The relevance of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn

Monday 1 May 2017

from 10 am to 1 pm in the Church of Our Lady of Laeken

National celebration of 50 years Joseph Cardijn death

Cardijn is the founder of the International YCW

( JOC- Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne)

And the inspiration of Christian social organizations.

The relevance of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn

Extracted from the Intervention of Jean-Pierre Delville, Bishop of Liege

(Aachen, 25 September 2016)

Still in our world today, many people suffer from poverty: poverty prevails in many southern countries, injustice hits populations suffering under dictatorships, working conditions are often very hard, there is no social security or health safety, the ecological and weather conditions are worsening and put a lot of people in danger. A renewed awareness and outrage is necessary to set us in motion. This is why the role of young people is important in this regard: indeed, young people are more sensitive than adults to injustice. So it is a joy to see YCW young people today be outraged at the conditions prevailing in the world, just like young Cardijn was in 1894.

Cardijn got committed and called young people to establish social justice and projects that defend workers in order to move forward concretely. Nowadays, Pope Francis is a great energy catalyst that awakens consciences and opens new horizons for the future.

Cardijn understood the relevance of young people to change the society. This youth awareness of the world is fundamental, today more than ever. In a world that is changing a lot because of new technology, young people are in a leading position to be actors of change, but their conscience has to be formed.

The See-Judge-Act method is an inductive method, opposite to the deductive method. The deductive method started out from the theory to lead to action. The inductive method started out from field observations (the “See”), it analyzed those situations at the light of the gospel, the life of Jesus and social work instruments (the “Judge”), then led to action (the “Act”).

During the two world wars, Cardijn was made prisoner and spent many months in prison. His action for justice bothered the enemies. He managed to resist being crushed, thanks to his faith, his readings and his friendship for other prisoners. There are many men and women who, in today’s world, are suffering because of their faith or their social commitment. As Cardijn’s example, he sheds light on his capacity to the oppressed through his solidarity with the poor.

For the cause of young workers in the world, he went on more than twenty international trips. He became an architect of justice throughout the world. That world awareness should mobilize us today.

 

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Contact person : Jacques Hanon 0476 85 58 77 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.