Cardijn Associates USA

April 2026

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:20:02 GMT

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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

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March 2026

Stefan Gigacz — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 16:15:01 GMT

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Cardijn Associates USA

Contact
Email: cardijnassociates@gmail.com

February 2026

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:09:24 GMT

Friends

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.

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.”

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.”

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.

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.

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).

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.

Jesus tempted in the wilderness (Cardijn Reflections)

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January 2026

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 14:31:04 GMT

Friends

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.

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.”

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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December 2025

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 13:03:21 GMT

Friends

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.

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.

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).

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

November 2025

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 15:13:48 GMT

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.

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.”

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.

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.”

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?

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.

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.

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

Cardijn Associates USA

Contact
Email: cardijnassociates@gmail.com

October 2025

Stefan Gigacz — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 13:01:49 GMT

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.’

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.

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.

Anxious? Or Eager? (Cardijn Reflections)

News brief

Dorothy Day Symposium

Cardijn Associates USA

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September 2025

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 11:40:16 GMT

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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).”

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

News briefs and social media

Cardijn Associates USA

Contact
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August 2025

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 11:28:53 GMT

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."

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.

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?

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”.

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.

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.

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.

"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”.

When God goes fishing… (Cardijn Reflections)

News briefs and social media

Youth Jubilee in Rome

Webinar: Economic collapse or cooperation?

Sat, 26 Jul 2025 15:09:55 GMT

Friends,

“The time has come to think the unthinkable—the collapse of the American
political and economic systems,” writes American economist and Catholic Social Teaching specialist, John Médaille, presenter for a special webinar we are hosting in partnership with the Australian Cardijn Institute at 7pm CDT on Friday 8 August 2025.

“The world along with us, from Beijing to Boston, from New York to Moscow, the facade of prosperity and stability is falling apart, to reveal the rotten timbers they have been holding up the structure, but can no longer hold,” he warns.

“The truth I think is this: that economic order is built upon the natural order, and the natural order is built upon natural law or the moral order. And to depart from the moral order leads us to corrupt the natural order and destroy economic order.

“If we are to rebuild the world, I believe we must begin by reconnecting the ethical, economic, and political orders,” Médaille argues.

“The great problem with capitalism is that it tends to concentrate that which it should spread,” he suggests.

The solution, John Médaille explains, therefore lies in the direction of distributism, the economic and political philosophy that proposes an alternative to both capitalism and socialism by advocating for the widespread ownership of the means of production.

Worker co-operatives such as those at Mondragon in Spain and in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region offer practical examples of pathways to the future, he suggests.

Join us on Friday 8 August to discuss these problems and possibilities with John.

Read John’s latest article

John Médaille, Distributism and the Continuing Crash, or, How to Rebuild the World

Webinar details

Friday 8 August, 7pm CDT US time (Saturday 9 August, 10am Sydney Australian time)

Register now

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/l0vEbd9JSIqn0WHaiIOi2w

Our speaker: John Médaille

John Médaille

Books

Toward a Truly Free Market: A Distributist Perspective on the Role of Government, Taxes, Health Care, Deficits, and More

The Vocation of Business: Social Justice in the Marketplace

Lectures on Catholic Social Teaching

https://www.youtube.com/@johnmedaille2461/videos

July 2025

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:36:00 GMT

Burning issues for today

Dear Friends,

This month we begin with Pope Leo’s homily at the Vatican last week introducing the newly-approved liturgy of the Mass for the Care of Creation.

We also share news of a Catholic Social Forum, a major initiative that will take place at Manhattan University, New York, next Sunday. Co-organized by a number of Catholic lay movements and organisations, it promises to be a significant event in the life of the US Church.

In a similar vein in this issue, Fr Bruce Duncan reflects on the legacy of Pope Francis while Richard Pütz notes the ongoing relevance of the historic encyclical Rerum Novarum.

We also share a recent article on Cardijn’s “incarnational faith” by Chicago Catholic Social Teaching specialist, Bill Murphy.

Sr Nathalie Becquart xmcj introduces a new Vatican document that aims to help Catholic parishes and groups to implement synodality from the grassroots.

International YCS secretary-general, Roshan Lobo, introduces us to Jean Préhu, a French YCS leader whose death during World War II, along with that of many other YCW and YCS leaders, has been recognised by Pope Leo as martyrdom.

Pat Branson shares his latest Gospel enquiry.

Finally, we hope you enjoy the new format of our newsletter, which is now produced on the Substack platform.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Leo launches Care of Creation Mass

“On this beautiful day, I would begin by asking everyone, including myself, to take stock of what we are celebrating here amid the beauty of what might be called a ‘cathedral’ of nature, with so many plants and elements of creation that have brought us together to celebrate the Eucharist, which means to give thanks to the Lord,” Pope Leo said in his homily on Wednesday 9 July.

“This may well be the first celebration to use the new prayers of the Mass for the Care of Creation, which is the fruit of the work of several Dicasteries of the Holy See,” he continued.

“At the beginning of Mass, we prayed for conversion, our own conversion. I would like to add that we should pray for the conversion of the many people, inside and outside the Church, who do not yet recognize the urgent need to care for our common home.

The many natural disasters we see occurring almost daily in our world, in so many places and countries, are also in part a result of the excesses of human beings and our lifestyles. We need to ask whether we ourselves are undergoing that conversion. How much we need it!

Pope Leo XIV, Holy Mass for the Care of Creation (Vatican)

The legacy of Pope Francis

Pope Francis endeavoured not just to evaluate the burning global issues; he strove to mobilise decisive action to transform our world to improve living standards and well-being for everyone, writes Fr Bruce Duncan CSsR. He spoke as a voice from the Third World, challenging the conscience of the richer countries.

Francis was propelled onto the global stage in 2013 to revitalise the Catholic Church and to renew its mission to bring the good news of God’s solidarity with everyone, especially the poor and distressed.

He insisted that the Church must engage more closely with the great issues of our time, joining others in earnest conversation about our human future on this fragile planet, and developing networks of collaboration not just with other Christians, but also with followers of other world religions or philosophical traditions, and indeed with all people of good will.

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

Catholic Social Forum - New York, July 20, 2025

Catholic youth movements, NGOs and Church leaders will hold the Catholic Social Forum (CSF) 2025 at Manhattan University, New York from 2.00-7.00pm on EST on Sunday July 20, 2025.

It will be a hybrid event addressing themes including:

Global Governance
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Catholic Social Teaching (CST)

Highlights include:

Role of Catholic NGOs/CSOs at the UN
10th Anniversary of the UN 2030 Agenda and Laudato Si’
Pope Francis’ prophetic visit to the UN in 2015

Join online or onsite

Joseph Cardijn's incarnational faith

As the Second Vatican Council and many other sources affirm, a living faith—that is, one informed by charity—labours to be salt and light (Mt 5:13-16) in the world, to inform the world with the spirit of the Gospel (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity), and to bear the fruit of charity for the life of the world (Decree on Priestly Training), writes American Catholic Social Doctrine specialist, Bill Murphy.

Authentic Catholicism is an incarnational faith, one that continues to make present in the world the saving love of God in Christ. In my opinion, the failure to do so explains to a significant extent the loss of faith in the contemporary world, and the desperate situation in the world.

Joseph Cardinal Cardijn (1882-1967) (Better Politics)

Document: Synodality is Vatican II in a nutshell

The Synod General Secretariat in Rome has published a new document offering guidance for the next stage of the synodal journey.

Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod aims to foster dialogue between local Churches and the General Secretariat, and to promote the exchange of synodal experiences among the Churches, Vatican News reports.

"Synodality is the Second Vatican Council in a nutshell," said Synod under-secretary, Sr Nathalie Becquart xmcj, quoting Australian theologian Ormond Rush.

Synodality is Vatican II in a nutshell

Jean Préhu, French YCS leader and martyr

Jean Préhu, born on March 27, 1920, in Laval, France, was a devoted Scout and an active member of the Jeunesse Étudiante Chrétienne (Young Christian Students – JEC). From an early age, he was formed in a spirit of faith, solidarity, and service. These values would later shape his courageous resistance to the Nazi regime, ultimately leading to his martyrdom.

Jean Préhu died on April 27, 1945, during the strafing of the infamous “death train” headed to Dachau. In 1983, he was officially recognized as a déporté résistant (resistance deportee) by the French government.

In 2024, the Vatican formally included Jean Préhu among the group of 50 French Catholic martyrs whose beatification cause is underway, recognizing them as victims of hatred of the faith (odium fidei). Préhu’s unwavering commitment to faith and justice remains a profound witness for today’s world.

Jean Préhu: A Scout, Young Christian Student, and Martyr on the Path to Beatification (International YCS)

Reflection: Have you read Rerum Novarum?

Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum (1891), a deep examination of economic and social issues, still resonates with the complexities of today's world, writes Richard Pütz. Its main ideas on economic fairness, workers' rights, and government roles remain just as important now as they were in the past, grounding us in a strong historical tradition.

Human dignity takes precedence over profit or ideological extremes in Rerum Novarum, which addresses contemporary issues like wage disparities, job security, and the moral dilemmas associated with capitalism. Novarum Rerum Overview emphasizes that the emphasis on fair wages and the dignity of labor directly relates to current debates over workers' rights, income inequality, and living wages.

Rerum Novarum's unwavering support for collective bargaining and trade union formation is a beacon of hope for labor movements worldwide.

