The Malines Congresses were a series of Catholic Congresses held in Mechelen (French: Malines), Belgium, with the purpose of bringing together Catholics with leading roles in all walks of life, on the model of the German Katholikentage.[1] The first three, held in 1863, 1864 and 1867, had considerable cultural, social and political impact.[2] They lay at the foundation of the future development of a Catholic Party in Belgian politics,[3] as well as a nascent Social Catholicism.[4] The first congress saw the establishment of the Guild of Saint Thomas and Saint Luke, which shaped Belgian Gothic Revival architecture and art education.[5] The main organiser of the first three congresses was Édouard Ducpétiaux, who died in 1868.[6] They were hosted in Mechelen by the archbishop, Engelbert Sterckx, who died in December 1867,[4] although much of the practical management fell to Isidore-Joseph du Rousseaux, a teacher at the junior seminary where many of the sessions were held.[7]

Further congresses were held in 1891, 1909,[8] and 1936.

First Congress

The first Catholic Congress in Mechelen was held from 18 to 22 August 1863.[1] The main speakers invited were Cardinal Wiseman, who spoke on the condition of Catholics in England, and Charles de Montalembert, who spoke on the principle of religious liberty.[9]

Second Congress

The second congress was held from 29 August to 3 September 1864.[1] For the occasion, an exhibition of ecclesiastical art was organised in Mechelen through to the end of September.[10]

Third Congress

The third congress was held from 2 to 7 September 1867.[1] It led directly to the 1868 founding of a Federation of Belgian Catholic Workers' Associations (a precursor of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions).[11]

Sixth Congress

The sixth congress was held in 1936. On 10 September, Georges Lemaître delivered an address on Catholic culture and exact science.[12] The papers delivered to the sixth congress were published in French and in Dutch as an eight-volume series entitled Actes du VIe Congrès catholique de Malines and Verhandelingen van het VIe Katholiek Kongres van Mechelen respectively.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 M. Defourny, Les Congrès Catholiques en Belgique (Leuven, 1908) On Internet Archive.
  2. ↑ Jan Aart, Jan De Maeyer, Ward De Pril and Leo Kenis, "Church Reform and Modernity in Belgium", in The Dynamics of Religious Reform in Northern Europe, 1780-1920. II: The Churches, edited by Joris van Eijnatten and Paula Yates (Leuven, 2010), p. 112.
  3. ↑ Stathis N. Kalyvas, The Rise of Christian Democracy in Europe (Cornell University Press, 1996), pp. 187-188.
  4. 1 2 Carl Strikwerda, "Malines Congress", Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Politics: L-Z, edited by Roy Palmer Domenico and Mark Y. Hanley (Greenwood Press, 2006), pp. 351-352.
  5. ↑ Jan De Maeyer, "Pro Arte Christiana: Catholic Art Guilds, Gothic Revival and the Cultural Identity of the Rhine-Meuse Region", in Historism and Cultural Identity in the Rhine-Meuse Region, edited by Wolfgang Cortjaens and Tom Verschaffel (Leuven, 2008), pp. 161-162.
  6. ↑ Edmond Rubbens, "Edouard Ducpétiaux et les Congrès Catholiques de Malines", Revue catholique des idées et des faits, vol. 6, no. 46 (4 February 1927), pp. 11-13. Online at Liège University Library.
  7. ↑ A. Simon, "Rousseaux (Isidore-Joseph du)", Biographie Nationale de Belgique, vol. 30 (Brussels, 1958), 752.
  8. ↑ Frans Van Cauwelaert, "Nabetrachting op 't congres te Mechelen", Dietsche Warande en Belfort (1909), pp. 330-337 (On dbnl.org)
  9. ↑ "The Roman Catholic Congress at Malines". Empire. 16 Oct 1863.
  10. ↑ William Henry James Weale (ed.), Catalogue des objets d'art religieux du Moyen-Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes exposés à l'Hôtel Liedekerke à Malines, septembre 1864 (2nd ed., Brussels, Charles Lelong, 1864) On Google Books.
  11. ↑ Jan De Maeyer, "La Ligue Démocratique Belge et ses antécédents", in Histoire du mouvement ouvrier chrétien en Belgique, edited by Emmanuel Gerard and Paul Wynants, vol. 2 (Leuven, 1994), p. 20.
  12. ↑ Georges Lemaître, "La culture catholique et les sciences positives", in Actes du VIe Congrès catholique de Malines, vol. 5 (Brussels, 1937), pp. 65-70.
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