October 11: An Apostolate of Like to Like

“Knowledge of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn’s ideas and methods has often been reduced to a few famous phrases: ‘See-Judge-Act,’ ‘by, with and for young workers,’ or the iconic ‘every young worker is worth more than all the gold in the world,’” writes Stefan Gigacz in his recently published book, Joseph Cardijn Rediscovered. “People sometimes even refer to Cardijn’s intuitions as if the methods of his movement were based on little more than a series of aphorisms.”

The oversight is something that Gigacz and others inspired by the life and work of the Belgian priest and founder of the Young Christian Workers (Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne) are hoping to remedy.

This week, members of several lay movements tracing their origins to Cardijn’s teachings have gathered at the Villa Lante in Rome to reflect on the lay apostolate, ministry, and vocation in the 21st century. They see Cardijn as a prophet of “participatory ecclesiology” that centers the contributions of the laity in the church and the world, and also of methods of “listening in action” that have found new forms of expression in the Synod on Synodality.

Cardijn was born in 1882 and ordained in 1906. The lay movement Catholic Action was ascendant at that time, and its model of faith and social action—particularly its focus on workers’ rights—made an impression on the young priest. He founded the group that would become the Young Christian Workers in 1919.

In collaboration with others, Cardijn continued to develop theories and practices of a socially engaged, faithfully grounded lay apostolate throughout the subsequent decades. Among the most well-known is his concept of “Review of Life,” or the “See-Judge-Act” method of evaluating and responding to the events of daily life.

By the 1950s, Cardijn’s influence on lay movements was widespread. There were two world congresses of lay apostolates before the Second Vatican Council, one in October 1951 and another six years later. Both were held in Rome.

The visibility of lay movements within the church would go on to influence the proceedings of the council. As Dr. Kevin Ahern, former president of the Cardijn-inspired International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS) and one of the organizers of this week’s conference, has written: “In 1963, Pope Paul VI made the historic move of appointing a group of lay auditors—or listeners—to the Second Vatican Council. While the small group of men (and later women) who comprised this cohort were appointed in a personal capacity, nearly all held or once leadership roles in international lay movements.”

The inclusion of the lay auditors marked the first time that laypeople who were not monarchs or diplomats were allowed to participate an ecumenical council. In many ways, they were the forerunners of today’s lay Synod delegates.

At panel discussions with delegates from various lay apostolic movements held as part of the conference on Thursday morning, Ahern explained to me that what differentiates these movements from other groups is that they are made up of laypeople elected by their peers.

Lay ministries are typically run by trained professionals or lay consecrated leaders “from above,” Ahern said, while the apostolates in the Cardijn tradition are “organized by the participants themselves.”

The apostolate groups are “specialized models of, for, and by their target populations,” Ahern said, citing an example of how young people minister to other young people within the groups.

“It is members of the target milieu who are in the leadership roles,” he said.

Today there are about a dozen lay movements in the Cardijn tradition, including movements for workers, farmers, students, professionals, children, and families. Most groups begin as communities of young people, and as members age they create “adult counterparts” to continue the work of their apostolate.

Ahern also shared that several of the movement groups are involved in United Nations advocacy work and have collaborated in official capacities with organizations such as UNESCO.

At Thursday’s panels, delegates from the “Cardijn family” of apostolate groups shared their recent activities, challenges, and hopes for the future.

In the first panel, opening speaker Timothy Joksch of the International Young Catholic Workers (ICYW) shared a national movement the group is spearheading in Bavaria to organize hospital workers. Nurses in the country work 24-hour shifts, he said, leading to a high burnout rate. He called this “a topic for the whole society.”

Joksch identified language barriers as a current challenge in the group’s work. Members speak Polish, Spanish, Ukrainian, and several others. “Organizing workers that don’t speak the same language is a really hard job,” he said.

Joksch concluded a hopeful note: “The whole people of God are very different,” he said, “and they also want to say something in the church.”