More than a century later, have you read Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum? (Cardijn Reflections)

Gospel: Doubt no longer but believe

I found myself wondering if Cardinal Joseph Cardijn ever wrote about the place of doubt in the faith life of the young worker. This is what I found:

…each leader must develop a personal sense of faith. Each one must believe in his or her vocation in such a way that they can never doubt it, whatever anyone else thinks or says. Each one must have a firm and steadfast faith in the divinity of Our Lord and in His call and His support. When He calls, there is nothing more to fear. As long as the Apostles doubted, they kept falling but as soon as they believed, they went to prison, torture, and death. They had the strength of Christ through faith in Christ. (From Lecture III: “The Mystery of Vocation”. In The Young Worker Faces Life, the 1949 Godinne Lecture Series delivered by Fr Joseph Cardijn, founder of the Young Christian Workers Movement (YCW)

Cardijn links faith and doubt and encourages the young leaders in YCW to develop a “firm and steadfast faith.”

“Doubt no longer but believe.” (Cardijn Reflections)

News briefs and social media

CFM introduces 2025-26 program

World War II martyrs of the YCW and YCS

Editorial Note: The purpose of the Cardijn Associates USA Newsletter is to share information and promote discussion. Citing or linking to articles does not imply any endorsement by Cardijn Associates of the authors' views.

June 2025

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:35:04 GMT

A new Social Gospel?

Dear Friends,

In this month's newsletter, we feature one of Pope Leo's first major talks to the lay movements whom he met for the first time in Rome on 6 June. While there, several movements also took the opportunity to consult with Sr Nathalie Becquart xmcj and other Synod officials as the implementation phase of the Synod on Synodality begins.

As the YCW Centenary continues, we present a talk given by Belgian Bishop Jean-Pierre Delville on Cardijn and the social conscience of young people while Stefan Gigacz recalls Cardijn's insistence on recording the "Golden Legend" of the movement from its beginnings in the parish of Notre Dame at Laeken in 1912.

We also have an important article by Professor Christine Littlefield contrasting the Social Gospel and Christian nationalist movements of the 19th century while Margaret Steinfels explains the Chicago background - including Specialized Catholic Action - that provided the backdrop for Pope Leo's youth.

Newly ordained, Fr Chris Malano csp, has kindly shared one of his first homilies preached on Trinity Sunday.

From the Black Catholic Messenger, we have a reminder of this year's Juneteenth events.

And we conclude with the Pat Branson and Richard Pütz's usual insightful reflections plus several social media posts from the various movements.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Vatican II emphasised lay apostolate: Pope Leo

Vatican II and particularly the decree Apostolicam Actuositatem strongly encouraged the lay apostolate and apostolic associations, Pope Leo told leaders of Catholic international movements and organisations on 6 June 2025.

He was addressing moderators of Associations of the faithful, ecclesial movements and new communities who travelled to Rome for the Jubilee.

Vatican II emphasised lay apostolate: Pope Leo

Analysis: Christian Nationalism or Social Gospel

Similar to today, the late 19th century was a time where a small group of men enjoyed immense wealth, privilege and power to shape the nation, writes Christine Littlefield. It was a time of immense inequality, as factory and housing conditions crushed the lives of the poor.

And it was a time of white Christian nationalism.

In northern cities, reformers saw the wealth gap, the plight of workers and the squalid conditions in tenements as undermining their vision of a Christian America. Fueled by faith, the Social Gospel movement worked to expand labor rights and improve living conditions at the turn of the 20th century.

Social Gospellers vs Christian nationalism (The Conversation/Centre International Cardijn)

Chicago: The home of Specialized Catholic Action movements

The election of Pope Leo XIV on May 8 was a stunner, writes Margaret Steinfels. ” Not simply an American pope, mind you, but a pope born and raised in Chicago. If you were born and raised in Chicago, ever lived there, or merely passed through, you’d instinctively grasp the true import of this election.

Chicago was the home of the “specialized Catholic Action movements”: the Young Christian Workers, the Young Christian Students, and the Christian Family Movement. These were nurtured by Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand, a pioneer of liturgical renewal, whose tenure as head of Chicago’s seminary produced a generation of priests who were social activists and community organizers. They joined laypeople in the Catholic Interracial Council, the Catholic Labor Alliance, the labor paper Work, the interracial Friendship House, and The Critic, a literary journal.

Margaret Steinfels, ‘Nice Boy Up from the Parishes’ (Commonweal)

Cardijn and the social conscience of young people

“What was written and what you have just heard is happening today,” said Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:14-21). He was reading a passage from the prophet Isaiah announcing good news to the poor and freedom to the oppressed, Bishop Jean-Pierre told participants at the YCW Centenary celebration in Brussels on 1 May.

Joseph Cardijn, too, a hundred years ago, could say: “What was written and what you have just heard is happening today,” because Cardijn announced good news to young workers: he was founding the YCW, the Young Christian Workers, with them and opening up a new future for workers.

And in 2025, we can say once again: “What was written and what you have just heard is happening today,” because the YCW has become a global movement and the good news has spread across the whole world.

Jean-Pierre Delville, Joseph Cardijn and the social conscience of young people (IYCW)

Celebrating Trinity Sunday at Holy Trinity parish

What a day to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving, writes Paulist Fr Chris Derige Malano, celebrating his Mass of Thanksgiving on "Trinity Sunday at Holy Trinity, the parish’s feast day!"

Trinity Sunday has a bit of a reputation. Among preachers, it’s often considered one of the hardest Sundays to preach well. Because unlike Christmas or Easter, there is no story to step into. The Holy Trinity is a mystery of faith. Profound. Beautiful. But, not easily dramatized. And yet, it’s central to who we are as Christians.

Fr Chris Malano, The Trinity in real life (Bridging Our Worlds)

Juneteenth events 2025

The 160th anniversary of Juneteenth will be celebrated throughout the United States on June 19 as a federal holiday, giving Americans ample opportunity to honor the legacy—and eventual freedom—of enslaved African Americans, Black Catholic Messenger notes.

The original Juneteenth celebrations were born from the 1865 decree, "General Order No. 3," issued in Galveston, Texas, where the last enslaved African Americans remained for some time after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. In that same city in 1528, an enslaved Black Catholic named Esteban had been one of the first Africans to set foot in what is now the United States.

Where to find a Catholic Juneteenth event (2025 edition) (Black Catholic Messenger)

History: The first worker apostles

As International YCW president, Basma Louis, noted in her opening address at the Centenary service at Notre Dame church, Laeken, on 1 May 2025, Cardijn actually began organising young workers in that parish from 1912.

Indeed, I have been struck by how often Cardijn insisted that the history of the movement needed to begin in 1912, writes Stefan Gigacz. Reflecting on this, I realised that the study circles for young workers, particularly teenage girls, that Cardijn launched there with his collaborators were the ONLY YCW teams that he created and worked with himself.

No wonder then that he wanted people to know how he himself had started the YCW in the parish of Our Lady of Laeken.

Stefan Gigacz, The first worker apostles (Cardijn Research)

Gospel: Beware this road leads to...

Beware! This road leads to … (Gospel Enquiries)

Reflection: "When looms weave by themselves, man's slavery will end."

"When looms weave by themselves, man's slavery will end." ~ Aristotle, 4th century BCE Are we approaching this reality sooner than we think? asks Richard Pütz.

The question is, who will decide the fate of humans? When humans stop "weaving looms" of the modern era, what will happen? When “robots” and “AI” become the new slaves, what will humans do? Who decides? Do we trust those who might be the decision-makers? How did they become the decision-makers? Do we truly understand the meaning of being human and the profound impact it has on us? What role will leaders play in the decision-making process? What role will religion play, if any? What lessons can we learn from the mystics and contemplative teachers of history?

This is a question that needs to be carefully addressed, as the answer will have a direct impact on our grandchildren and their children.

Richard Pütz, When looms weave by themselves (Cardijn Reflections)

News briefs and social media

Lay movements at Synod Consultation

Assisi Catholic Peace Forum

Cardijn Associates USA

Contact
Email: cardijnassociates@gmail.com

May 2025

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:30:46 GMT

Welcome Pope Leo, son of the CFM

Dear Friends,

What a momentous month it's been! We've unexpectedly said farewell to Pope Francis after he seemed to have weathered the storm. And already we've welcomed Pope Leo XIV to a role that he seems born for.

Of particular interest for Americans and the Cardijn network in general is the fact that Pope Leo's own parents belonged to the US branch of the Christian Family Movement in Chicago.

This makes him undoubtedly the first pontiff to have been raised in a see-judge-act family environment. No surprise, then, that he should take the name of Leo in honour of his pioneering predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, author of what's often regarded as the first social encyclical, Rerum Novarum.

Remembering Pope Francis, we also present Belgian Bishop Jean-Pierre Delville's reflection on the importance of the see-judge-act method to the late pontiff's legacy.

In current news, we note that former International YCW chaplain, Dom Reginaldo Andrietta, will be presenting at a conference in San Francisco this week along with Cardinal Robert McElroy and Sr Maria Cimperman. Details below. First session tonight!

Congratulations also to former Catholic student leader, Fr Chris Malano, on his ordination as a Paulist priest last weekend.

Elsewhere, we note that an Irish-Australian nun, Sr Oonah O'Shea, who was herself once a YCW leader, has taken on a very important international role as president of UISG, the global network of religious sisters.

As the YCW continues to celebrate its centenary, we can therefore expect to hear continuing echoes of the movement's and Cardijn's legacy reverberating in Rome.

Meanwhile, another report from France informs us that the canonisation cause of French YCW founding chaplain, Fr Georges Guérin, has concluded the diocesan stage and now moves to the Holy City for the next steps in the process.

