierrez.

Stefan Gigacz reminds us of all the various Cardijn-related anniversaries coming up this year, including the 50th anniversary of the martyrdom of Blessed Enrique Angelelli and his companions.

Thanks for joining us as we face these challenges of the year 2026.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Cardinals hit out at US foreign policy

Three American cardinals, Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of Washington and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R. of Newark have issued a strongly worded statement measuring U.S. foreign policy against the principles set forth by Pope Leo XIV.

“As pastors entrusted with the teaching of our people, we cannot stand by while decisions are made that condemn millions to lives trapped permanently at the edge of existence,” Cardinal Cupich commented. Pope Leo has given us clear direction and we must apply his teachings to the conduct of our nation and its leaders.”

“Catholic social teaching testifies that when national interest narrowly conceived excludes the moral imperative of solidarity among nations and the dignity of the human person, it brings immense suffering to the world and a catastrophic assault on the just peace that benefits every nation and is the will of God,” Cardinal McElroy added. “In our current national debate about the fundamental contours of American foreign policy, we ignore this reality at the cost of our country’s truest interests and the best traditions of this land that we love.”

READ MORE

Cardinals Cupich, McElroy and Tobin cite Pope Leo XIV’s direction to diplomats (Archdiocese of Washington)

Leo proclaims Year of Francis

Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a special Jubilee Year coinciding with the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.

The Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican tribunal that deals with matters of conscience, issued a decree published by the Franciscan Friars Jan. 10, declaring a yearlong celebration in honor of the Poverello, or the Little Poor One.

According to the decree, Pope Leo has established that from Jan. 10, following the closing of the church’s Jubilee Year, until Jan. 10, 2027, a special Year of St. Francis may be proclaimed, in which every Christian, “following the example of the Saint of Assisi, may himself become a model of holiness of life and a constant witness of peace.”

READ MORE

Pope sets Jubilee to mark 800th year since St. Francis’ death; saint’s body to be displayed (OSV News)

Catechesis on Vatican II begins

Pope Leo has launched a new series of weekly catecheses “dedicated to the Second Vatican Council and to reflecting on its documents.”

“The work of the Council Fathers paved the way for a new ecclesial season, placing at its center the mystery of salvation and the unity between God and his people,” he nonted. “At the same time, it opened the Church to seek dialogue with the people of good will for a more just and fraternal world.”

“As we make our journey of rediscovering the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, let us welcome the past with its rich tradition; let us consider the present with its joys and sorrows; and let’s look towards the future with an urgent appeal for greater justice, love and peace.”

READ MORE

General Audience, 7 January 2026 (Vatican)

General Audience, 14 January 2026 (Vatican)

What will the first US pope teach us about Vatican II? (National Catholic Reporter)

Fr Ty Hullinger: Homeless Union’s Winter Offensive

What would Gustavo Gutierrez tell us today?

When Dominican Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, the late beloved “father” of Latin American liberation theology, wrote in We Drink From Our Own Wells that “poverty means death,” he was not writing metaphorically, observes Liam Myers. His lifework powerfully conveyed that any spirituality must be communal, contextual and connected to the material conditions of the people one is in community with.

In the same text, Gutiérrez further clarifies his understanding of poverty:

It means death due to hunger and sickness, or to the repressive methods used by those who see their privileged positions being endangered by any effort to liberate the oppressed. It means physical death, to which is added cultural death, inasmuch as those in power seek to do away with everything that gives unity and strength to the dispossessed of the world.

Gutiérrez clearly communicates the Gospel call for the church to care for the poor, and compels us to all join in these efforts.

READ MORE

Take off your headphones: What would Gustavo Gutiérrez tell us today? (National Catholic Reporter)

IYCW condemns US intervention in Venezuela

The International Young Christian Workers (IYCW) has released a statement strongly condemning “the military aggression, foreign intervention, and the reported kidnapping of the Head of the state of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, carried out by the government of the United States of America on 3 January 2026.”

“As a global movement of young workers inspired by Christian values and committed to justice, peace, and human dignity, IYCW categorically rejects militarism, imperialism, political abductions, and foreign intervention that harm civilian populations or violate the right of peoples to self-determination,” the statement says.

“We affirm that conflicts between nations must be resolved through peaceful means—dialogue, diplomacy, and respect for international law.”

READ MORE

IYCW Statement Condemning Military Aggression of United States of America and Expressing Solidarity with Venezuelan people (IYCW)

Fr Chris Malano: Into the water, into the world

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Fr Chris Malano, Into the water, into the world (Bridging our worlds)

Martin Luther King, an inspiration for social Catholics

Upon arriving at the Capital Hilton on January 8 for the Annual Meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics, I had a free afternoon, writes Bill Murphy. Since the weather was so unseasonably warm, I decided to take a long walk around the National Mall to get some exercise and visit the various monuments while praying for our nation, Church, and world.

Especially memorable were the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr that were carved in stone at his memorial. These 14 texts were selected from his speeches, sermons, and writings by a “Council of Historians.” According to the official brochure prepared by the National Park Service, these words were selected to illustrate the four primary messages of Dr. King, all of which align with Catholic Social Doctrine, namely justice, democracy, hope, and love.

READ MORE

Martin Luther King, Jr, Inspiration for Social Catholics (Better Politics)

PHOTO

Minnesota Historical Society / Flickr / Wikipedia / CC 2.0

2026 anniversaries

Once again, I’m beginning the new year with a short overview of anniversaries connected with Cardijn and the various jocist-inspired movements, writes Stefan Gigacz. In particular, we remember the martyred Blessed Enrique Angelelli and his companions, who died fifty years ago this year in 1976.

