July 2025
Mass for Creation - YCW on precarity - Jorge Silva - Francis' legacy - Synodality in a nutshell - Cardijn's incarnational faith - Jean Préhu, YCS martyr - Relevance of Rerum Novarum
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the July edition of our newsletter, which now comes to you via our new email service on Substack.
We begin with Pope Leo’s inauguration of the Mass for the Care of Creation and we note the call of bishops from the Global South for climate justice.
IYCW president, Basma Mikhael, shares her perspective on the issues facing young workers today in a special YCW Centenary interview with the Belgian Revue Démocratie magazine.
We remember with affection our friend, Jorge Luis Silva Morales, a Chilean JOC leader who was also a leader of the JOC America and a member of the IYCW International Team.
Australian Fr Bruce Duncan reflects on the legacy of Pope Francis in the fight against economic injustice while American Catholic Social Teaching specialist Bill Murphy recalls Cardijn’s “incarnational faith.”
German Bishop Heiner Wilmer SCJ highlights the ongoing relevance of the work of the YCW while French Sr Nathalie Becquart xmcj explains the Vatican’s new guidelines for the development of a synodal Church.
We also remember the sacrifice of French YCS leader Jean Préhu, another movement leader martyred during World War II while Richard Pütz and Pat Branson share their usual, insightful reflections.
The Centre International Team
Leo launches Care of Creation Mass
“On this beautiful day, I would begin by asking everyone, including myself, to take stock of what we are celebrating here amid the beauty of what might be called a ‘cathedral’ of nature, with so many plants and elements of creation that have brought us together to celebrate the Eucharist, which means to give thanks to the Lord,” Pope Leo said in his homily on Wednesday 9 July.
“This may well be the first celebration to use the new prayers of the Mass for the Care of Creation, which is the fruit of the work of several Dicasteries of the Holy See,” he continued.
“At the beginning of Mass, we prayed for conversion, our own conversion. I would like to add that we should pray for the conversion of the many people, inside and outside the Church, who do not yet recognize the urgent need to care for our common home.
The many natural disasters we see occurring almost daily in our world, in so many places and countries, are also in part a result of the excesses of human beings and our lifestyles. We need to ask whether we ourselves are undergoing that conversion. How much we need it!
READ MORE
Pope Leo XIV, Holy Mass for the Care of Creation (Vatican)
Defending a dignified life for young people
“Today's young people face multiple and growing precariousness,” IYCW president Basma Mikhail notes in an interview (in French) with the Belgian magazine, Revue Démocratie.
“This manifests itself in economic insecurity—unstable employment, unemployment, informal or underpaid work—as well as limited access to housing, education, and quality healthcare.
“Many (young workers) work in the ‘gig economy’—a ‘gig economy’ in which jobs are flexible and precarious—as delivery drivers, drivers, or digital freelancers. They are often considered “independent,” but lack any real social protection: no stable contract, no health insurance, and no pension.
“These young people sometimes work in very difficult conditions: long hours, unpredictable pay, algorithmic pressure, isolation, and the inability to assert their rights,” Basma warns.
READ MORE
Defending a dignified life for young people
«Nous défendons un travail décent et une vie digne pour les jeunes» (Revue Démocratie) (Français)
Global South bishops call for climate justice
The regional bishops’ conferences and councils from Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, in coordination with the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, have joined forces to appeal for climate justice and an ecological conversion across the world, Vatican News reports.
In light of the United Nations’ climate change conference COP30, which will take place in Belém, Brazil, from 10-21 November, 2025, these bodies have published a joint document titled “A call for climate justice and the common home: ecological conversion, transformation and resistance to false solutions.”
READ MORE
Global South bishops call for climate justice
Remembering Jorge Silva Morales
Together with the Chilean JOC, we are sad to record the death of Jorge Luis Silva Morales (second from right in photo), a former leader of the Chilean JOC, a member of the JOC America team and the IYCW International Team.
We express our condolences and solidarity with Elenita, his wife, and their children.
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Remembering Jorge Silva Morales
The legacy of Pope Francis
Pope Francis endeavoured not just to evaluate the burning global issues; he strove to mobilise decisive action to transform our world to improve living standards and well-being for everyone, writes Fr Bruce Duncan CSsR. He spoke as a voice from the Third World, challenging the conscience of the richer countries.
Francis was propelled onto the global stage in 2013 to revitalise the Catholic Church and to renew its mission to bring the good news of God’s solidarity with everyone, especially the poor and distressed.
He insisted that the Church must engage more closely with the great issues of our time, joining others in earnest conversation about our human future on this fragile planet, and developing networks of collaboration not just with other Christians, but also with followers of other world religions or philosophical traditions, and indeed with all people of good will.