Lastly, as usual we conclude with reflections from Pat Branson and Richard Pütz plus a brief selection of social media posts.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Growing demand for Church’s social doctrine: Leo

Addressing a Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation Conference on “Overcoming Polarisations and Rebuilding Global Governance: The Ethical Foundations,” Pope Leo XIV said that there is a growing demand for the Church’s social doctrine that needs to be met.

“Those born and raised far from the centres of power should not merely be taught the Church’s social doctrine; they should also be recognised as carrying it forward and putting it into practice.

"Individuals committed to the betterment of society, popular movements and the various Catholic workers’ groups are an expression of those existential peripheries where hope endures and springs anew. I urge you to let the voice of the poor be heard," the new pope added.

Growing demand for Church’s social doctrine: Leo

See, judge, act was key for Pope Francis: Belgian bishop

"Pope Francis was an inductive person," recalled Belgian Bishop Jean-Pierre Delville..

"He started from concrete reality, from particular situations, to arrive at the great mysteries of the faith. He was therefore the opposite of a deductive person (which Benedict XVI was more so), who starts from the great principles to conclude on the actions to be promoted.

"This approach of Pope Francis is very visible in his encyclical Laudato Si, devoted to integral ecology. He describes reality, gives a judgment, and then proposes courses of action."

See judge act ‘key for Pope Francis’: Belgian bishop

Leo credits Christian Family Movement for his vocation

In a 2020 interview, the future Pope Leo XIV credited the Cardijn-inspired Christian Family Movement as one of the influences on the discovery of his vocation to the priesthood.

“My family was very practical; my dad was a catechist, my mom participated in various activities in the parish where we lived,” Cardinal Prevost said. “Besides, they were members of the Christian Family Movement.

“And so since I was a child, I had a very nice experience of the various dimensions of parish life. I was also an acolyte in the parish, and studied in a parish school. All of these things certainly contributed to me at some point considering the possibility of being a priest,” he noted.

Chicago during the 1960s was an influential centre of the lay apostolate, with the Young Christian Workers (YCW), Young Christian Students (YCS) and the CFM all having their national centres there.

Leo credits Cardijn movement for vocation

Aussie ex-YCW leader heads worldwide nuns

The International Union of Superiors General (UISG) has announced the election of Sr Oonah O’Shea, NDS, as the new President of the Union.

Her election took place during the Delegates’ Assembly, held in Rome as part of the broader 2025 Plenary process.

Sr Oonah, a member of the Congregation of Notre Dame de Sion, is an Australian religious sister born in 1946 to Irish parents.

She began her professional journey as a primary school teacher in Catholic schools and was actively involved in the Young Christian Workers movement. In 1968, she entered her religious congregation and continued her service through teaching and further studies in theology, politics, and economic history. A formative year spent in Israel deepened her understanding of faith and intercultural engagement.

Aussie ex-YCW leader elected UISG president

Webinar: Forming Catholic Leaders for a Public & Synodal Church

Former International YCW chaplain, Dom Reginaldo Andrietta, now the bishop of Jales in Brazil, will deliver the keynote address on 20 May at a conference in San Francisco sponsored by the Collaborative for Catholic Organizing.

The theme of the conference is "Praxis of Encounter Conference: Forming Catholic Leaders for a Public & Synodal Church," a theme Dom Reginaldo is well versed in.

The organizers have made his keynote talk free to follow online as well as other talks by Cardinal Robert McElroy, an advocate of the See Judge Act method, and Sr Maria Cimperman, who took part in the Synod on Synodality and is a longstanding friend of the Cardijn movements.

https://usfca.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_A7_Koj8_RrSCcvkkzGCgng#/registration

Canonisation cause for French YCW founder moves to Rome

The diocesan process for the cause for canonisation of French YCW founder-chaplain, Fr Georges Guérin, concluded at a ceremony in Paris on 16 May 2025.

Vicar-general Mgr Michel Guéguen presided at the event which took place at the office of the Workers’ Catholic Action (ACO) movement.

An apprentice metal tester then an office worker, he was ordained a priest of the diocese of Paris in 1925 and was appointed vicar at St Vincent de Paul parish in Clichy, an inner suburb.

Appointed as chaplain to the new movement in 1927, he remained in this post until 1950.

French YCW founder canonisation process moves to Rome (Cardijn.info)

Gospel: "Jesus wants to wash my smelly feet"

Jesus is the heart and soul of each Gospel Enquiry, and our relationship with him the reason for reflecting on the Gospel. Cardinal Joseph Cardijn (1882-1967) provides an explanation of the part the Gospel plays in the life of the young worker. The following statement comes from the first of three lectures on person, family and education, which he delivered in Godinne in 1950:

The gospel really explains the human person; it is the explanation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, that admirable person, the Son of God, with a mission and a vocation to fulfil. When we see the person of Our Lord we then understand to what a dignity God intends to call people. It was Our Lord who said: “You will love the poorest as you love me; you cannot love God unless you love people, and especially the poorest and the humblest.”

“Jesus wants to wash my smelly feet!" (Gospel Enquiries)

Reflection: Plastic Jesus

"I was thinking about growing up," writes Richard Pütz. "It was the 1950s, and Sunday mass was in the school’s basement at the parish (QAS). I remember walking out to the parking lot and always noticing the number of cars with plastic Jesus and plastic St Christopher, some with plastic BVM, and a handful with all three neatly lined up on the dashboard centered under the rearview mirror.

"The cultural implications of all that. Think of all the different versions of the plastic Jesus, but not too many different ones for Christopher or BVM. It was the 1950s that gave us plastic Jesus, fuzzy dice, and Dashboard Hula Girl, one of my favorites."

Richard Pütz, Plastic Jesus (Cardijn Reflections)

News briefs and social media

Fr Chris Malano celebrates his first Mass

YCW Centenary in Brussels

Online opening of the Centenary program

WATCH THE VIDEO

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April 2025

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:27:22 GMT

Experiencing the Passion

Dear Friends,

We begin this issue with a powerful article by Washington DC Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar, who tells us that migrants and refugees are experiencing the Passion of Jesus Christ as a consequence of US government policies. And he calls on government workers to follow their consciences and resist those policies.

On a happier note, we share an article by Port of Spain, Trinidad Bishop Charles Grayson Gordon, who identifies what he characterises as "the four marks" of a synodal Church.

This month, we also continue to highlight the centenary of the foundation of the Young Christian Workers movement in Belgium in 1925, which officially opened in Brussels on April 12 (photo above).

Watch the video here:

For the occasion, we've also managed to resurrect several historical items, including audio of Cardijn and a video of the International YCW World Council in Adelaide in 1991 by digitising and posting it on YouTube.

We also have an article highlighting the IYCW's 1965 proposal for a "lay senate" in Rome, a proposal that seems to foreshadow the kind of synodal church Pope Francis is promoting.

Once again, Pat Branson and Richard Pütz offer their usual thought-provoking reflections.

And finally we present an audio extract from Cardijn's talk in Australia in 1966 explaining how he first began to build the YCW in his original parish of Notre Dame at Laeken in 1912.

The Cardijn Associates Team

US Church needs more Oscar Romeros

Recalling the example of Saint Oscar Romero, Washington DC Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar has called on US government workers to “reclaim your consciences” and refuse to take part in the violation of the human rights of migrants and refugees.

“The Church remembers Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus in a spiritual and sacramental way during Holy Week and the Easter Triduum, but some people actually experience the Passion in a tangible and personal way in their very lives,” Bishop Menjivar wrote in the Catholic Standard. “Among them are members of the immigrant and refugee communities today.”

US Church needs more Oscar Romeros: Washington bishop

The four signs of a synodal Church

What are the most vital “marks” or attributes of a synodal church as revealed in final document of the Synod on Synodality, asks Bishop Charles Grayson Gordon of Port of Spain, Trinidad.

"If synodality is indeed a constitutive dimension of the church, then we should expect to observe certain attributes when synodality is flourishing and maturing," he writes.

"Reflecting on the final document of the synod, I propose four marks of a synodal church: relating, listening, discerning and self-emptying."

The four signs of a truly synodal church (America Magazine)

Video: International YCW World Council, Adelaide, 1991

In November-December 1991, the Australian YCW hosted young worker leaders from 40 countries for the 6th World Council of the International YCW.

You can watch it now in full on YouTube along with several clips from IYCW founding secretary, Marguerite Fiévez.

WATCH THE VIDEO AND CLIPS

IYCW World Council, Adelaide 1991

Gospel: What is the place of the Gospel in the YCS?

I have had a long association with the Young Christian Students Movement (YCS) in Australia, but I am still unsure of the place of the Gospel in the life of the YCS, writes Pat Branson.

I think there are two reasons for my uncertainty: first, the students who taught me to Review, used the questions “What does your faith say? What would Jesus do in this situation?”

In the Judge section of the Review of Life, however, they did not show much knowledge of the Gospels, or of Church teaching beyond what little they picked up, probably from going to Mass, from sitting in RE classes at school, from their families, and from being in a Review group.

Your father Abraham saw my day and was glad (Gospel Enquiries)

Reflection: What world are we leaving our children?

Joseph Cardijn exemplified patterns evident in the elements of the Rule of St Benedict through his commitment to community, discernment, and action - principles that resonate deeply with Benedictine spirituality, writes Richard Pütz.

Although the Rule did not directly influence Cardijn, his work and methodology align with its values in several ways.

How did Joseph Cardijn exemplify the Rule of St. Benedict? (Cardijn Reflections)

History: The fight for a lay senate… in Rome

In this article, Stefan Gigacz presents a video is extracted from a recording of a report by Australian delegates from the International YCW World Council in Bangkok, Thailand, in December 1965.

It illustrates that lay leaders were already battling to build a church based on fraternal not paternal dialogue between clergy and laity, or, as Pope has characterised it, a synodal church.