Also important is the 75th anniversary of the First World Congress on Lay Apostolate held in Rome in October 1951 with Cardijn as one of the keynote speakers.

Sadly, we note that this year will mark the fortieth anniversary of the division at international level of the YCW in 1986.

READ MORE

2026 anniversaries (Cardijn Research)

Cardijn: Re-imagining the movement

The title of this lesson is relevant to the whole Study Week, to each lesson, discussion and every exercise, as well as to all publications and all activities of the YCW, said Cardijn in 1947. All these aspects must assist us to constantly “re-imagine” the movement, to rethink it for each of ourselves and all together.

This is indeed a fundamental, essential, and fundamental attitude for every person, every priest, and especially for every leader of the movement. Even more than everyone else, the priest must constantly rethink his life, his ideal, and his apostolate.

It is the only way to constantly renew ourselves, to constantly surpass ourselves, to prevent ageing, routine, deviation, and their fatal consequence, namely discouragement if not scepticism.

READ MORE

Joseph Cardijn, The YCW, a movement that always needs be re-imagined! (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)

Reflection: When faith becomes a fist

Whether we teach in classrooms or parishes, we all encounter that moment when a learner conflates patriotism with salvation, or when defending the faith becomes more about conflict than genuine witness, writes Richard Pütz.

As theologians and religious educators, we face serious challenges: Christian nationalist movements are on the rise, using familiar symbols and stories for purposes that distort the messages we’ve been entrusted to teach.

This challenge moves us beyond politics. Rather, it’s a crisis of discipleship that demands our pastoral attention and pedagogical creativity.

READ MORE

When Faith Becomes a Fist: Teaching Against the Theology of Control (Cardijn Reflections)

News briefs and social media

World War II Belgian YCW peace prayer card

@auscardinstBelgian Girls YCW (JOC) Peace postcard 1940s. #peace #paix #YCW #JOC #catholic

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In this Christmas edition, we begin with news of the coming beatification of Argentine businessman, Enrique Ernesto Shaw, who knew and was greatly influenced by both Cardijn and Msgr Reynold Hillenbrand.

We welcome the appointment of Bishop Ron Hicks, who worked as a volunteer with orphaned children in El Salvador.

We share the story of the French YCW and YCS martyrs beatified earlier this month at Notre Dame Cathedral Paris.

Pilgrims from the Dorothy Dorothy Guild, who were in Rome for a special symposium at the Gregorian University, also joined a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Pact of the Catacombs for a Servant Church of the Poor. Let us also remember the message (above) of the groundbreaking Decree on Lay Apostolate, Apostolicam Actuositatem, adopted by Vatican II on November 18, 1965, one day after the Pact.

We also remember José Serapio “Pepe” Palacio, an Argentine former YCW leader, Christian Worker movement leader and trade unionist, who was killed in 1975 under Operation Condor.

As Christmas approaches, we remember their commitment and their sacrifices while Richard Pütz reminds us of the “radical humility of the Incarnation.”

The Cardijn Associates Team

New York’s new archbishop volunteered in Mexico

Pope Leo has appointed Chicago-born Bishop Ron Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to become the new archbishop of New York.

In July 2005, with permission from Cardinal Francis E. George, then archbishop of Chicago, young Fr. Hicks moved from Chicago to El Salvador to begin a five-year term as regional director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, or NPH, in Central America. NPH is a home dedicated to caring for more than 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Earlier this year, he issued a pastoral letter entitled “Make” focusing on how to develop active discipleship (see above video) that aims to connect catechesis and evangelisation with turning faith into action.

READ MORE

5 things to know about Bishop Ronald A. Hicks (National Catholic Reporter)

Hillenbrand told Enrique Shaw he could make a difference in business

Pope Leo XIV has authorised the promulgation of a decree for the beatification of Argentine Cardijn apostle and entrepreneur, Enrique Ernesto Shaw.

Visiting Chicago in 1945, Shaw met with Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand, who convinced him that he would never be “just another worker,” but could make a difference as a businessman, OSV News reports.

Under Hillenbrand’s guidance, Shaw left the Navy and entered the business world, convinced that economic life was not separate from the Gospel, but one of its most demanding arenas.

That connection has drawn the attention of Pope Leo XIV, himself from Chicago. In a message to Argentina’s XXXI Industrial Conference, the pope wrote that Shaw’s life demonstrates it is “possible to be both a businessman and a saint, that economic efficiency and fidelity to the Gospel are not mutually exclusive, and that charity can penetrate even industrial and financial structures.”

He married Cecilia Bunge, with whom he had nine children; he joined Catholic Action and the Christian Family Movement, promoting various other associations related to the world of work and publishing conferences, articles and essays. In 1961, he was appointed president of Hombres de Acción Católica. He died of cancer on 27 August 1961.

READ MORE

With Enrique Shaw on path to sainthood, Vatican confirms you can be a holy businessman (OSV News)

Argentine Cardijn apostle to be beatified

Enrique Ernesto Shaw (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)

YCW and YCS martyrs beatified at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris

Twenty YCW and YCS leaders, chaplains and seminarians were beatified alongside a group of Scouts and Catholic Action chaplains at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, on Saturday 13 December 2025 (video above).

READ MORE

YCW and YCS martyrs beatified at Notre Dame (Cardijn.info)

Martyrs of the YCW and YCS (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)

Homily by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich

Papal legate Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg presided over the beatification ceremony and delivered the homily. Recalling the heroic sacrifices of the French martyrs, Cardinal Hollerich said “faith is never private; it must find expression in the concrete service of our sisters and brothers”.

“Let me make an appeal to the young people of France,” he continued. “You who call yourselves young Catholics, you are devoted to the adoration of Our Lord, and that is as it should be: may this love of Christ impel you to become missionary apostles.

