December 2025
Christmas edition - Juanito Penequito - Pope warns on workplace accidents - Enrique Shaw - New Pax Romana leadership - Pact of the Catacombs
Friends
Welcome to our Christmas edition!
This issue we begin sadly with the news of the death of our friend and former IYCW president, Juanito Penequito, who died in the Philippines after a short illness.
We share news from the JOC in Venezuela of their action with dependent workers.
Pope Leo warns on workplace accidents.
We remember the Argentine Cardijn apostle, Enrique Ernesto Shaw, who is to be beatified soon.
The International YCS is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Asian secretariat . We we also highlight the 60th anniversary of the Vatican II document, Gaudium et Spes, and of the Pact of the Catacombs.
Pax Romana ICMICA has a new leadership team with Catalan writer Carles Torner as president.
Plus more news in our social media updates.
The Centre International Team
Remembering Juanito Penequito
Former International YCW president, Juanito Penequito, died in Manila, Philippines on 15 December 2025 after a short illness.
“He lived his life completely devoted to what he believed in, as part of his commitment to building a new society,” wrote Felix Ollarves, who succeeded Juanito as IYCW president.
Juanito and his late wife Wenilou Pradel (above) both played a huge role in the Philippines YCW and the International YCW for many years.
We remember their commitment to the movement and to young workers. And we express our condolences to their son, Vincent, and all other family members and friends.
READ MORE
Pope Leo warns on workplace accidents
Addressing a gathering of the Professional Register of the Association of Labour Consultants, Pope Leo warned that there are still too many workplace accidents.
In his talk, he highlighted three particularly important: the protection of human dignity, mediation, and the promotion of safety.
READ MORE
Too many workplace accidents: Pope Leo
JOC Venezuela organises dependent workers
In 2023-2024, JOC Venezuela conducted a national survey that revealed young people in dependent employment were unaware of their rights.
Several of the JOC Guayana activists are dependent workers (cleaners, vendors, teachers, apprentices) and they decided to initiate training workshops on labor rights in order to acquire the tools to defend those rights and take organized action with other young people.
They mapped out their relationships to identify which of their friends were dependent workers so they could invite them to participate in this process.
READ MORE
JOC Guayana: Action Against Precarious Work to Make Young People Aware of Their Labor Rights (JOCI)
Argentine Cardijn apostle to be beatified
Pope Leo XIV has authorised the promulgation of a decree for the beatification of Argentine Cardijn apostle and entrepreneur, Enrique Ernesto Shaw.
Visiting Chicago in 1945, Shaw met with US YCW chaplain, Msgr. Reynold Hillenbrand, who convinced him that he would never be “just another worker,” but could make a difference as a businessman, OSV News reports.
Under Hillenbrand’s guidance, Shaw left the Navy and entered the business world, convinced that economic life was not separate from the Gospel, but one of its most demanding arenas.
That connection has drawn the attention of Pope Leo XIV, himself from Chicago. In a message to Argentina’s XXXI Industrial Conference, the pope wrote that Shaw’s life demonstrates it is “possible to be both a businessman and a saint, that economic efficiency and fidelity to the Gospel are not mutually exclusive, and that charity can penetrate even industrial and financial structures.”
He married Cecilia Bunge, with whom he had nine children; he joined Catholic Action and the Christian Family Movement, promoting various other associations related to the world of work and publishing conferences, articles and essays. In 1961, he was appointed president of Hombres de Acción Católica. He died of cancer on 27 August 1961.
READ MORE
With Enrique Shaw on path to sainthood, Vatican confirms you can be a holy businessman (OSV News)
Argentine Cardijn apostle to be beatified
Enrique Ernesto Shaw (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)
IYCS Asia marks 50 years
The International Young Catholic Students (IYCS) marked fifty years of Asian coordination with a week-long exchange in Bengaluru, bringing together chaplains, animators, alumni, and student leaders from seven countries, writes CM Paul in Matters India.
The YCS movement traces its roots to the aftermath of the Second World War. Founded in 1946, the International YCS set itself the mission of forming students committed to building peace through justice, freedom, and respect for human dignity. Using the “see–judge–act” methodology, generations of young Catholics have been encouraged to critically engage with social realities, discern them in the light of faith, and take transformative action.
READ MORE
Pax Romana ICMICA elects new leadership
Pax Romana ICMICA, an international lay movement of Catholic academics and professionals, has elected Catalan poet and human rights activist, Dr Carles Torner, (above photo) as its new president.
The election took place at the movement’s quadrennial General Assembly in Lisbon, Portugal on 15-16 November 2025.
“This is a very special moment for Pax Romana in which we are engaged in a practical exercise of synodality that defines our way of being a Church,” Dr Torner commented while presenting his candidacy.
“I am convinced that Pax Romana’s international dimension is essential for the life of our federations,” he continued. “We are resisting a world that is suffering under a variety of authoritarian powers that aim to undermine this conception of the world,” he noted.
READ MORE
Pax Romana professionals elect new team
Pact of the Catacombs 1965-2025
A small group of pilgrims from the Dorothy Day Guild in the USA commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Pact of the Catacombs at the Domitilla Catacombs near Rome on Saturday 29 November 2025.
Participants include two of Dorothy Day’s granddaughters, Kate Hennessy and Martha Hennessy. Dorothy Day Guild chair, Professor Kevin Ahern and vice-chair Deirdre Connell also joined the special prayer service.
During the event, Stefan Gigacz represented the Centre International Cardijn and the Australian Cardijn Institute at the event, explaining the history of the Pact which originated with Helder Camara’s proposal for two masses for the poor and for workers and that participating bishops take a vow inspired by Cardijn’s own personal consecration of his life to young workers and the working class.
READ MORE
Pact of the Catacombs Memorial III
Social media
Jacques Delors 100 years
Jacques Delors was a French YCW leader, who later became the president of the European Commission. He often credited the role of the YCW in his formation.
Young People for Development see-judge-act in Myanmar
JEC Burkina Faso celebrate independence
Join the Centre International Cardijn
Membership form here: