Worker-Priest

Worker priests are Catholic priests who perform physical work and so come into contact with workers.

Beginnings of the movement

The movement has its origins in Belgium and France in the 1920s and 1930s. In Brussels, Joseph Cardijn founded in 1924 the Association of the CAJ, the spread in the following years about Paris in very many industrial sites in France. But despite their success remained significant differences between the workers and the long-established civic minded pastors exist. In order to overcome this distance, there was part of the church different, independent experiments.

The Dominican Jacques Loew and Louis Lebret founded in 1941, the Study Center Économie et humanisme, and Loew moved in the same year in the port district of Marseille to know first hand the living conditions of the workers. He took a job as a dock worker and became the first worker priests in France. His impressions he summarized in his report from the docks.

1942, a seminar of the Mission de France was founded in Lisieux, the two others followed. The objective was to train candidates for the priesthood to work in unchurched areas by laying emphasis on various internships in industry and agriculture.

Henri Godin and Yvan Daniel, two chaplains of the CAJ, published in 1943 the book " La France, Pays de mission? ", Which saw the only possibility of a rapprochement between the Church and labor in the establishment of adapted to the needs of the workers parishes. One of the proponents of this study was the Cardinal of Paris, Emmanuel Suhard. He called an initially from 15 people ( including two laywomen ) existing group to study the Mission de Paris, who settled in Paris working-class neighborhoods and tried to proselytize the workers.

Another approach rather evolved as a byproduct during the Second World War, when many French people were taken to Germany to work in the defense industry. These could not be cared for by the French clergy. To circumvent this prohibition, 25 clergymen were camouflaged by the French church leadership as ordinary workers sent to Germany 1943-1944. Most of them were discovered and imprisoned by the Gestapo. The illegal pastor noticed in this environment, how much the working class milieu of their own roots differed, and included some friendships with members of the KPD or the Resistance.

The further development to the prohibition

By 1945, encouraged or tolerated the French bishops and the Curia, the spread of the movement of the worker priests. Only after concerns have been raised in Rome, but for the time being, the project was continued as an experiment. In various industrial cities of the Mission de Paris set up new locations. However, died in 1949 Cardinal Suhard, who had the movement always reacted very favorably. At this time there were about 100 priests who had now moved its main site of action in all the factories. Many joined the Communist trade union, because they saw no representations of workers in the Christian trade unions. They were also involved in demonstrations and strikes, which caused quite a stir, especially as 1952 two priests were arrested during a demonstration.

This development of the approach to communist ideas and the increasing identification with the goals of the workers as well as the questioning of the traditional priests image disliked the church leaders. Instead of closing the gap between workers and church, as it was originally intended, the worker priests were found on the side of the proletariat again while the trench was always wider.

The pressure of the Curia made ​​sure that the worker priests were increasingly isolated. The first official action against the worker priests was the prohibition of physical work for all candidates for the priesthood, both the religious and the secular clergy in the fall of 1953. Was communicated to the bishops and religious superiors by the papal nuncio Shortly after that all workers priests had to leave their posts. The ultimatum expired on March 1, 1954. Even before the Jesuits had taken off her seven workers priest on 28 December 1953 and the Dominicans followed shortly prior to the expiration of the ultimatum. In protest, an article was published in the French press, which had been signed by 73 workers priests.

In 1959, the theologically justified ban, as the Holy Office believes priests should act not by work, but by proclamation of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments.

New impetus by the Second Vatican Council

In the course of the second Vatican Council, the role of the priest was to the extent covered, that a connection between priesthood and physical labor could be made. The worker priests took advantage of the opportunity that offered the council and managed to be present at all sessions, even if they were not officially involved as a consultant. Also, the help of sympathizing with them conciliar theologians such as Yves Congar consultants and bishops OP, who had used earlier for the movement, allowed the worker priests, to achieve the re-evaluation of the priesthood.

Through the virtual repeal of the prohibition of worker priests by the Council, the number of worker priests increased, until finally like almost 1000 of them in 1979 in factories worked. But even outside of France were priests in the factories, as in Italy, Belgium and Spain. In Germany also projects were launched, so founded the Dominicans in Bottrop a community, worked out by the brothers in companies and also in mining.