“And all of you young people, perhaps not attending church, from France and Europe, you who no longer see meaning in your lives, you are searching for an identity that gives you purpose, look to Christ, Prince of Peace, Prince of love and not of hate, learn from him as your elder brothers, martyrs, beatified today, learn from him to commit yourselves to the good of your brothers and sisters! Your life can be so beautiful, and you will see this beauty in your life by following Christ.”

READ MORE

Cardinal Hollerich’s homily (English)

Dorothy Day Symposium in Rome

The Dorothy Day Guild partnered with the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome for a symposium on the life and work of the founder of the Catholic Worker on November 26 2025.

A group of American pilgrims, including Dorothy’s granddaughters Kate and Martha Hennessy, joined approximately one hundred graduate students, professors, Vatican workers and officials, and members of the public to take part in the symposium.

READ MORE

Dorothy Day Guild Newsletter

Pact of the Catacombs Memorial

Several Dorothy Day Guild pilgrims also joined a special event hosted by the Australian Cardijn Institute to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Pact of the Catacombs at the Domitilla Catacombs near Rome on Saturday 29 November 2025.

ACI secretary, Stefan Gigacz, explained the history of the Pact which originated with Helder Camara’s proposal for two masses for the poor and for workers and that participating bishops take a vow inspired by Cardijn’s own personal consecration of his life to young workers and the working class.

As a result, 39 bishops met to celebrate Mass at the Domitilla Catacombs on 16 November 1965 where they adopted a commitment to a church of the poor that has become known as the Pact of the Catacombs.

READ MORE

Pact of the Catacombs Memorial III (Australian Cardijn Institute)

Pepe and Amalia Palacio

Born on 25 October 1923, José Serapio “Pepe” Palacio co-founded the YCW in the Argentinian Diocese of Corboda together with (Blessed) Enrique Angelelli.

During the 1950s, Pepe was a member of the International YCW’s embryonic Executive Committee. Later, he became a trade union leader and a leader of the Christian Worker Movement.

In April 1975, he was appointed as the first lay collaborator of the IYCW. His first assignment was to take part in an IYCW Workers Meeting in Bogota, Colombia in September-October 1975.

Shortly after his return he was abducted from outside his office, becoming one of the many “desaparecidos” of that time. Twenty five years later, research by his son, José Luis, found that he was killed on 13 December 1975 as part of the Pinochet-led CIA-backed Operation Condor to eliminate labour and community leaders and activists in South America.

Let us also remember the living martyrdom of Pepe’s wife, Amalia, who was left alone to struggle and raise their three sons.

READ MORE

Pepe and Amalia Palacio (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)

Enrique Angelelli (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)

Bethlehem to your backyard: The radical humility of the Incarnation

In December 1223, Francis, disappointed by changes in his order and suffering from illness, traveled to Greccio after Pope Honorius III approved the Franciscan rule, feeling his vision of simplicity had become complicated, writes Richard Pütz.

In Greccio, Francis asked Giovanni Velita to prepare a simple cave scene with a manger and live animals. His biographer wrote that Francis wanted people to see, with their own eyes, Christ’s poverty at birth.

On Christmas Eve 1223, something extraordinary happened. People flocked to witness the simple scene during Christmas Mass, as fires lit the darkness as crowds arrived carrying candles and torches. Francis, who was a deacon, proclaimed the Gospel and preached. An eyewitness, Giovanni Velita himself, reported seeing a real infant appear in the manger, and Francis embracing the child.

READ MORE

From Bethlehem to Your Backyard: Living the Radical Humility of the Incarnation (Cardijn Reflections)

Friends

In this month’s news, the Laudato Si’ movement is meeting in Belém, Brazil this month for the COP30 meeting on climate action while the Catholic Labor Network is standing in solidarity with workers at Loyola Marymount University.

It’s also the USCCB Black Catholics History Month and we recall the seven Catholic leaders of African descent who are on the path to canonization.

The Vatican has just released a new video biography “Leo from Chicago” on the life of our new pope while Mary Kate Holman from Fairfield University has published a new book on the theology of the remarkable French Dominican Marie-Dominique Chenu.

This month we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Pact of the Catacombs for a Church in solidarity with the poor by forty Vatican II bishops as well as the anniversary of the Vatican II Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem, the first ever document by an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church on the role of lay people.

We also share Joseph Cardijn’s pioneering article on the Catholic parish as a centre of social action while Richard Pütz brings his usual insights into the emerging issue of artificial intelligence.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Laudato Si’ Movement at Belém for COP30

From the heart of the Amazon, the Laudato Si’ Movement is joining world leaders, faith communities, and climate advocates at COP30 in Belém, Brazil—a place where creation speaks powerfully of both beauty and urgency.

The movement organised several events during the event including a forum entitled Raising Hope: A Decade of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’ and the Paris Agreement on to reflect on the legacy of Laudato Si’, the Paris Agreement, and the path forward.

Pope Leo also sent a video message to the churches of the Global South warning that “creation is crying out in floods, droughts, storms and relentless heat.”

“As stewards of God’s creation, we are called to act swiftly, with faith and prophecy, to protect the gift He entrusted to us,” he said.

READ MORE

Laudato Si’ Movement at COP30

Catholic Labor Network calls for solidarity

The Catholic Labor Network is calling on faithful Catholics and allies to “stand with the non-tenure track faculty at Loyola Marymount University” and to resume negotiations with employees and recognize the union.

“We stand in solidarity with LMU’s faculty, with SEIU, and with all workers striving to exercise their God-given right to organize for the common good,” CLN says in a statement.

“We urge LMU’s President, Board of Trustees, and Jesuit leaders to return to the bargaining table in good faith—so that justice, dialogue, and Catholic identity may prevail.”

READ MORE AND SIGN THE PETITION

Petition: Stand with LMU Faculty for Faith and Justice

Sainthood path for Catholic leaders of African descent

This month is Black Catholic History Month and the USCCB is promoting a series of resources to make more widely known the stories of seven Catholics of African descent who are on the sainthood.

The six are Venerable Pierre Toussaint (1776-1853), Venerable Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange (1784-1882), Venerable Henriette Delille (1813-1862), Venerable Fr. Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), Servant of God Julia Greeley (1833 and 1848-1918), Servant of God Sr. Thea Bowman, FSPA (1937-1990) and Servant of God Friar Martin Maria de Porres Ward. Pictured above: Mary Elizabeth Lange, Harriet Delille, Pierre Toussaint.

READ MORE

The Saintly Seven (USCCB)

Renew with Vatican II: Cardinal Christophe Pierre

Calling the Second Vatican Council the “Map for the Journey Ahead,” Apostolic Nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre urged the U.S. bishops gathered in Baltimore for their Fall General Assembly to walk in a synodal spirit, in continuity with Vatican II, Where Peter Is reports.

Unlike many other councils in the Church’s history, the documents and vision of Vatican II were not meant primarily to address issues simply of the time in which the Council was called, Cardinal Pierre said.

Rather, “the vision of the Council was a vision for the future — a prophetic orientation toward a world that was only beginning to take shape,” since “many of the realities that the Council intuited had not yet manifested themselves in the life of the world or of the Church.”

READ MORE

Pierre Calls U.S. Bishops to Renew the Vision of Vatican II (Where Peter Is)

Leo from Chicago: The documentary

The Vatican Dicastery for Communication has produced this new documentary “Leo from Chicago,” including interviews with his brothers Louis and John Prevost, footage, and images that trace the history and explore the roots of Robert Francis Prevost.

A production by journalists Deborah Castellano Lubov, Salvatore Cernuzio, and Felipe Herrera-Espaliat.

60th Anniversary of the Pact of the Catacombs

This year we will again celebrate a special commemorative Mass at the Domitilla Catacombs on Saturday 29 November 2025 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Pact of the Catacombs.

For more information, please contact Stefan Gigacz: aci@australiancardijninstitute.org

MORE DETAILS

60th Anniversary Mass

Book: Marie-Dominique Chenu’s theology for a changing world

French Dominican theologian, Marie-Dominique Chenu, was a great admirer and close collaborator of Cardijn and the YCW for many years. Mary Kate Holman’s new book Marie-Dominique Chenu demonstrates how this once condemned theologian influenced the major shifts of twentieth-century Catholicism and reveals the relevance of his thought for contemporary theology.

Drawing upon extensive new archival research, Mary Kate Holman provides a captivating account of Chenu’s life and how his theology contributed to the church’s opening to the modern world, shaped the next generation of theologians and remains relevant to twenty-first century ecclesiology.

BUY THE BOOK

Mary Kate Holman, Catholic Theology for a Changing World (Notre Dame Press)

Finding Our Way: Faith and Action in the Digital Age

Here’s what stands out most about Thomas Merton, writes Richard Pütz. Back in the 1960s, he wrote something that could have been written yesterday in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander.

“Making great progress is pointless if we don’t learn to live with it... our technology becomes just a costly, complex path to cultural breakdown.”

Think about this for a moment. He saw it coming—this world where we have smartphones that can do everything except help us genuinely connect with each other.

And Joseph Cardijn also understood something important. Speaking about the industrial revolution of his time, he said:

“When we remember that humans have existed for 10,000 years, the modern working class appears relatively new. This revolution is crucial from social, religious, and human perspectives.”

He was talking about factories then. We’re talking about artificial intelligence now. But the question remains the same: What happens to human dignity when everything becomes automated?

READ MORE

Richard Pütz, Finding Our Way: Faith and Action in the Digital Age (Cardijn Reflections)

Reading: The parish as a centre of social action

One hundred years ago in August 1925, Cardijn published one of his most seminal articles entitled “The YCW in the parish.”

In this remarkable article, he presents his vision of the parish as a centre of formation for social and community action.

READ MORE

Joseph Cardijn, The YCW and the parish (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)

News briefs and social media

Notre Dame honors theological legacy of Gustavo Gutierrez

Celebrating the launch of a 50-year digital archive of Gutiérrez’s theological conferences and the posthumous publication of his book, Vivir y pensar el Dios de los pobres.

READ MORE

https://www.library.nd.edu/event/reasons-for-our-hope-legacy-of-gustavo-gutirrez/

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Friends,

Welcome to our October newsletter.

This month we have a big focus on Pope Leo, who published his first major document, Dilexi Te, earlier this month. We share Matthew Shadle’s introduction to this important document.

We also feature a report on the pope’s meeting with Chicago labor leaders (photo above) plus a new article by Justin McLellan in National Catholic Reporter, who travelled to Chulucanas in Peru, where the future pontiff began his ministry some forty years ago.

In Rome, Leo gave a remarkable to popular movements from around the world that met at the Vatican this week while L’Osservatore Romano has published extracts from the late Pope Francis’ introduction to liberation theologian, Gustavo Gutierrez’s final book.

On a historical note, this month marks the centenary of the publication of Cardijn’s landmark YCW Manual, which first appeared in 1925, transforming the Church’s methods of community organizing.

Richard Pütz reflects on the revolution launched by Jesus’ with his Beatitudes while Pat Branson offers his usual biblical insights.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Pope Leo thanks Chicago labor leaders

Pope Leo met with a delegation of labor leaders from Chicago on October 9, 2025. In his address, he thanked them for their collaboration with the Church.

