January 2026
Venezuela - Peace - Pope Leo on Vatican II - Gustavo Gutierrez - YCW Centenary
Friends,
Welcome to our first newsletter for 2026.
We begin with the disturbing story of US intervention in Venezuela and share the response of the Venezuelan YCW.
In this context, it’s significant that Pope Leo has declared 2026 to be the Year of St Francis, the peacemaker. Pope Leo has also announced an important series of weekly talks on the teaching of Vatican II, where Cardijn and his colleagues played such an important role.
Stefan Gigacz reminds us of the 50th anniversary of the martyrdom of Argentinian jocist chaplain Blessed Enrique Angelelli in 1976, the 140th anniversary of the birht of Cardijn’s early collaborator Victoire Cappe (above) and the 75th anniversary of the First World Congress on Lay Apostolate in 1951, where Cardijn played such a vital role.
We share a reflection on the ongoing relevance of liberation theologian and YCS chaplain, Fr Gustavo Gutierrez and a reflection by former IYCW leader, Ezequiel Ávila Curiel, reminds us of the struggles that Cardijn also faced.
And we have the trailer for the forthcoming documentary on the history of the YCW in Quebec.
The Centre International Cardijn Team
IYCW condemns US intervention in Venezuela
The International Young Christian Workers (IYCW) has released a statement strongly condemning “the military aggression, foreign intervention, and the reported kidnapping of the Head of the state of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, carried out by the government of the United States of America on 3 January 2026.”
“These actions constitute a grave violation of international law and of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, including respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence, and the right of peoples to self-determination,” the statement says.
“As a global movement of young workers inspired by Christian values and committed to justice, peace, and human dignity, IYCW categorically rejects militarism, imperialism, political abductions, and foreign intervention that harm civilian populations or violate the right of peoples to self-determination.
“We affirm that conflicts between nations must be resolved through peaceful means—dialogue, diplomacy, and respect for international law.”
READ MORE
Leo proclaims Year of Francis
Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a special Jubilee Year coinciding with the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.
The Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican tribunal that deals with matters of conscience, issued a decree published by the Franciscan Friars Jan. 10, declaring a yearlong celebration in honor of the Poverello, or the Little Poor One.
According to the decree, Pope Leo has established that from Jan. 10, following the closing of the church’s Jubilee Year, until Jan. 10, 2027, a special Year of St. Francis may be proclaimed, in which every Christian, “following the example of the Saint of Assisi, may himself become a model of holiness of life and a constant witness of peace.”
READ MORE
Pope sets Jubilee to mark 800th year since St. Francis’ death; saint’s body to be displayed (OSV News)
Pope Leo begins catechesis on Vatican II
Pope Leo has launched a new series of weekly catecheses “dedicated to the Second Vatican Council and to reflecting on its documents.”
“The work of the Council Fathers paved the way for a new ecclesial season, placing at its center the mystery of salvation and the unity between God and his people,” he nonted. “At the same time, it opened the Church to seek dialogue with the people of good will for a more just and fraternal world.
“We see that the documents have lost none of their relevance and are pertinent to the demands and challenges of today. Closely studying the Council documents will help us to be attentive interpreters of the signs of the times, and to proclaim the Gospel to all.
“As we make our journey of rediscovering the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, let us welcome the past with its rich tradition; let us consider the present with its joys and sorrows; and let’s look towards the future with an urgent appeal for greater justice, love and peace.”
READ MORE
General Audience, 7 January 2026 (Vatican)
General Audience, 14 January 2026 (Vatican)
2026 anniversaries
Once again, I’m beginning the new year with a short overview of anniversaries connected with Cardijn and the various jocist-inspired movements, writes Stefan Gigacz. In particular, we remember the martyred Blessed Enrique Angelelli and his companions, who died fifty years ago this year in 1976.
Also important is the 75th anniversary of the First World Congress on Lay Apostolate held in Rome in October 1951 with Cardijn as one of the keynote speakers.
Sadly, we note that this year will mark the fortieth anniversary of the division at international level of the YCW in 1986.