The fight for a lay senate… in Rome (Synodal Reflections)

News briefs and social media

Video: How I started the YCW: Joseph Cardijn

In this video extract from a talk in Australia in 1966, Cardijn recalls how he first began to contact young workers in his home parish of Notre Dame at Laeken, Belgium, in 1912.

WATCH HERE

Editorial Note: The purpose of the Cardijn Associates Newsletter is to share information and promote discussion. Citing or linking to articles does not imply any endorsement by Cardijn Associates of the authors' views.

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March 2025

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:24:48 GMT

Maintaining hope

Dear Friends,

At his recent installation as archbishop of Washington DC, Cardinal McElroy emphasised the need to maintain hope, a theme that emerges in several of this month's articles.

We need to maintain hope in the face of the challenge of child labor, as Krisha Mae Cabrera has pointed out, as well as that of rising Christian nationalism, as Richard Pütz also suggests in his Cardijn Reflection.

This month, Pat Branson begins a series of Lenten reflections while Stefan Gigacz recalls the prophetic encounter between Cardijn and Pope Pius XI in 1925 and notes that, not just the YCW, but several of the Cardijn-inspired youth movements are nearing their own centenaries.

With one hundred years of history behind us, we can surely look forward in hope to a second century of apostolic lay action inspired by those movements.

And, in a genuine sign of hope, we are pleased to share the news that our friend, Deacon Chris Derige Malano CSP; will be ordained as a Paulist priest in New York on Saturday May 17. Our prayers are with you, Chris!

Finally, we remember former Brooklyn YCW leader, Clare McHugh Lagersini, who died recently.

And we honour the French YCW leader, Blessed Marcel Callo, who died at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp eighty years ago this month on 19 March 1945. Marcel is pictured above in a fresco at the Diocese of Rennes with his fiancée Marguerite Derniaux, who survived him and attended his beatification ceremony in Rome in 1987.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Maintain hope, like Chilean miners: Cardinal Robert McElroy at installation

Chilean miners trapped underground did not lose hope, Cardinal Robert McElroy recalled at the mass for his installation as the new archbishop of Washington DC.
After thanking his predecessor and paying tribute to Pope Francis and his nuncio, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Cardinal McElroy continued:

On August 5, 2010, there was a massive cave-in in the vast Copiapo copper mine in Chile. Because of the negligence of the mine operator, elementary safety protocols had been ignored and 33 miners were trapped in a small crevice deep within the earth. With very limited provisions of food and water, the miners realized the gravity of their peril. News reports stated that the situation was hopeless, that the cave-in had destroyed so many avenues of access that it would be impossible to rescue anyone who might have survived.

But the miners did not lose hope.

Hope the challenge: Cardinal McElroy

Analysis: We must act on child labor

n his first general audience of the year, Pope Francis called on the global community to eradicate child labor, urging that we "cannot remain indifferent, cannot accept that little sisters and brothers, rather than being loved and protected, may have their childhood taken from them, their dreams," writes Krisha Mae Cabrera.

At least 160 million children worldwide are exploited through child labor, a crisis that continues to affect the most vulnerable people. The pope's call for global action is an urgent call to service — one that asks us to uphold justice and dignity for every child.

Child labor doesn't exist through isolated cases — it happens through massive, organized global systems. Corporate giants rely on labor abuses across supply chains and manufacturing. Rapid algorithm-driven trends incentivize fast fashion giants like Shein and Temu to cut corners and pursue faster production models.

Beyond fashion, businesses like HelloFresh — the largest meal kit company in the U.S. — promise convenience while allegedly relying on labor from migrant children. The true cost of cheap, easy purchasing comes in the suffering of millions, including child laborers, across every step of production in industries that affect our daily lives.

Pope Francis called for an end to child labor, and we must act (National Catholic Reporter)

Video: A prophetic encounter: Cardijn, Pope Pius XI and the YCW

Stefan Gigacz presented a webinar earlier this month entitled "From the periphery to the centre: Cardijn, Pius XI and the YCW: A prophetic encounter."

It commemorated the centenary of Cardijn’s landmark first meeting with Pope Pius XI when the pontiff gave his enthusiastic approval to the emerging movement of the Young Christian Workers (YCW).

WATCH THE VIDEO

Reflection: What would Cardijn & Louis Putz say about Christian Nationalism?

I have often wondered what Joseph Cardijn or Louis Putz CSC would say today as we see the rise of Christian Nationalism in the US and other Western Nations, asks Richard Pûtz. The version of Christian Nationalism they would have been most familiar with was in the 1930s, and the "flavor" was fascism of a German style.

Both men strongly advocated Catholic Social Teaching, which is becoming increasingly the best-kept secret in the Church.

Despite some superficial similarities, Catholic Social Teaching and Christian Nationalism represent fundamentally different approaches to the relationship between Christianity and the state.

Ever wonder what Joseph Cardijn and Louis Putz would say about Christian Nationalism? (Cardijn Reflections)

Gospel: Lent 2025

It is the beginning of Lent, writes Pat Branson, and I am sitting here reflecting on the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent.

During this season of Lent, I will post edited versions of the Gospel Enquiries that I have previously written for the five Sundays of Lent.

We pray in the Our Father “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” because the common human experience is to be tempted to replace God’s will with our own will. Jesus knew this well and he battled with that temptation throughout his life. We begin this season of Lent with a reflection on Jesus’ experience of being tempted to put himself before his Father. He shows us that we have to be uncompromising in our response to temptation.

Pat Branson, First Sunday of Lent, Year C (Gospel Enquiries)

History: More Cardijn movement centenaries coming up

The fact that this year is celebrated as the centenary of the foundation of the JOC raises the question: When were the other Specialised Catholic Action movements for young people founded?

In fact, someone asked me just this week when the Jeunesse Etudiante Catholique (JEC) or Young Christian Students (YCS) was founded.

To answer this, we need to look at two events that took place in Belgium in August 1927. Historian Roger Aubert explained the story in his 1972 article entitled “Organisation et caractère des mouvements de jeunesse catholique en Belgique” (Organisation and character of Catholic youth movements in Belgium).

Stefan Gigacz, Centenaries, centenaries: JOC, JEC, JAC, JUC, JIC… (Cardijn Research)

News briefs

RIP Clare McHugh Lagermasini

Clare (McHugh) Lagermasini, 89, a former New Jersey YCW leader, who spent her life promoting peace and social justice causes, died on November 20, 2024.

Obituary: Clare McHugh Lagermasini (Montclair Local)

Priestly ordination of Deacon Chris Derige Malano CSP

DETAILS HERE

https://bridgingourworlds.wordpress.com/save-the-dates/priestly-ordination/

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February 2025

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:21:41 GMT

Challenges for the US Church

Dear Friends,

It's been a frantic month since the inauguration of Donald Trump for a second presidential term with Catholic convert J.D. Vance as his vice-president.

Despite his age and growing infirmity, Pope Francis has been quick to respond to the latter's distortion of Catholic teaching on solidarity and the "ordo amoris." Writing from Hong Kong, American Maryknoll missioner, Bill Grimm, also critiques the vice-president's take as well as the lack of clarity from the US bishops as a body.

In a recent YouTube video, Fr Ty Hullinger reflects on speaking truth to power while Richard Pütz recalls the significance of Black History Month.

And in another hard hitting article, we again note Pope Francis' forceful appeal to ensure that we do not become accomplices in child labour through our consumer choices and lifestyle.

This month, we also recall the martyrdom of two of Cardijn's closest lay collaborators, Fernand Tonnet and Paul Garcet, who both died in the Dachau Concentration Camp in early 1945. On a happier note, it's also the 60th anniversary of Cardijn's becoming a cardinal in February 1965. Stefan Gigacz recalls the intrigues and tears that accompanied that honour.

As usual, Pat Branson offers another thoughtful Gospel reflection and we conclude with a tribute to late Cardijn Bookstore volunteer, Florence Helen Yanny.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Francis corrects Vance on "ordo amoris"

Pope Francis has written to the bishops of the USA in the wake of controversial comments by US Vice-President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, to clarify Gospel teaching on human dignity and migration.

“The journey from slavery to freedom that the People of Israel traveled, as narrated in the Book of Exodus, invites us to look at the reality of our time, so clearly marked by the phenomenon of migration, as a decisive moment in history to reaffirm not only our faith in a God who is always close, incarnate, migrant and refugee, but also the infinite and transcendent dignity of every human person,” Pope Francis wrote.

Good Samaritan models true ‘ordo amoris’: Pope Francis (Cardijn.info)

Opinion: The fruits of American bishops' failure

Five years ago, J.D. Vance, who is now the vice president of the United States, received the Sacraments of Initiation at St. Gertrude Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, writes Maryknoll Missioner, Fr Bill Grimm.

The Dominicans to whom the parish has been entrusted presumably instructed him regarding the basic tenets of Catholic Christianity, stressing that love is the basic reality of the universe and therefore the chief virtue to which we are called.

So, I hope that those who catechized him and have preached to him are embarrassed that the pope himself has felt it necessary to re-catechize Vance regarding love.

The fruits of American bishops’ failure (UCA News)

Reflection: Black History Month

In the US, February is recognized as Black History Month. For us Catholics, it is essential to understand better the history of Black Catholics, the Church’s role in maintaining segregation, and the prophets in history who have helped us as Catholics recognize that we are all God’s people.

Leo XIII’s encyclical, Rerum Novarum, would come to overshadow two other important encyclicals from the same pope. One particularly theologically significant is “In Plurimis,” and its follow-up encyclical, “Catholicae Ecclesiae,” is also highly important. During a pivotal time in the Church’s history, Leo XIII changed the Church’s teaching on slavery, marking the first time the Catholic Church embraced abolitionism.