“It is encouraging to hear of the strides that you have made in broadening the participation and inclusion of minorities in the labor movement through apprenticeships and training,” Pope Leo said.

“At the same time, your commitment to the protection of the environment by teaching the skills needed for the development of renewable energies is not only commendable but also timely, given the urgency of the need to care for our common home.

“Above all, please know of my appreciation for your welcome of immigrants and refugees, especially your support of food pantries and shelters,” he added.

READ MORE

Pope Leo, Address to labor leaders from Chicago (Vatican)

Michael Sean Winters, Pope Leo’s support for organized labor should inspire Catholic institutions (America Magazine)

Popular movements meet in Rome

The Fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements took place in Rome from October 21-24. Addressing the meeting, Pope Leo noted that “today, exclusion is the new face of social injustice.”

“The gap between a ‘small minority’—1% of the population—and the vast majority has widened considerably. This exclusion is a ‘novelty’ that Pope Francis has denounced as a ‘throwaway culture,’ vehemently stating: ‘The excluded are not “exploited,” but waste, “leftovers.”’

“Once again, we are faced with an ethical vacuum into which evil easily insinuates itself,” Pope Leo warned. “This is why popular movements, as well as people of good will, Christians, believers and governments, are urgently called to fill this void, establishing processes of justice and solidarity that spread throughout society.”

READ MORE

Popular movements combat exclusion: Leo

Discurso del Papa León XIV a los participantes en el Encuentro Mundial de Movimientos Populares (Vatican)

Encuentro Mundial Movimientos Populares -Tierra Techo Trabajo (Facebook)

Introducing Dilexi Te

With great anticipation, on October 9, Pope Leo XIV released the first major teaching document of his papacy, the apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, writes Matthew Shadle at Window Light. The document focuses on love for the poor or, to use a term introduced more recently, the “preferential option for the poor” (#90).

The document adopts the same “see-judge-act” structure used by Pope Francis in several of his documents, beginning with a survey of the challenge to be addressed, continuing with an outline of relevant scriptural and theological themes, and ending with an exhortation to action.

READ MORE

Pope Leo, Dilexi Te (Vatican)

A (Synodal) Church which is Poor and for the Poor (Window Light)

Love for the Poor and the Church’s Great Tradition (Window Light)

Robert Prevost in Peru

Long before he was the successor of St. Peter, Pope Leo XIV had a different name to the faithful of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chulucanas, writes Justin McLellan in National Catholic Reporter.

“We called him Father Robertito, because we were very close to him,” Elena Lozada Seminario told the National Catholic Reporter. “He was always visiting the communities, going to the countryside. People loved him because he was so simple, so humble.”

As a young missionary and priest of only three years, Prevost was sent to Chulucanas where he spent just one year. The pastoral model he encountered — rooted in synodal governance, lay leadership and social mission — shaped his later ministry in Trujillo and, decades later, guided his approach as bishop of Chiclayo.

READ MORE

Prevost’s Peru was a Vatican II laboratory of church renewal (National Catholic Reporter)

Theology: Gutierrez “shaped the life of the Church”: Pope Francis

L’Osservatore Romano has published excerpts from Pope Francis’s preface to the book “Living and Thinking the God of the Poor,” the final work by Gustavo Gutiérrez, published posthumously and edited by Leo Guardado of Fordham University.

“Gustavo Gutiérrez, throughout his long life, was a faithful servant of God and a friend of the poor,” Pope Francis wrote. “His theology shaped the life of the Church and remains relevant today, with a freshness that opens new paths for following Jesus.”

“Upon his death, I said: ‘Today I think of Gustavo, Gustavo Gutiérrez. A great man, a man of the Church who knew how to remain silent when necessary, who knew how to suffer when necessary, and who knew how to bear so much apostolic fruit and such a rich theology.’

READ MORE

Prefacio inédito de Francisco al libro de Gutiérrez: “Dios no olvida al más pequeño” (Vatican News)

Centenary: The 1925 YCW Manual

This month marks the centenary of the first edition of the YCW Manual (Manuel de la JOC), originally drafted by Cardijn and published in October 1925.

This manual together with the “definitive” 1930 second edition kindled the flame for the YCW’s rapid expansion around the world. Indeed, amazingly, the YCW already existed in fifty countries by the time World War II broke out in September 1939.

The Joseph Cardijn Digital Library has now published new online editions of these two classic YCW Manuals in the original French. But you can simply right click in Chrome browser to read the manuals in English.

READ THE MANUALS

Manuel de la JOC 1925

Manuel de la JOC 1930

Reflection: The Revolution Jesus preached

Let’s start with a question that has haunted contemplatives and activists for two thousand years, writes Richard Pütz:

What if we actually lived the Sermon on the Mount? Not just studied it. Admired it from a safe distance. Or turned it into comforting spiritual quotes for social media.

But lived it — in our workplaces, neighborhoods, political choices, and daily encounters with power and poverty, with courage and determination.

READ MORE

The Revolution Jesus Preached: Living the Sermon on the Mount Today (Cardijn Reflections)

Gospel: Anxious? Or eager?

I found myself wondering about Cardijn’s image of Jesus, writes Pat Branson. A quick search of his book Laypeople into Action produced a number of references to Jesus and this one struck me as being particularly significant in the context of this Gospel Enquiry:

“The actions of the young workers should be thought of as the personal acts of a son of God and a brother of Jesus Christ, through body and spirit, for the service of God and the human community.”

The secular character of European society was met by the foundation of the Young Christian Workers Movement. Yet secularism was a dominant force in the time of Jesus and it still holds sway in the 21st century.

