Lay Apostolate

This thesis studies the contribution of Joseph Cardijn and other bishops and theologians from the YCW (JOC) movement in helping develop the Vatican II vision of lay apostolate, and in the Council’s adoption of the jocist see-judge-act methodology and vision of a Church deeply concerned with the present world.

How then do we cut through the present tension
and polarization we find influencing the Church and the world? How do we deal genuinely and humbly with the factors leading to our current cultural and ecclesial decay through the eyes of faith? These contemporary challenges show the need to develop a theology of ordinary prophecy in the life of the Church as it relates to her life, the lay apostolate, the priesthood, and the teachings of the Magisterium.

Georges Guérin, founding chaplain of the French Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne (JOC) movement, worked with Joseph Cardijn for over 40 years, promoting and developing the movement. When Cardijn came into conflict with his own archbishop, Cardinal Suenens, during Vatican II, Guérin came to Cardijn's aid, launching a personal campaign to promote and distribute the latter's book, Laïcs en premières lignes (Lay people into Action), to prominent French bishops and theologians. This occurred at a key moment of the Council when the future of Schema XIII, the future Gaudium et Spes, was at stake.

Die Bestände des Wiener Archivs umfassen etwa sieben Laufmeter Aktenmaterial und enthalten Protokolle, Briefe und einige von der Legion herausgegebene Publikationen. Drei gebundene Briefsammlungen im Archiv umfassen Briefe des Gründers der Legion, Frank Duff, an die Gesandte Marie-Victoire Zacherl (1954–1979), an Anna Coreth (1954–1963) und an verschiedene österreichische Senatuspräsidenten aus der Zeit von 1948 bis 1979. Recherchen im Wiener Legionsarchiv könnten Einsichten in die pastorale Arbeit und Sozialgeschichte Österreichs seit der Nachkriegszeit bereichern. Regelmäßige Berichterstattung von Hausbesuchen, Verkündigung des Evangeliums im Rotlichtmilieu und in der Gefangenenseelsorge ergibt eine dichte Dokumentation über die Bewegung in Österreich und an den Einsatzorten österreichischer Legionäre bis nach Russland und in die Türkei.

Maynooth University
Ollscoil Mhá Nuad
Department of History
Post-Doctoral Researcher - Frank Duff Cause for Canonisation
(12 Month Contract)

The Role
Maynooth University is committed to a strategy in which the primary University goals of excellent
research and scholarship and outstanding education are interlinked and equally valued.

We are seeking an excellent postdoctoral researcher with skills in historical research and in the
organisation of the records associated with that research. This is a joint project between the Department
of History, Maynooth University and the Historical Commission for the Cause for the Canonisation of
Frank Duff (1889-1980), Legion of Mary. The project mentor is Dr Jacinta Prunty, head of the
Department of History, Maynooth University.
The person appointed will have a proven record of archival research and of publication, appropriate to
career stage. They will have an overall understanding of the historical context (religious, social,
economic) in which this project on the life of Frank Duff (1889-1980) is situated.

The ideal candidate will have:
 A PhD in a relevant discipline (completed);
 A strong academic record in archival research;
 A record of scholarly work and publication appropriate to career stage and demonstrating
potential to become a significant contributor in their field;
 Ability to work collaboratively with archivists, historians, and members of the Historical
Commission for the Cause for the Canonisation of Frank Duff and with the project mentor;
 Excellent administrative and organisational skills.

The story of Cardijn's decisive influence at the First World Congress on Lay Apostolate 1951 and his landmark speech, "The World Today and the Lay Apostolate."

This speech foreshadowed and prepared the path for the Vatican II conception of lay apostolate in Lumen Gentium and Apostolicam Actuositatem and the see-judge-act format adopted by Gaudium et Spes.

This article traces the origins of the Young Christian Workers (YCW) movement as a response by Belgian priest Joseph Cardijn to the problems of industrialising Europe in the early 20th century. It explains the virtue ethics basis of the YCW's "see judge act" method, which drew on the "method of democratic education" pioneered by Marc Sangnier's movement, Le Sillon. This "see judge act" method in fact formed part of Cardijn's broader dialectical "Three Truths" framework of faith, experience and method, which sought to form young workers to understand their "specifically lay apostolate" as lay people transforming their lives, milieux  of life and world. The documents of the Second Vatican Council later incorporated many aspects of this vision and method, which also formed the basis for the "new evangelisation" approach adopted by the bishops of Latin America at the CELAM conference in Bogota in 1968. Addressing th...