Krishnakar Kummari, former president of and now world advisor to the International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth (MIJARC), shared that the group involves more than 3 million people across four continents. Recently, a young woman from a tribal community became the world president, demonstrating the MIJARC’s commitment to gender equality.

Kummari also shared how members of marginalized communities, such as the Dalit caste in India, “are having an equal opportunity to participate in forums” because of the Catholic Action movements inspired by Cardijn.

Stefan Eirich, a delegate from the World Movement of Christian Workers (WMCW), referred to the group as “a community based on solidarity and mutual empathy.”

The WMCW has developed a plan to support delivery workers, Eirich said. Goals include securing respectful working conditions and limiting the weight of packages to under 45 pounds.

“My movement takes action for all workers, regardless of race or religion,” he said. He stressed how Cardijn’s tradition allows for the education of lay chaplains—women as well as men.

One of these female chaplains is Joceline Minerve, a former Minister of Social Welfare in Mauritius and member of the International Movement for the Apostolate of Children (MIDADE). She and another laywoman from South Africa recently became chaplains to the group, a position that brought to my mind potential connections to the women’s diaconate.

MIDADE is celebrating its 72nd year and has members from 40 countries. Minerve explained that the group is “by children, for children,” with a mission of inspiring children to be “actors in the world and in the church.”

“We want children to become active and real baptized Christians,” she said. All voting delegates in the organization are children themselves, thus giving them the tools “to be protagonists in their life.”

“We want to move children to get involved in the world of children,” she continued.

MIDADE has worked with UNICEF on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Minerve said that the greatest challenge facing the group today is war, as there are members in Lebanon, Africa, and other nations threatened by conflict.

“Children are the most vulnerable to war,” she said.

Gigacz, a scholar of Cardijn and other Catholic social movements, shared some of the latest developments of the Centre International Cardijn. Cardijn’s documents are “scattered all over the world,” he said, and the goal of the center is to collect, collate, translate, and disseminate his works for researchers and others.

Gigacz noted how the language of the pre–Vatican II era focused on Catholic social action, while the post-conciliar era tends toward Catholic Social Teaching.

“We have moved from ‘action’ to ‘teaching,’” he said. “The church has forgotten about movements.”

A second panel featured delegates from Cardijn Community International, the International Movement for the Apostolate of Independent Milieux (MIAMSI), Pax Romana IMCS (International Movement of Catholic Students), Pax Romana ICMICA (International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs), and the International Young Catholic Students (IYCS).

Fasika Lachore Laba of Pax Romana IMCS related the experience of the group’s meeting with Pope Francis last month.

“The Holy Father called on us for action” and “to be agents of social change,” Laba said. He described the work of the lay apostolate as “a revolution of charity and service” and underscored the need “to adopt the synodal way of leadership.”

Ana Maria Bidegain of Pax Romana ICMICA relayed that the group has recently been moved “to analyze our history” in a synodal perspective.

“The history of our movement is a fundamental chapter of the history of our church in the 20th century,” she said. The movement marked the first time laypeople were called to be part of an apostolate, she said, a breakthrough that is necessary to elaborate upon and deepen for the synodal church in the 21st century.

For Roy Ibrahim of IYCS, this involves greater lay participation in climate education. “We wanted our youth to be more aware of why we are talking about climate education,” he said, especially the connection between “care for creation” and “treatment of the Creator.”

IYCS is present in 86 countries and has 2 million members, mainly located in Africa and Asia.

Ibrahim explained that the group favors a “holistic” approach to popular education. “We want our leaders to be equipped with the tools and knowledge to be catalysts for change,” he said.

Minerve summarized the practical and spiritual works of the various lay apostolates in her concluding remarks.

“We are more and more a minority in the world,” she said, but “our mission is a great one.” She compared the work of the lay apostolates to the Parable of the Mustard Seed.

“The majority of the baptized are laypeople,” she said. “We are playing the role of the salt of the earth.” ♦

Michael Centore
Editor, Today’s American Catholic

Image: Members of lay apostolate groups participate in a panel discussion at the “Lay Mission and Vocation Conference,” Villa Lante, Rome, October 10, 2024.

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