READ MORE

Anxious? Or Eager? (Cardijn Reflections)

News brief

Dorothy Day Symposium

Read more: https://www.dorothydayguild.org/rome2025

Cardijn Associates USA

Contact
Email: cardijnassociates@gmail.com

Dear friends,

This month we mourn the ongoing violence that has taken the lives of Charlie Kirk and Minnesota Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and so many others.

In a climate of increasing political polarisation, perhaps it’s helpful to recall Cardijn’s insight that genuine dialogue can help transform hate into love.

In this light, Richard Pütz has a vital reflection on the need for a Christian response to the rise of “Christian Nationalism.”

Fr. Ty Hullinger reflects on Jesus’ message opposing oppression and hate at the Freedom Church of the Poor.

We also share an appeal from the Catholic Labor Network - its first ever fundraising appeal - which aims to increase its capacity to respond to wage theft and other issues.

This month we also remember the YCW and YCS martyrs under Nazism who will be beatified at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on December 13.

We also have the story of Cardijn’s contribution to the canonisation process of the new saint Pier Giorgio Frassati, a student leader who attended the foundation conference of the Pax Romana movement and who was actively resisted the rise of fascism in Italy.

He was canonized by Pope Leo together with Carlo Acutis, an even more recent saint of the digital age. Let’s remember St. Pier Giorgio and St. Carlo alongside Blessed Maria Guggiari Echeverria from Paraguay and the French martyr Blessed Marcel Callo, both YCW leaders.

Communities of Faith Organizing for Action leaders reflect on the need to revive social action.

Similarly, Trinidad and Tobago catechist, Bernadette Gopaul-Ramkhalawan, emphasises the need to integrate mission into our lives via the see-judge-act.

Finally, Bill Murphy remembers the great Chicago Cardijn priest, Msgr. Jack Egan.

Thanks again for your ongoing support.

The Cardijn Associates Team

A Labor of Love

Alex is a concrete worker in Nashville. Five years ago, Alex and his crew poured long days into laying concrete at a local public school and a university campus. But when the job was done, they did not receive the pay they were owed, the Catholic Labor Network reports.

When the Catholic Labor Network learned that Alex was Catholic and active in his parish, they stepped in. We connected him with his pastor, who joined with others to publicly support Alex when he confronted the school board and contractors. Sadly, even with broad support, Alex was never paid in full.

Stories like Alex’s are not rare. Wage theft is one of the most common forms of worker exploitation in our country. It robs workers and families of their paychecks, steals their time, and violates their God-given dignity.

In order to increase its capacity to respond, the Catholic Labor Network is launching its first-ever fundraising campaign: A Labor of Love.

SUPPORT HERE

Will You Stand Up Against Wage Theft? (Catholic Labor Network)

Christian Nationalism is idolatry

The rise of Christian nationalism in America presents one of the most urgent spiritual crises facing the Catholic Church today, writes Richard Pütz. Yet many Catholics—including some bishops and priests—have embraced this ideology without recognizing its fundamental incompatibility with the Gospel message.

When Satan offered Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world" in exchange for worship, Christ's response was unequivocal: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve" (Matthew 4:5-8). This temptation scene reveals the eternal danger of conflating divine authority with earthly power—the very foundation of Christian nationalism.

READ MORE

Christian Nationalism is Idolatry: A Catholic Perspective (Cardijn Reflections)

Prayers for the people: Father Ty Hullinger, United Workers

Fr. Ty Hullinger reflects on Jesus’ Jubilee message at the Freedom Church of the Poor: “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

"Characterized by biblical stories and historical and contemporary examples in which every need is supplied, such as the garden of Eden, manna in the wilderness, the practice of jubilee, and the early Christian communities, this theme describes the anti-poverty programs that run throughout the Bible.

The season of “Jubilee” parallels Pentecost, when God’s Spirit was poured out on a multiracial movement of Jesus followers, as well as the season just after, often known as Ordinary time. These biblical narratives provide not just our moral justification that everybody has a right to live, but also how that reality can be achieved, which ought to be ordinary in our lives and world.

YCW and YCS martyrs to be beatified at Notre Dame

The Diocese of Paris has announced that 50 martyrs of the faith including more than twenty YCW and YCS leaders will be beatified at Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris on 13 December 2025.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg who was also a YCW and YCS chaplain as a young priest will preside over the ceremony.

Their names include Raymond Cayré, Gérard-Martin Cendrier, Roger Vallée, Jean Mestre… These priests, seminarians, scouts or lay faithful, many of whom came from the Young Christian Workers (JOC), died for the most part in concentration camps where they had been sent because of their apostolate, an activity prohibited by the Hitler regime, reports note.

READ MORE

YCW & YCS martyrs beatified at Notre Dame

Who are France’s new WWII martyrs? (Pillar Catholic)

St Pier Giorgio, founding member of Pax Romana

As a corresponding member of Pax Romana, the movement of Catholic students, intellectuals and professionals, to which St Pier Giorgio Frassati once belonged, the Australian Cardijn Institute welcomes his canonisation by Pope Leo XIV on Sunday 7 September 2025 alongside St Carlo Acutis..

Pier Giorgio is known for his charitable work, his commitment to social reform and his intense prayer life.

“Charity is not enough; we need social reform,” he often used to say.

While a student of engineering in Turin, Pier Giorgio attended the inaugural conference in Fribourg, Switzerland at which Pax Romana was founded in 1921.

READ MORE

St Pier Giorgio, founding member of Pax Romana

Cardijn and Pier Giorgio Frassati

Cardijn was an early supporter of Pier Giorgio Frassati’s cause for beatification and eventual canonisation, writes Stefan Gigacz. On 24 January 1938, he wrote personally to his friend Pope Pius XI supporting the introduction of Pier Giorgio’s cause at the Holy See.