Like many aspects of the Church’s history, slaveholding was sanctioned by the Catholic Church. Investigate the history of Black Catholics in the United States and how many within the hierarchy, local pastors, and schools owned enslaved individuals.

Richard Pütz, Leo XIII and Catholic Black History (Cardijn Reflections)

Video: Fr Ty Hullinger on Jesus' speaking truth to power

'In the wake of a deeply divisive election, we gather as a movement community to support and care for each other," the Kairos Center in Baltimore writes in an introduction to a biblical reflection by Fr Ty Hullinger of Cardijn Associates.

"We also gather to prepare for the struggle ahead. We do this by sharing experiences, resources, and by drawing lessons from the struggles of the poor and dispossessed who came before us.

"This week we turn to the Hebrew scriptures (Kings and Samuel) and to the early biblical communities who struggled to organize their society in a way that didn't mimic the systems of domination that God had helped free them from - an all too relevant story for our times.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Reflection: Father Ty Hullinger, United Workers (Kairos Center/YouTube)

Enquiry: Don't be complicit in child labor: Pope Francis

We must be aware of how we eat and dress in order to avoid becoming complicit in child labor, Pope Francis stated in his General Audience on 15 January 2025.

“Even today in the world, hundreds of millions of minors, despite not being of the minimum age to undergo the obligations of adulthood, are forced to work,” Pope Francis said in his second catechesis on children, “and many of them are exposed to particularly dangerous work; not to mention the boys and girls who are slaves to trafficking for prostitution or pornography, and forced marriages.”

Enquiry: Don’t be complicit in child labor

Gospel: The power of faith without borders

If the Jews are the Chosen People, the ones with whom God made covenants, why does Mark tell us about a non-Jew, a Gentile living in Israel, whose daughter is cured by Jesus from a distance?

Mark’s Gospel was written for Gentiles. Non-Jewish Christians, probably living in Rome and facing persecution and death at the hands of Emperor Nero, needed reassurance that Jesus is the saviour of all people, not just those who are Jews.

In the Gospel that you will read, Jesus moves beyond the accepted understanding of the Messiah and heals the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman. This was something that no other leader could do.

The power of faith without borders (Gospel Enquiries)

Fernand Tonnet and Paul Garcet, a vision for the YCW

This month marks the 80th anniversary of the death of Fernand Tonnet, lay co-founder of the YCW.

Like his lifelong comrade and YCW co-founder, Paul Garcet, who had preceded him in death two weeks earlier, Tonnet died a gruesome death caused by typhus at the Dachau Concentration Camp, where he had been confined for eighteen months.

As Cardijn commented: “The martyr’s crown remains the most beautiful crown, and it is immortal.”

Nevertheless, I am sure that both Tonnet and Garcet would prefer to be remembered for the movement to which they devoted their lives rather than the suffering they later endured, writes Stefan Gigacz

Stefan Gigacz, Fernand Tonnet, a vision for the JOC (Cardijn Research)

Fernand Tonnet website (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)

Paul Garcet website (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)

History: Cardijn, a cardinal: Intrigue, anguish and tears

Sixty years ago this month on 22 February 1965, despite his personal anguish about the honour, Cardijn accepted his red hat as a cardinal from Pope Paul VI just days after his consecration as an archbishop, writes Stefan Gigacz.

In their biography of Cardijn, Marguerite Fiévez and Jacques Meert blandly record the latter ceremony as follows:

On Sunday, 21st February, the old man of eighty-two was consecrated Archbishop by his compatriot Cardinal Suenens.

But there was much more to the story of how and why Paul VI decided to make Cardijn a cardinal than they let on.

The late John Maguire, a former Australian priest, who was in Rome for the red hat ceremony also recalled Cardijn's tears on that occasion.

Stefan Gigacz, Cardijn, a cardinal: Intrigues and tears (Cardijn Research)

News brief

RIP Florence Helen Yanny, Cardijn Bookstore volunteer

Florence Helen “Buddy” Yanny, 95, passed away peacefully on Jan. 23, 2025, at Aurora Burlington Medical Center, after a brief illness.

In Milwaukee, she was involved in volunteer work at the Cardijn Bookstore writing to disabled servicemen, which led to her acquaintance and subsequent romance with David Yanny, who became her husband.

READ THE TRIBUTE

Florence Helen Yanny (MyRacine)

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January 2025

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:17:33 GMT

Jubilee Year 2025

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year for the Jubilee Year announced by Pope Francis!

As the new federal administration begins its work, we note the warnings issued by Pope Francis and by US bishops against the mass deportations promised by President Trump.

More positively, we welcome the appointment of a new "see judge act" archbishop of Washington DC in the person of Cardinal Robert McElroy. And we share the recollections on Jimmy Carter of former US YCS leader Tom Higgins, who worked as part of the late president's administration.

In another important anniversary, we highlight the centennial of the Young Christian Workers (YCW) movement, founded in Belgium in 1925 by Joseph Cardijn and a team of lay workers, including Fernand Tonnet and Paul Garcet, both martyred in a Nazi concentration camp at Dachau.

In memory of Tonnet, we present an article he wrote in 1924 - soon after Mussolini came to power in Italy - warning of the dangers of fascism, a warning that is no doubt of increasing relevance today. And we remember Garcet with an Instagram post remembering his insistence on the need for a "powerful" Church movement for young workers.

On this note, we include another inquiry on the exploitation of young workers and child workers inspired by Pope Francis' current Wednesday audience catechesis on children.

In fact, the Jubilee Year of 2025 is a great year for anniversaries, including the 60th anniversary of the Vatican II documents, Gaudium et Spes, and Apostolicam Actuositatem, both key milestones in the development of the lay apostolate, as well as the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis' landmark encyclical, Laudato Si'.

In another article, Stefan Gigacz points to the incredible number of great lay leaders and priests formed by the Cardijn movements over the last century.

On an academic level, we feature a new article by Australian, Paul Lentern, reflecting on the importance of the see, judge, act in the context of Catholic education.

As usual, we have a Gospel Enquiry by Pat Branson and a Gospel Reflection by Richard Pütz.

And in late news, we share a report of a potential miracle attributed to Cardijn disciple and founder of the Argentine Christian Family Movement, Enrique Shaw.

Great reading to launch the new year!

The Cardijn Associates USA Team

Inquiry: US mass deportations of immigrants a ‘disgrace,’ ‘profoundly disturbing’

Pope Francis has described President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation of immigration as a “disgrace” while Chicago archbishop, Cardinal Blase Cupich has called them “profoundly disturbing.”

In an Italian television interview, Pope Francis said it would be a “disgrace” if Trump went forward with the plan, in unusually forceful language for the leader of the global Catholic Church, Reuters reports.

“It would make the migrants, who have nothing, pay the unpaid bill,” said the pope. “It doesn’t work. You don’t resolve problems this way.”

SEE JUDGE ACT INQUIRY

Inquiry: US mass deportations of immigrants a ‘disgrace’ and ‘profoundly disturbing’

See judge act cardinal appointed to Washington DC

Pope Francis has appointed San Diego’s Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, 70, of San Diego as the new archbishop of Washington, the Holy See announced on 6 January.

Recognised internationally as one of the intellectual heavyweights in the US hierarchy and a specialist in the social teaching of the church, Cardinal McElroy is a bishop who has wholeheartedly embraced the synodal vision and pastoral approach of Pope Francis, writes Gerard O’Connell in America Magazine.

In a 2022 article, also in America Magazine, Cardinal McElroy wrote that Cardijn’s “electrifying” see-judge-act method lies at the heart of the synodality process.

Cardinal McElroy also told Vatican News in an interview that the just war theory never fits with the message of the Gospel, no matter how technically “moral” the theory may be.

See judge act cardinal appointed to Washington DC

Tribute: Jimmy Carter’s ‘moral compass’

“It’s taken some time, but Carter, who died in Plains, Georgia, on Dec. 29, is now being recognised as one of our most consequential presidents,” writes Thomas Higgins, a former US YCS leader, who worked for President Carter’s White House administration.

“Landmark domestic legislation in education, the environment, healthcare reform ‘and energy policy; enshrining human rights as a “constitutive element’ in American foreign policy; securing the Panama Canal Treaty; recognizing China; and almost single-handedly achieving the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Accord.

“But he never forgot where he came from, and it was no surprise that he returned there from the White House,” Higgins noted in an article for the US National Catholic Reporter.

Jimmy Carter’s ‘moral compass’

Inquiry: Don’t be complicit in child labour: Pope Francis

We must be aware of how we eat and dress in order to avoid becoming complicit in child labour, Pope Francis stated in his General Audience on 15 January 2025.

"Fighting exploitation, especially child exploitation, is the way to build a better future for the whole of society," the pope said.

"And so, we can ask ourselves: what can I do? First of all, we must recognise that, if we want to eradicate child labour, we cannot be complicit in it. And when is this the case? For example, when we purchase products that involve child labour. How can we eat and dress, knowing that behind that food and those garments there are exploited children, who work instead of going to school?

"Find out where those products come from. Awareness of what we purchase is a first act in order not to be complicit."

Don’t be complicit in child labour: Pope Francis

Doctors verify miracle attributed to Argentina CFM founder, Enrique Shaw

The cause for canonisation of Argentine business leader and Christian Family Movement founder, Enrique Shaw, has taken another step forward after the alleged miracle attributed to his intercession passed the medical stage.

The alleged miracle will now be evaluated by a commission of theologians of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Catholic News Agency reports.