READ MORE
The legacy of Pope Francis in an unjust world: Part I (Cardijn Reflections)
YCW empowers young workers: German bishop
Cardijn “would be shocked by the working conditions that many people around the world still face every day,” wrote Bishop Heiner Wilmer SCJ Bishop of Hildesheim, President of the Commission for Social and Societal Issues (VI) of the German Bishops’ Conference and Bishop Delegate to the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) in a message to the International YCW for the centenary of the movement.
“The YCW has a proven tool for identifying situations of abuse, recognizing them as such, and then empowering people to take responsibility. The formula for this method, which is also found in the social doctrine of the Catholic Church, is ‘see – judge – act.’
“If we commit ourselves to others in the footsteps of Christ, this is at least as necessary today as it was when the YCW was founded in 1925,” he emphasised.
READ MORE
YCW empowers young workers: German bishop (Cardijn.info)
Joseph Cardijn's incarnational faith
As the Second Vatican Council and many other sources affirm, a living faith—that is, one informed by charity—labours to be salt and light (Mt 5:13-16) in the world, to inform the world with the spirit of the Gospel (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity), and to bear the fruit of charity for the life of the world (Decree on Priestly Training), writes American Catholic Social Doctrine specialist, Bill Murphy.
Authentic Catholicism is an incarnational faith, one that continues to make present in the world the saving love of God in Christ. In my opinion, the failure to do so explains to a significant extent the loss of faith in the contemporary world, and the desperate situation in the world.
READ MORE
Joseph Cardinal Cardijn (1882-1967) (Better Politics)
Document: Synodality is Vatican II in a nutshell
The Synod General Secretariat in Rome has published a new document offering guidance for the next stage of the synodal journey.
Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod aims to foster dialogue between local Churches and the General Secretariat, and to promote the exchange of synodal experiences among the Churches, Vatican News reports.
"Synodality is the Second Vatican Council in a nutshell," said Synod under-secretary, Sr Nathalie Becquart xmcj, quoting Australian theologian Ormond Rush.
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Synodality is Vatican II in a nutshell
Jean Préhu, French YCS leader and martyr
Jean Préhu, born on March 27, 1920, in Laval, France, was a devoted Scout and an active member of the Jeunesse Étudiante Chrétienne (Young Christian Students – JEC). From an early age, he was formed in a spirit of faith, solidarity, and service. These values would later shape his courageous resistance to the Nazi regime, ultimately leading to his martyrdom.
Jean Préhu died on April 27, 1945, during the strafing of the infamous “death train” headed to Dachau. In 1983, he was officially recognized as a déporté résistant (resistance deportee) by the French government.
In 2024, the Vatican formally included Jean Préhu among the group of 50 French Catholic martyrs whose beatification cause is underway, recognizing them as victims of hatred of the faith (odium fidei). Préhu’s unwavering commitment to faith and justice remains a profound witness for today’s world.
READ MORE
Jean Préhu: A Scout, Young Christian Student, and Martyr on the Path to Beatification (International YCS)
Reflection: Have you read Rerum Novarum?
Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum (1891), a deep examination of economic and social issues, still resonates with the complexities of today's world, writes Richard Pütz. Its main ideas on economic fairness, workers' rights, and government roles remain just as important now as they were in the past, grounding us in a strong historical tradition.
Human dignity takes precedence over profit or ideological extremes in Rerum Novarum, which addresses contemporary issues like wage disparities, job security, and the moral dilemmas associated with capitalism. Novarum Rerum Overview emphasizes that the emphasis on fair wages and the dignity of labor directly relates to current debates over workers' rights, income inequality, and living wages.
Rerum Novarum's unwavering support for collective bargaining and trade union formation is a beacon of hope for labor movements worldwide.
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More than a century later, have you read Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum? (Cardijn Reflections)
Gospel: Proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand
In The Young Worker Faces Life, which was about the mystery of vocation, writes Pat Branson, Cardijn commented on the apostolic mission of the working class:
The working class will rise again, because it has apostles who, with and by Christ, by their sufferings and prayers, and even by their death on the Cross, merit with Christ this resurrection of working-class youth and of the working class of the world.
Let us pray that we never forget the power of witness to the faith we are called to embrace and to live and that we remember their commitment to Christ, especially when our faith is challenged by the forces of evil in the world.
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Pat Branson, As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand (Cardijn Reflections)
News briefs and social media
Congratulations, Sarah!
World War II martyrs of the YCW and YCS
Editorial Note: The purpose of the Centre International Cardijn Newsletter is to share information and promote discussion. Citing or linking to articles does not imply any endorsement by the CIC of the authors' views
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