Perhaps that letter may also be found in the Vatican Archives but at this point we do not have a copy.

What we do have is the text of the response from the Secretary of State, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, soon to become Pope Pius XII.

READ MORE

Pier Giorgio Frassati and Cardijn (Cardijn Research)

Integrating mission in our lives

Mission is what our Christian life is about. Christians are missionaries in the world, writes Bernadette Gopaul-Ramkhalawan at Catholic Trinidad and Tobago.

“Christians are at the service of the world. Mission is not an event one does now and then. It is an integral part of everyday life,” she notes.

“Mission is about service that elevates the life of others. There are human needs all around us and so we must educate ourselves on the model that the Church uses to guide us in our missionary work.

“We need to learn the ‘See, Judge, Act’ method so that we can integrate mission in our lives.”

READ MORE

Integrating mission in our lives (See Judge Act)

Reviving bottom-up social action

In El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, Communities of Faith Organizing for Action (COFOA) unites people from 162 communities to organize for access to water, electricity, schools, healthcare, and land rights. Inspired by Catholic teaching, COFOA’s organizing is a direct legacy of See, Judge, Act.

Nevertheless, the work is challenging. “It has not been easy to revive Saint Romero’s legacy and find clergy willing to risk promoting social action,” write Gordon Whitman and Joseph Fleming. “Still, organizing has become profoundly counter-cultural within the Church and society,” they observe.

“Reviving that tradition of bottom-up social action will require more than moral statements,” they explain. “It demands investment from bishops, dioceses, and religious orders in lay formation, grassroots leadership development, fundraising, and social analysis rooted in Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching.

READ MORE

Reviving bottom-up social action (See Judge Act)

History: Remembering Msgr Jack Egan of Chicago

Msgr. Jack Egan was one of the many creative and zealous priests who were formed at Mundelein Seminary under its eight-year golden age under the rectorship of Reynold Hillenbrand (1936-44), writes Bill Murphy at Better Politics.

He was “another example of a Chicago priest who exemplified the vision of the Second Vatican Council,” Murphy continues. “This model understood the Church as an agent of justice and human dignity, working in solidarity with our fellow citizens, thereby manifesting the Church as an efficacious sign and instrument of unity between the human family and with God (Lumen Gentium: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 1).”

READ MORE

Remembering Msgr. Jack Egan (1916-2001) (Better Politics)

News briefs and social media

Cardijn Associates USA

Contact
Email: cardijnassociates@gmail.com

The cry of creation

Dear Friends,

We begin this month with Pope Leo's important message to French scouts inviting them to listen to the "cry of creation" of the environmental crisis the world is facing. As we saw last month, "creation" was also a central theme in Cardijn's own theology.

We carry a report on a significant meeting in Washington DC on Church-labor issues chaired by former International YCW chaplain, Bishop Reginaldo Andrietta, who also worked in Baltimore MD to extend the movement in the US.

National Catholic Reporter writer, Michael Sean Winters, asks whether it's time for a revival of "Catholic Action," or as Cardijn may have preferred to express it, a revival of the lay apostolate of lay people.

Fr Bruce Duncan CSsR continues his analysis of Pope Francis' legacy on economic issues. Speaking of economics, we have the video of our webinar with Dallas Catholic Social Teaching specialist, John Médaille, looking at the threat of economic collapse and the potential for a Catholic-inspired response.

Another Catholic Social Doctrine specialist, Bill Murphy from Chicago, tells the story of Rev. Reynold Hillenbrand, a key figure in the renewal of the liturgy as well as long time national chaplain to the US Young Christian Workers.

We share a review by Claudio Remeseira of Mark Massa SJ’s timely new book, Catholic Fundamentalism in America.

As usual, Pat Branson and Richard Pütz have their own Cardijn-inspired reflections.

We also have social media posts from recently ordained Paulian Father Chris Malano, who took part in the Jubilee of Youth in Rome in July.

Finally, congratulations to Rudy Dehaney on his recent appointment as a campus minister at the University of Notre Dame, Baltimore.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Pope Leo: Listen to the cry of creation

"Today, we are invited to listen attentively to the cry of creation,” Pope Leo wrote in a message to a Scouts and Guides jamboree at Jambville, France. “This urgency is imposed on all humankind, to whom God has entrusted his work.

“Our conscience is strongly challenged by the increasingly serious environmental devastation that is occurring. Faced with pollution and climate change, the loss of biodiversity, the deterioration of life and social degradation, global inequalities, the lack of drinking water and access to energy for many populations, an ecological education is essential for all to reverse the order of things."

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Listen to the cry of creation: Leo

Historic meeting strengthens cooperation between labor and Church

A historic meeting advanced the cooperation agenda between organized labor groups and ecclesial networks on dignified work and care for our common home at the Third Synodal Meeting Fratelli Tutti: North-South Socio-Environmental Dialogue at the headquarters of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Washington, DC on July 28 and 29.

The meeting was led by former International YCW chaplain and YCW extension in Baltimore, MD, Bishop of Jales (Brazil) Reginaldo Andrietta representing the South, Bishop of Brownsville (United States) Daniel Flores representing the North, and Nuncio Juan Antonio Cruz, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Organization of American States.

The meeting served to "exchange diverse perspectives among different social actors in the world of organized labor," according to Peruvian Ana Facho Ortiz of the Young Christian Workers of America.

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Synodal meeting in US strengthens cooperation between labor groups and Church (Vatican News)

Prospective: Reviving Catholic Action?

In 2015, American priest, Fr Bruce Nieli issued "a call to retrieve and renew Catholic Action in our time and examine some of the theoretical issues that could help achieve a revival," writes Michael Sean Winters in a three-part series in the US National Catholic Reporter.

