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Joseph Cardijn

Born on 13 November 1882, Leon Joseph Cardijn began his studies for the priesthood in the minor seminary at Malines, Belgium in September 1897.

Upon his return home for school vacation, he experienced the great shock that was to set the direction of his priestly life when his former schoolmates, already working in factories, rejected his friendship.

He would devote the rest of his life to repairing the gap that had arisen between the Church and the working class.

Six years later as his father lay dying of a work-related illness, he made his vow of consecration to the workers.

After ordination in 1906, he studied for one year at the University of Louvain where he was taught by Professor Victor Brants, a disciple of the French pioneer sociologist, Frederic Le Play.

Assisted by Brants, Cardijn studied many of the leading social movements of the day, including the Sillon in France, the German worker movement, etc.

In 1911, he would make an important trip to the United Kingdom where he met the Christian Socialist and trade union leader Ben Tillett, whose work of worker education much influenced Cardijn.

After teaching Latin for five years in a rural college, Cardijn was finally appointed to the parish of Our Lady of Laeken at Easter 1912.

There he met Madeleine de Roo, Victoire Cappe, Fernand Tonnet and Paul Garcet who would work with him in launching study circles of young workers that would become in effect the first YCW groups.

By 1925, the study circles had grown into a movement and held their first national congress.

After much hesitation from Brussels Cardinal Mercier, Cardijn was allowed to make a visit to Pope Pius XI, who immediately approved and gave his blessing to the Young Christian Workers movement.

The movement spread rapidly to France and later across Europe. Its first International Congress took place in Brussels in 1935.

After World War II, Cardijn moved to formalise the development of the international YCW with the establishment of the first coordinating team.

The first International Council was finally held in Rome in 1957, opening with a congress of 32,000 young workers from around the world.

When Pope John XXXII became pontiff, Cardijn suggested to him the publication of an encyclical to mark the 70th anniversary of Rerum Novarum. This became Pope John’s encyclical Mater et Magistra which also formally approves the See Judge Act as part of the Church’s social practice.

After being names as a member of a commission preparing Vatican II, Pope Paul VI finally named him bishop and Cardinal in 1965 so that he was able to participate as a Council Father in the last session of the Council.