Miracle attributed to Argentinian Cardijn disciple clears medical stage (Centre International Cardijn)

YCW Centennial 2025 and other anniversaries

The biggest jocist anniversary of 2025 is indisputably the centennial of the official foundation of the Belgian Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne or JOC in 1925, writes Stefan Gigacz.

The JOC or YCW has been such an important movement in the lives of so many of us around the world. Today, it’s still present in close to 100 countries around the globe. Not forgetting the many other movements and initiatives that have sprung from it over the last century.

Let’s join with the YCW movement in our countries and internationally to make sure it’s a memorable year.

No less important, however, was Cardijn’s iconic first meeting with Pope Pius XI in March 1925 when he gave his approval and whole-hearted endorsement to the new movement.

2025: YCW centenary and other anniversaries (Cardijn Research)

YCW Centenary: 100 years of struggle for young workers! (International YCW)

People anniversaries 2025

Once again, this year’s list of “jocist” people anniversaries reveals an extraordinary range of movement leaders and chaplains who lived lives – and sometimes died – lives of incredible commitment and sacrifice.

Their witness is our legacy. And it’s truly an amazing and humbling heritage with which we have been entrusted.

People anniversaries 2025 (Cardijn Research)

Laudato Si' turns ten in 2025

2025 promises to be an “annus mirabilis” in the life of the Church, according to the Laudato Si' Movement.

With a global Jubilee, the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’ and of Laudato Si’ Movement, the 800th anniversary of the Canticle of the Creatures, and a momentous UN conference on climate change, this is a year for change.

Significant events during the year include the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will take place in Brazil, the world’s most populous Catholic country.

"This conference needs to succeed in order to turn the arc of greenhouse gas emissions downward in time to protect creation," the Laudato Si' movement says.

Cardijn Community International is affiliated with the Laudato Si' movement.

2025: A year of adventure (Laudato Si' Movement)

Analysis: YCW and other movements lack institutional support

“If the work of evangelisation is to flourish then it must move beyond the realms of liturgy, ministry and Church governance and it must embrace the secular world as its primary and fundamental focus,” writes ACI board member, Paul Lentern, in Theology and Philosophy of Education journal.

“This is the place of the lay person, and this is the essence of the lay mission and vocation. Cardinal Cardijn demonstrated, well and truly, how this could be done and, for the decades that followed, the young people of the Jocist movements lived this mission with energy and passion,” he continues in an article first presented at a conference in Prague on 11 October 2024 entitled “Christians and the Transformations of Evangelisation.”

“In recent years this has been waning with a lack of institutional support,” Paul observes. “The Church today and the people of our world, whom she serves, are so much the poorer for this occurrence.”

YCW and other movements lack institutional support

Gospel: Being a Spirit-filled evangelist?

Pope Francis released his first major teaching letter, referred to by its Latin title Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) in 2013, the first year of his papacy. He draws on the image of Jesus found in this Gospel passage and he reminds “the Christian faithful” that “Spirit-filled evangelisers are evangelisers who pray and work” (Evangelii Gaudium, 262).

Pope Francis warns the Christian faithful against focusing on prayer to the exclusion of the work to be done, which can be summarised as the corporal and spiritual works of mercy

He then addresses the situation in which people focus on the work to be done, but neglect prayer. He concludes that work done without commitment to being a prayerful person is “meaningless.”

Pope Francis provides a solution that avoids the excesses outlined above: “What is needed,” he states, “is the ability to cultivate an interior space which can give a Christian meaning to commitment and activity.”

DO THE ENQUIRY

Being a Spirit-filled Evangeliser

Reflection: Do Catholics really understand Catholic Social Teaching?

"The role of U.S. Catholicism as the leading ecclesial and theological hub for the path of the church in political modernity might be over." ~ Massimo Faggioli

A new wave of understanding of Vatican II influenced conservative Catholicism in the United States. This trend does not bode well for Catholic Social Teachings, writes Richard Pütz.

Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is neither conservative nor liberal, nor should it be. However, we often see extremes when we intertwine political ideology with religion. Just look at the rise of Christian nationalism.

Hello Catholics! Do we really understand CST? (Cardijn Reflections)

History: Fighting fascism… in 1924

The fascist leader, Benito Mussolini, came to power as Italian Prime Minister on 31 October 1922. Many Catholics in Italy had supported his rise. So too did many Catholics in Belgium and France, lamented YCW lay co-founder, Fernand Tonnet, in the movement magazine, La Jeunesse Ouvrière, in July 1924.

“The people behind fascism are simply daring and intelligent adventurers, who have taken advantage of the troubles in their country to seize power,” he claimed. “They are ambitious people dripping with impatience to take over.”

They are “people who jumped ship and woke up one fine morning, patriotic as hell,” he wrote, in a clear reference to Mussolini, who had abandoned his previous socialist convictions to become a hyper-nationalist.

“Their main ideas are the fight against the working class, and against Christianity. Beyond that, there is nothing in fascism,” Tonnet deplored.

“When they claim that they have saved their homeland and that since their rise to power factories are operating and the shops well-stocked, ask them where the capital for these factories came from. You know the answer, i.e. from the adventurers of international finance,” he continued.

Stefan Gigacz, Fighting fascism… in 1924 (Cardijn Research)

News Briefs and Social Media

YCW co-founder martyred 80 years ago

Thailand

Pax Romana IMCS hosts Catholic Civic Forum

Ecuador

IYCW leader Leizyl Salem visits Ecuador JOC.

Ecuador JOC leaders meet

YCS welcomes Jubilee Year!

Flashback

An amazing memory from Patrick Keegan

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December 2024

Stefan Gigacz — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:12:52 GMT

Christmas Greetings

Dear Friends,

Christmas and New Year greetings from the Cardijn Associates team!

In this issue, we share a series of articles from a variety of sources, beginning with an NCR article on how Vietnamese parishes are celebrating Christmas in an ecologically aware manner.

We remember the Black Catholic Bishops Letter of 1984 with an article from the Black Catholic Messenger. And we note the forthcoming centenary of the Young Christian Workers (YCW) movement that was so important to many of us.

More pragmatically, we highlight the problems facing migrants in so many countries of the world. We present a see-judge-act enquiry on slavery and human trafficking. Plus a video from Lebanese YCS leaders on the solidarity action they organised in the face of the recent war.

Belgian historian Sam Kuijken presents an analysis of certain aspects of the history of the International YCW, particularly during the 1980s.

Pat Branson and Richard Pütz present our regular Gospel Enquiry and Cardijn Reflection features.

And we conclude with a series of social media snapshots of recent events and action from the Cardijn movements and groups.

We wish you all the best for the holiday season and look forward to serving you again in 2025.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Viet parishes build eco-crêches for Christmas

Volunteers from Thach Binh Parish in Thua Thien Hue province's Quang Dien district in central Vietnam have made 200 Nativity scenes and 400 lanterns using bamboo, branches, straw and old foam, and distributed them free of charge to local people, regardless of religion.

The group collected most materials from storm debris, fields and local donations, while they purchased plaster statues of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the cattle, along with colored paper and electric bulbs.

"Our goal is to remind people that it's time to build a cleaner, healthier environment by reducing waste," explained Ignatius Cao Tuan Duc, 40, a member of the group

Jesus, he said, was born into a pure and natural environment, but human greed, selfishness and disregard for nature are now polluting it and impacting the climate.

"We cannot worship God while damaging the environment," he said.

In Vietnam, Christmas crèches deck the halls in environmental awareness (National Catholic Reporter)

Remembering the Black Catholic Bishops letter

This is the year that all Catholics in the United States are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Black bishops' historic exhortation, “What We Have Seen and Heard,” writes Tim Tilghman in Black Catholic Messenger. You might recall seeing, at one point or another, a photo of 10 African-American Catholic bishops from the 1980s, who were in fact the letter’s authors.

Likewise, if you watch the video of Servant of God Thea Bowman’s 1989 address to the U.S. bishops, you will see several of the Black bishops in their late 30s and early 40s. One is then-Auxiliary Bishop Wilton Gregory of Chicago, now the first African-American cardinal in Church history. Another is then-Auxiliary Bishop John Ricard of Baltimore.

Tim Tilghman, Celebrating the anniversary of the Black Catholic bishops' letter means recommitting to radical action (Black Catholic Messenger)

YCW celebrates centenary in 2025

In 2025, the YCW will celebrate its 100 years of existence. Although Cardijn created the first base group in 1912, 1925 was the year of the official registration of the men and women’s Francophone and Flemish Belgian YCW movement. It was also the year of recognition by both the local Church and the universal Church in the person of Pope Pius XI, who listened and responded to Cardijn's hope to "save young workers."

From that moment on, the YCW spread rapidly from Europe to the whole world, in a remarkable way, to organize young workers and fight for their dignity and future.

As a popular education movement, the YCW incessantly seeks to strengthen the leadership potential of all young men and women workers worldwide by developing actions at local, national and international levels.

Over those 100 years of existence and action, the movement has been composed and coordinated by young people at all levels - the definition of an ever-young movement!

YCW Centenary: 100 years of struggle for young workers! (IYCW)

Migration is not a crime: International YCW statement

"A year ago, I left my baby and migrated to Brazil. I left my country, Venezuela, because I depended on day labour for survival. When I crossed the border, I ran out of money and had to sell bananas on the streets for a few months. I did everything I could to eat and survive. Sadly, those who took advantage of me were also Venezuelans, who made me work long hours, paid very little, and took a long time to pay. Now, I trust Brazilians more than my own compatriots. It has been very difficult to get used to a new language. I believe that states should promote information services on work and studies for migrants to facilitate adaptation to the changes in language and culture." - Alberto, Venezuelan, 21 years old.