READ MORE
2026 anniversaries (Cardijn Research)
What would Gustavo Gutierrez tell us today?
When Dominican Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, the late beloved “father” of Latin American liberation theology, wrote in We Drink From Our Own Wells that “poverty means death,” he was not writing metaphorically. His lifework powerfully conveyed that any spirituality must be communal, contextual and connected to the material conditions of the people one is in community with.
In the same text, Gutiérrez further clarifies his understanding of poverty:
It means death due to hunger and sickness, or to the repressive methods used by those who see their privileged positions being endangered by any effort to liberate the oppressed. It means physical death, to which is added cultural death, inasmuch as those in power seek to do away with everything that gives unity and strength to the dispossessed of the world.
Gutiérrez clearly communicates the Gospel call for the church to care for the poor, and compels us to all join in these efforts. But I must read Gutiérrez with a different lens than those experiencing poverty in Peru, his original audience. Rather, it is essential for myself — and all of us living in the Global North — to understand his theology within our context.
READ MORE
Take off your headphones: What would Gustavo Gutiérrez tell us today? (National Catholic Reporter)
Voir-juger-agir: L’histoire de la JOC au Québec
The official trailer for the film “Voir-juger-agir: L’histoire de la JOC au Québec.”
To be released in cinemas across Quebec on 3 April 2026.
Cien años de la Juventud Obrera Cristiana
Former IYCW leader, Ezequiel Ávila Curiel, shares his reflections for the centenary of the YCW.
“You will need to be strong lay people” he begins, quoting Cardijn. “You must seek alliances to continue your mission in the working-class environment of young people and adults. It will be necessary to maintain the struggle to preserve in the Church what we have painstakingly built and organized, which has allowed thousands of YCW activists throughout the world to become skilled leaders in unions, political parties, development associations, and especially in the renewal of our Church. I know well that this will be a difficult battle, but you must carry it out in my place. Only you, the laity, can win it. I will be with you from above… Pray for me.”
This was Cardijn’s will Ezequiel writes. So, what is being celebrated on the centenary of the YCW?
The warnings weren’t fabricated; the cardinal knew what he was getting into. Cardijn had experienced firsthand the stark differences in social conditions of existence: the difference between the social conditions of his comrades, the primary school children who attended the same school with him, and then between his own as a priest and those of his comrades in the working world.
READ MORE (SPANISH)
Cien años de la Juventud Obrera Cristiana (Christus)
Cardijn: Re-imagining the movement
The title of this lesson is relevant to the whole Study Week, to each lesson, discussion and every exercise, as well as to all publications and all activities of the YCW, said Cardijn in 1947. All these aspects must assist us to constantly “re-imagine” the movement, to rethink it for each of ourselves and all together.
This is indeed a fundamental, essential, and fundamental attitude for every person, every priest, and especially for every leader of the movement. Even more than everyone else, the priest must constantly rethink his life, his ideal, and his apostolate. Without such reflection or meditation, which compels us to return to the sources, to synthesise, to review the goal and the means, there is no way to develop one’s personality and perfect one’s priestly apostolate.
It is the only way to constantly renew ourselves, to constantly surpass ourselves, to prevent ageing, routine, deviation, and their fatal consequence, namely discouragement if not scepticism.
READ MORE
Joseph Cardijn, The YCW, a movement that always needs be re-imagined! (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)
News Briefs and Social Media
Togo and Benin YCS celebrate 70th anniversaries
Blessed Rutilio Grande anniversary 22 January
Belgian YCW World War II peace prayer card
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Really excellent compilation here. The framing of Pope Leo's Vatican II catechesis alongside Cardijn's centenary reminds me how both movements share that core See-Judge-Act DNA. I dunno if people realize how prescient Cardijn was in making "re-imagining the movement" a constant practise rather than a one-time exercise; that's basically what Leo's doing by resurecting Vatican II for a new context. The Gutierrez section nails why this stuff still matters for material conditions today not just spiritual abstraction.