"As Nieli notes, the movement started in the late 19th century to combat rampant anti-clericalism, but in the 20th century, it took on a different trajectory. Catholic Action became the effort of Catholic laity, working with the hierarchy and local clergy, to bring Catholic social teaching into the public square. It involved everything from community organizing along the lines of the Back of the Yards Council in Chicago to the Legion of Mary to Cursillo and to the Young Trade Unionists.

"Catholic Action, as Nieli wrote, laid some of the groundwork for the emphasis on the role of the laity that emerged at the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, but there has been "a subsequent lull" since then.

"This is counterintuitive. If the council called for increased lay participation, why did Catholic Action not grow?

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Looking for better ways to evangelize than posting on social media (National Catholic Reporter)

To revive the Catholic Action movement, don't leave dogma at the door (National Catholic Reporter)

Where to start in reviving Catholic Action (National Catholic Reporter)

Retrospective: The legacy of Pope Francis Part II: Signs of hope

In an address to the president of the UN General Assembly and finance ministers of various nations on 27 May 2019, Pope Francis again warned that the world was heading “towards disaster” from greenhouse gases, writes Fr. Bruce Duncan CSsR in the second instalment of his reflection on the legacy of the late pontiff.

He blamed “the idolatry of money, along with the corruption of vested interests. We still reckon as profit what threatens our very survival”. On 9 June, he again lamented the slow progress to achieve the SDGs. A few days later, on 14 June, he appealed to executives from leading energy companies to help avert “a climate emergency”, and said carbon pricing was “essential”.

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The legacy of Pope Francis in an unjust world: Part 2 (Cardijn Reflections)

History: Remembering Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand

Rev. Reynold Hillenbrand (1904-1979), helped make especially the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and—to differing extents over time Mundelein seminary—a locus of liturgical renewal and social Catholicism in the United States during the decades leading up to and immediately following the Second Vatican Council, writes Bill Murphy.

Hillenbrand’s foresight, Bill continues, was greatly aided by his participation in the movements growing out of the work of Joseph Cardinal Cardijn, including the Young ChristianWorkers (YCW), which employed Cardijn’s see-judge-act model of social engagement.

As opposed to railing against the evils of liberalism from a comfortable perch in academia as some Catholics have done, those like Hillenbrand who instead followed the social Catholic path of Christian humanism and solidarity in the struggle for human dignity learned thereby to love their neighbors by participating in the modern world of constitutional democratic states as Catholic Social Doctrine teaches.

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Remembering Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand (Better Politics)

Video: Economic collapse or cooperation?

Catholic Social Teaching specialist John Médaille presented our August webinar co-hosted with the Australian Cardijn Institute on 8 August 2025.

The subject was “Economic collapse or cooperation?”

“I begin by making an assertion that the American economy has been in a state of near collapse since 2008 and has been sustained, that is, collapse avoided, only thru vast injections of government money into the economy,” John Médaille began.

Concluding, he suggested that any practical reform will have to have four

goals in mind:

1. Re-moralize the markets;

2. Re-localize the economy;

3. Re-capitalize the poor and middle class;

4. Re-center the economy around the family and the community.

READ JOHN’S PAPER

John Médaille, ACI Webinar Presentation August 2025

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Book Review: Catholic Fundamentalism in America by Mark S. Massa, S.J.

Fundamentalism has historically been associated with the Evangelical tradition in the US, writes Claudio Remeseira. Its classic historical reconstruction is George Mardsen’s Fundamentalism and American Culture, first published in 1980. According to Mardsen, Protestant Fundamentalism was born in the aftermath of the first World War, driven by militant opposition to the modern world — against both the theological current known as Modernism and the secular changes taking place at that time in the wider culture.

The most notorious target of this movement was Darwin’s theory of evolution. Early Fundamentalists were influenced by the revivalist establishment of the 19^th century and other related traditions, like pietism, the holiness movements, and millenarianism, among others.

Mark Massa’s book is the first major work to apply the concept of Fundamentalism to Catholicism. Massa defines Fundamentalism in general as the “far-right wing of believers who want to break away from mainstream churches and form a purer, smaller, self-selective group.” These are basically sectarian traits. In fact, what sets Fundamentalists apart from traditional Christian conservatives, Protestant and Catholic alike, is their sectarianism, which is often fueled by an apocalyptic rhetoric.

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The Catholic Puritans: Catholic Fundamentalism in America (Where Peter Is)

Hiroshima: "Give me leaders and I will raise the world"

In Hiroshima last week, writes Richard Pütz, urgent peace delegations that include students, faculty, and staff from colleges and universities are gathering. Bishops from South Korea, Japan, and the United States are issuing a joint proposal on nuclear weapons, emphasizing the pressing need for their abolition. Cardinal McElroy: "Nuclear weapons must be abolished from the face of the earth."

Thomas Merton's writings, especially "The Root of War is Fear," give us, as members of JOC, the chance to broaden our education, not just academically, but also to friends and neighbors who sit with us in a pew, live in our neighborhoods, and struggle to pay their bills.

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"Give me leaders and I will raise the world" (Cardijn Reflections)

Gospel: When God goes fishing…

The Church has been celebrating the Jubilee of Youth, writes Pat Branson. Recently, Pope Leo XIV addressed a gathering of French scouts and guides. He said, “You are young, you are full of ideas and enthusiasm. You want to conquer the world not to subdue it, but to serve the life that comes from God,”

As I reflected on the message of hope and the challenge, Pope Leo gave to his young audience, I was prompted to revisit Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, which he addressed to “every person living on this planet” (#3), and through which he attempted to “enter into dialogue with all people about our common home”.

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When God goes fishing… (Cardijn Reflections)

News briefs and social media

Youth Jubilee in Rome