On this International Migrants Day, we, the International Young Christian Workers, stand united in emphasizing the fundamental rights of migrants and championing a safe, orderly, and dignified migration process. Today, we shift our focus towards the challenges and opportunities surrounding migration – from integration and labour mobility to human rights and migrants' crucial role in sustainable development.

Migration Is Not a Crime: Demanding Rights Without Borders (IYCW)

Pope appeals for end to foreign debt

In his World Day of Peace Message for the Jubilee Year 2025, Pope Francis called for the cancellation of foreign debts of poor countries, proposed a new international financial framework and appealed for an end to the death penalty.

Following in the footsteps of Saint Paul VI and Benedict XVI, Pope Francis reiterated his appeal to divert “at least a fixed percentage of the money” earmarked for armaments towards a global fund to eradicate hunger and foster sustainable development in poorer nations, helping them combat climate change.

Pope appeals for end to foreign debt

Enquiry: Resurgence in detection of trafficking victims

AThe UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons provides a snapshot of trafficking patterns and flows at global, regional and national levels. The 2024 report covers 156 countries and provides an overview of the response to trafficking in persons by analysing trafficking cases detected between 2019 and 2023.

The report indicates that child trafficking, trafficking for forced labour and forced criminality are rising as poverty, conflict and climate chnage leave more people vulnerable to exploitation.

Key finding of the research behind the report include:

202,478 victims were detected between 2020 and 2023
39% of detected victims were women, 22% were girls, 16% were boys and 23% were men
42% of detected victims were trafficked for forced labour, a 42% surge in the number of detected forced labour victims
38% of detected victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation
Trafficking for forced criminality, including into online scams, ranks third in the number of victims detected

Enquiry: Resurgence in detection of trafficking victims (ACRATH/ACI)

Video: YCS leaders share experiences

IYCS leader, Roy Ibrahim, and Fares Azar, president of the Lebanon YCS, shared their experiences of war during the Australian Cardijn Institute Annual General Meeting on 26 November 2024.

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History: Democracy and dissent in the International YCW

The International YCW, established in 1945 and a key organisation of post-war Catholic internationalism, witnessed a crisis when several national branches left the international structure and founded the rivalling International Coordination of the YCW (ICYCW) in 1986, writes Belgian PhD candidate, Sam Kuijken.

This crisis is an interesting vantage point to rethink the history of the IYCW and more broadly of Catholic internationalism as it evolved after WWII. Seeking a comprehensive understanding of this scission and its significance in the broader field of Catholic internationalism, this contribution places the history of the IYCW against the backdrop of the supposed ‘fragmentation’ of the Catholic international landscape that occurred in the 1960s.

In doing so, it highlights longstanding tensions surrounding global expansion and institutional democracy, as well as the impact of ecclesial pressure on the jocist movement. In this light, the events of 1986 emerge as a combination of long-term rifts and short-term political manoeuvring.

Sam Kuijken, Unraveling Catholic Internationalism. Historicizing Democracy and Dissent within the Jeunesse Ouvrière Chretienne Internationale (1945-2000) (Vita e pensiero)

Gospel: Building on rock? or sand?

The Gospel Enquiry is a simple tool intended for the purposes of double transformation, meaning that those who engage in the practice of reflecting on the Gospel and acting on that reflection will be transformed through putting their faith into action … and so will the world around them, writes Pat Branson.

The focus must always be on transforming the world, not on self-fulfilment. Consider, for a moment, the Great Commission, that is, the mission given by Jesus to his followers:

Jesus said, “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Building on rock? or sand?

Reflection: Our mantra: See, judge, act

As we approach the new year, I'm excited to share that our mantra, which has been a guiding light for decades, will evolve in my posts. This evolution, inspired by the philosophy of Louis J Putz CSC (1909-1998), is a testament to the adaptability and growth of our teachings.

Louis J. Putz, CSC, a follower of the Jocist method and advocate for Joseph Cardinal Cardijn's work, tweaked the mantra without changing its original intent. For Louis, he called the JOC "a miracle of the 20th century."

When Louis started working with the formation of young students at Notre Dame and the Christian Family Movement (CFM) in South Bend and Chicago, he started using the mantra Observe-Discern-Act. There was a reason for this, as he told many, subtle but distinct. Later in life, he used the mantra to create new ventures, and he found himself as the Superior of Moreau Seminary during the 1960s. Because of his exposure in France to the many theologians who taught there and who now were the brain trust of Vatican II, it was ideal for him to take the job and prepare young men for ministry with the understanding and know-how of Vatican II.

Richard Pütz, Our Mantra: SEE-JUDGE-ACT (Cardijn Reflections)

IYCS reps at COP29 in Azerbaijan

IYCW and ICYCW celebrate Cardijn's birth anniversary

Two French Prime Ministers at Marc Sangnier Conference in Paris

Former French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (right) and incoming Prime Minister François Bayrou (centre) addressed the Marc Sangnier Conference at the Catholic Institute of Paris on 5 December 2024 as did current Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot. Australian Cardijn Institute secretary Stefan Gigacz also spoke at the conference, which was co-hosted by the Centre International Cardijn. The Sillon movement founded by Sangnier was the precursor to the later Specialised Catholic Action movements including YCW and YCS.

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November 2024

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:08:42 GMT

Lumen Gentium 60

Dear Friends,

This week marks the 60th anniversary of Lumen Gentium, the great Vatican II document on the Church with its pathbreaking Chapter 4 on The Laity.

It's therefore appropriate that we include in this newsletter a video from this year's Cardijn Lecture by Dr Pat Jones, who shares her memories of Patrick Keegan, the great English YCW leader, lay apostolate pioneer and the lay auditor who was the first to address the Council.

We note that Pope Francis has announced the canonisation of young Italians, including Pier Giorgio Frassati, an active member of the Italian Catholic Student Movement, which is part of Pax Romana IMCS.

We also highlight the pope's call for a renewal of the study of Church history.

Last month, we mentioned the actio of the Lebanese Young Christian Students to asist people fleeing war. Now, we present a series of testimonies of their experience and their action.

Once we have a Gospel Enquiry by Pat Branson while Richard Pütz reflects on the essence of theology.

Finally, we remember three pioneers of the US Young Christian Workers who have died recently.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Pope Francis calls for renewal of Church history

In a newly published letter, Pope Francis has called for a renewed study of Church history, emphasising collective memory, reconciliation, and a deeper engagement with primary sources to navigate the present with wisdom and faith, Vatican News reports.

He urged seminarians, clergy, and the faithful to embrace history, which continues to play a role in their daily lives.

Reflecting on the value of history as a communal inheritance, he stressed the need to keep “the flame of collective conscience alive,” he said, explaining that by doing so, the faithful can navigate the present with a clearer sense of perspective, rooted in the Church’s lived experience across centuries.

Pope calls for renewal of Church history

Catholic student leader, Pier Giorgio Frassati, to be canonized

Pope Francis has announced the canonisation in 2024 of two young Catholics, Italian student leader, Pier Giorgio Frassati, and Carlo Acutis, a teenage digital technology devotee.

The canonisation of Carlo Acutis will take place during the Church’s Jubilee of Teenagers, scheduled from April 25–27, 2025 while Pier Giorgio Frassati’s canonization will follow later, during the Jubilee of Youth from July 28 to August 3, 2025.

Commenting on Facebook, Pax Romana IMCS leaders noted that “Frassati’s legacy of faith, service, and social justice continues to inspire Catholic youth worldwide to live out their faith in action, embodying the mission of Pax Romana!”

In 1938, YCW founder, Mgr (later Cardinal) Joseph Cardijn wrote to Pope Pius XI backing a call to launch the beatification process for Pier Giorgio.

Student leaders to be canonised

Lebanon YCS organise relief for war refugees

The Young Christian Students (JEC or YCS) movement is in the front lines of the current war in Lebanon.

On 9 September, movement leaders shared their experiences via Zoom with their counterparts from the French JEC (YCS).

In this article, we present the testimonies of movement leaders, learn of their actions and provide an opportunity for our readers to show solidarity.

Solidarity with the Lebanese JEC (YCS) (Solidarity Planet)

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Cardijn Lecture: Patricia Jones: Patrick Keegan at Vatican

Dr Patricia Jones, a former member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and lay auditor at the 1987 Synod on Laity, presented the Cardijn Lecture 2024 on 14 November.

Her subject was “Patrick Keegan, first lay auditor to address Vatican II.”

WATCH THE VIDEO

Gospel: The tomb of prophets

One of the topics focused on in talkback radio recently was the Australian Government’s attempt to provide support for parents who feel powerless in the face of the destructive power of the algorithms used to control their children’s lives, writes Pat Branson.

The Australian Catholic Social Justice Statement for 2019-2020, titled Making It Real, deals with this threat. It is worth the time you take to find it online … in the statement, the authors refer to Pope Francis’ assertion that the Internet is a gift from God … because the authors of the statement address the very same issues highlighted by the Australian Government in its media releases about the purpose of the Bill that will be presented in the Federal Parliament before the end of the current sitting.

If you are reading this Gospel Enquiry, then you are already on the digital highway referred to in Making It Real.

DO THE GOSPEL ENQUIRY

The tomb of prophets (Gospel Enquiries)

Reflection: Theology, a catalyst for world change

In this month's Cardijn Reflection, Richard Pütz ponders the essence of theology. On the one hand, it's the systematic study of religious beliefs, concepts, and practices, he writes. At its core, theology examines questions about:

The nature of the divine/sacred
Religious texts and their interpretation
Faith and religious experience
Religious doctrine and traditions
The relationship between religion and other aspects of human life (ethics, culture, society)

On the other hand, there is a personal experience to theology that often is more focused on the "lived" experiences of meeting the Significant Other we call God.

Richard Pütz, Theology, a catalyst for world change (Cardijn Reflections)

Remembering Thomas J. McEntee, Laura Cattarin & Mary Anne (Gilsdorf) Pable

This month we remember three former US YCW leaders who have died recently.

Thomas J. McEntee (photo) was an active member in Northern Kentucky and participated in several Civil Rights Marches. He was proud to say that he marched alongside Martin Luther King, Jr.

Laura Cattarin (photo) from San Francisco met her future beloved husband and soulmate Gino Angelo Cattarin, at a YCW event in 1950.

Mary Anne (Gilsdorf) Pable from Wisconsin met Lawrence John Pable (Larry) at the Young Christian Workers group in Fond du Lac where she served as Vice President and Larry as the President. Mary and Larry wed on September 24, 1958 at St. Mary’s in Fond du Lac in a marriage mass officiated by Fr. Martin Pable, OFM Cap, Larry’s brother. They then joined the Christian Family Movement and served as active members for several years.

Thomas J. McEntee (Connley Bros)

Laura Cattarin (Legacy)

Mary Anne (Gilsdorf) Pable (KFIZ)

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October 2024

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:05:18 GMT

Remembering Gustavo Gutierrez

Friends,

As we prepared this edition of the newsletter, we were saddened to learn that liberation theology pioneer, Fr Gustavo Gutierrez, has died overnight at the age of 96. A Young Christian Students (YCS) chaplain as a young priest, he was a constant companion of the twin Pax Romana movements (IMCS and ICMICA) over many decades.

No doubt there will be many tributes to him and his work in the coming days. But we begin in this issue with a simple compilation of quotes from leaders and chaplains of our movements who knew and worked with him.

We also report on the highly successful Lay Mission and Vocation Conference in Rome co-sponsored by ten international lay apostolate movements, the Cardijn Community International and others from 9-13 October 2024. Already, the US Catholic media has published a series of reports.

The conference concluded with a special declaration addressed to participants in the Synod, calling for greater priority to be given to the promotion of the lay apostolate. The statement was endorsed at a moving Martyrs' Mass at the Domitilla Catacombs where the original 1965 Pact of the Catacombs was adopted.

This edition of our newsletter also includes the videos from an online conversation during the conference with Vatican nuncio to the US, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, and with US journalist, Nate Tinner-Williams on synodality.

Since our last edition, many have asked for more details on the life of Joseph Cardijn, founder of the Young Christian Workers (YCW) movement. Perhaps the best place to start is with this very short biography by the late Fr Eugene Langdale.

A new book by Stefan Gigacz, Rediscovering Joseph Cardijn, was also launched during the conference and will be available in the US in 2025.

This month we also mark the World Day for Decent Work with an article by German Fr Stefan Eirich, chaplain to the World Movement of Christian Workers, the global movement with which the Catholic Labor Network is affiliated.

The Cardijn Associates Team

Lay apostolic movement leaders around the world are expressing their appreciation for the life of the late Fr Gustavo Gutierrez, the Peruvian liberation theology pioneer, who died on 22 October 2024 at the age of 96.

As a young priest, Fr Gustavo was a chaplain to the Young Christian Students and Catholic university students movements.

“Today, we mourn the passing of Fr Gustavo Gutiérrez, a profound theologian and chaplain of IMCS Peru (Unión Nacional de Estudiantes Católicos del Perú UNEC),” the Pax Romana IMCS team wrote in a Facebook tribute.

Remembering Gustavo Gutierrez

Leaders re-affirm importance of lay apostolate

Fifty lay leaders from thirty countries working with ten international lay apostolate movements and the Cardijn Community met in Rome from 9-13 October 2024 to study the theme “Lay Mission and Vocation.”

On Saturday 12 October, participants celebrated a Mass of Martyrs at the Domitilla Catacombs, recalling the many lay leaders and chaplains of the movements, who have been martyred over the course of the last century.

There they adopted a message addressed to lay leaders at the Second Session of Synod on Synodality, which is currently under way, reaffirming the original 1965 Pact of the Catacombs for a servant Church of the Poor.

In their message, they also called on the Synod to clearly affirm the primacy of the baptismal vocation and the need to work to ensure that all lay people will become protagonists of a synodal Church that promotes the formation of responsible citizens active in the world.

Lay leaders re-affirm primacy of baptismal vocation (ACI)

DOWNLOAD THE STATEMENT

Protagonists of synodality

MORE CONFERENCE REPORTS

Michael Centore, October 11: An Apostolate of Like to Like (Today's American Catholic)

Nate Tinner-Williams, Catholic Action reps renew 'Pact of the Catacombs' in Rome, marking solidarity with the poor (Black Catholic Messenger)

Camillo Barone, Worldwide Catholic lay leaders call for inclusive church at Rome conference (National Catholic Reporter)

Stefan Gigacz, Lay leaders re-affirm primacy of baptismal vocation (Australian Cardijn Institute)

Stefan Gigacz, Lay movements challenge Synod to prioritise lay apostolate (Synodal Reflections)

Lay leaders re-affirm primacy of baptismal vocation (CathNews)

Video: Being a synodal missionary church

Last month, Cardijn Associates USA and the Australian Cardijn Institute hosted Nate Tinner-Williams, co-founder and editor of the Black Catholic Messenger, for a webinar on “Being a Synodal Missionary Church”on Saturday 28 September, 2024.

Nate travelled to Rome to report on the Second Assembly of the Synod on Synodality, which will take place during the month of October 2024.

READ NATE'S REPORT FROM ROME

Catholic Action reps renew 'Pact of the Catacombs' in Rome, marking solidarity with the poor (Black Catholic Messenger)

WATCH THE VIDEO

Access to decent work essential

The promotion of social justice and an economy for life to which our movement is committed for the next 4 years is only possible if every man and woman has access to decent work, i.e. a job, appropriate remuneration (in cash or in kind), safety at work and healthy working conditions, writes Fr Stefan Eirich, chaplain to the World Movement of Christian Workers.

Unfortunately, trends in the current global political situation seem intent on wiping out the few gains and small steps made so far in terms of personal rights and freedoms. The spectacular rise to power of extreme right-wing parties poses an unprecedented threat to the values of democracy, the rule of law, equality and fairness.

On the celebration of the World Day for Decent Work on October 7, 2024, we join the movements of Europe in their declaration against the rise to power of extreme right-wing parties and their effects on the enjoyment of personal rights and decent work.

Message from the World Movement of Christian Workers (WMCW) on the World Day for Decent Work 2024 (World Movement of Christian Workers)

From precarious work to just work and dignified life (International Young Christian Workers)

Book: Joseph Cardijn Rediscovered

ACI is pleased to announce the publication of Stefan Gigacz’s new book entitled Joseph Cardijn Rediscovered, which was launched with a special Synod edition during the Lay Mission and Vocation Conference in Rome on 11 October 2024.

Subtitled “Mission, Method, Method,” the book traces the origins and sources of Cardijn’s thought and methods.

An Australian edition of the book is expected to be available in early 2025 at $29.95 plus postage.

Joseph Cardijn Rediscovered

Video: Conversation with Cardinal Pierre

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Holy See Nuncio to the United States joined participants at the Lay Mission and Vocation Conference in Rome for an online conversation on 9 October 2024.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

History: Pat Keegan's historic speech to Vatican II

On 13 October 1964, Patrick Keegan took the floor to speak to the bishops of the Second Vatican Council, the first lay person to speak in a General Congregation, writes Pat Jones in The Tablet.

It was the final day of the debate on the draft decree on the lay apostolate. Fr John Fitzsimons, an English national chaplain to the Young Christian Workers (YCW), recalled in his eulogy at Keegan’s funeral that there was “a murmur of anticipation around the assembly as Archbishop Krol led a layman to the microphone."

It was a long way from the beginning of the Council, when the preparatory commission working on the lay apostolate had met without any lay people present

Pat Keegan, first lay person to address Vatican II

Gospel: Anxious to see Jesus?

Why would Herod be anxious to see Jesus? asks Pat Branson in this month's Gospel Enquiry.

The man we meet in the Gospels lusted for power. Being so focused on himself and the satisfaction of his own wants, Herod ruled by fear and ridicule with no regard for human life or for the culture of the people of his land.

He built the city of Tiberius, in honor of the Roman emperor, on the western shore of Lake Galilee. He unwisely chose land that was a Jewish cemetery and was incensed when none of his fellow Jews would live in the city he built.

Anxious to see Jesus? (Gospel Enquiries)

Reflection: Discipleship, freedom and grace

Through our work in this world, we often find ourselves at the intersection of civic life and faith; we often encounter a Church and world grappling with deep divisions and profound questions about what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ, writes Richard Pütz.

This is similar to the times and experiences of Joseph Cardijn, or for that matter, the life and times of Deitrich Bonhoeffer or Thomas Merton.

These three men, Cardijn, Bonhoeffer, and Merton, lived at a time when the world was divided and often on fire, much like our world today. Their lives were simultaneously in the world, just as ours are.

Though their lives never really crossed each other's paths, they were all focused on what it meant to live in the Kingdom of God here and now. Each was prophetic and spoke to a suffering world, their message resonating across time and space, connecting us to a larger narrative.

Discipleship, freedom, and grace (Cardijn Reflections)

Lebanon YCS solidarity action

YCS leaders in Lebanon are organising the distribution of relief in the war torn south of the country.

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