ANNEXE I: SOME KEY DATES IN THE HISTORY OF THE SILLON
1893: Marc Sangnier, Étienne Isabelle and others create a students group called the Crypt at the Stanislas College in Paris. Their objective is to bring the Church and People together in light of Rerum Novarum and to build democracy in France.
1894: Foundation of the magazine Le Sillon by Paul Renaudin and other members of the Crypt. Its early orientation is literary, philosophical and social.
1897-8: The members of the Crypt launch a campaign to establish Study Circles for young workers and students especially within the existing network of youth clubs (patronages). They begin to develop methods of action and reflection on life and on the gospel, which are an early form of the YCW’s Review of Life and Worker Action method.
1899: The movement in the process of being formed takes the name of the journal, Le Sillon.
1902: First Congrès National de Cercles d’Études in Paris organised by the Sillon open to all such study circles.
1903: First major public debates, the night of the Mille Colonnes-Meeting Sanglant event. First pilgrimage to Rome with Leon Harmel.
1905: A decision is made that the congresses will henceforth become National Congresses of the Sillon. The d’Hellencourt Crisis takes place concerning the student-worker character of the movement, the role of services in the movement and the degree of organisation necessary. Fortnightly and later weekly newspaper started, L’Éveil Démocratique.
1906: The opening out of the Sillon to other denominations and other religions, including Muslims. The ‘politicisation’ of the Sillon as they see the need to get involved politically in face of the anti-clerical and socialist forces on one side and the reactionary Catholic and Action Française forces on the other.
1907: Development of cooperatives, campaigns on issues, e.g. domestic work, etc. Conflict with ‘clericalisation’ of Sillon, i.e. control by priests.
1909: Beginnings of crisis with clash with Cardinal Luçon at Reims and other bishops.
1910: Encyclical Notre Charge Apostolique of 25 August which condemns sillonnist conception of democracy, and calls for resignation of leaders and episcopal control, followed by ‘submission’ of sillonnists who close down the movement rather than compromise its character. Foundation of newspaper La Démocratie.
ANNEXE II: THE SILLON IN BELGIUM
A. VECTORS OF TRANSMISSION
Although study circles and formation programmes for young workers had existed in Belgium since the 1860s, the new orientations and methods developed and promoted by the Sillon in France from 1897-98 rapidly crossed the porous northern border.
First, it seems clear that Sangnier had already himself visited Belgium before 1900, where he had made contacts with the Catholic democrats grouped around Henri Carton de Wiart and his wife (34). Father Arthur Vermeesch, the Jesuit sociologist and canonist, and author of an important Manuel social mentions the creation of study circles in Brussels under the leadership of M. Carton de Wiart, the methods of which show a clear sillonnist influence (35).
Léon Harmel, a strong and early supporter of the Sillon as well as a key influence upon the sillonnists themselves, was also certainly a second channel of transmission of these methods. Paul Tschoffen, a young lawyer from Liège had met Marc Sangnier at a summer social formation programme at Harmel’s Val-de-Bois property in the late 1890s (Letter from Paul Tschoffen to Marc Sangnier, 21 February 1900, IMS unclassified). As an outcome of this meeting, Sangnier visited Liège in March 1901 at the invitation of the Société Générale des Étudiants Catholiques, a group of Christian democratic students led by Tschoffen (Gérin 1959: 259). Over the next two years later the same students would found a number of study circles, one of which would become the Sillon de Liège, in which Professor Godefroid Kurth was enrolled as an honorary member. Each month the Sillon would organise meetings on social questions, e.g. the need for Sunday rest, in support of striking workers, etc. (Gérin 1959)
A third vector of transmission of the Sillon to Belgium was probably the large number of religious who were forced out of France by the policies of the anti-clerical French government.
The universities seem to have been a fourth vector of transmission of sillonnist ideas. The Sillon seems to have had a certain influence at the University of Ghent.
There was also probably some direct transmission of sillonnist influence across the border, especially in the Lille-Roubaix-Tourcoing region, where the Sillon had a strong presence , and which is only a few kilometres from Tournai, which was a stronghold of social action in Belgium. Moreover, one of the most famous of the Sillon’s public debates took place between Marc Sangnier and the socialist, Jules Guesde, at Tourcoing on 9 March 1905 before a crowd of 2-3,000 people.
Thus, although the history of the Sillon in Belgium has not yet been fully documented, it seems clear that the new movement had managed to achieve a rapid penetration of its ideas by 1905.
B. ‘DU SILLON’ OR ‘EN RELATION AVEC LE SILLON’
As in France, the Belgian groups who were influenced by the Sillon can be divided into two broad rather imprecise categories. The first smaller category comprised those who identified themselves as belonging to the Sillon, i.e. du Sillon and the second category consisted of those who had adopted some sillonnist notions and were to some degree ‘en relation’ with the Sillon.
The Sillon de Liège is an example, perhaps the only one in Belgium, of the first category. It continued to develop links with the Sillon Central in Paris. In 1908, for example, we find Paul Tschoffen presenting a report to the Sillon National Congress on the democratic movement in Belgium (Report of the VII Congrès National du Sillon 1908: 13). The journals of the French Sillon also contain occasional reports and articles from Liège. The Liège sillonnists also maintained relations with the sillonnists of the North of France, contributed to the journal A la Voile.
The groups associated with Carton de Wiart in Brussels were examples of the second category, and no doubt there were others as well. A young priest, Jean-François Van Den Heuvel even started children’s groups applying the sillonnist methods in a Brussels parish (Vermeesch 1908).
Notes
(34) ‘Depuis le berceau même du Sillon, M. Carton de Wiart est un de nos amis. Quant à Madame Carton de Wiart, elle n’a jamais cessé d’affirmer combien l’idéal et religieux du Sillon lui tenait profondement au coeur.’ (Marc Sangnier, L’Ame Commune, 16 February 1921).
(35) Comparing the different editions of Vermeesch’s manual, one sees a definite development in the methods in use in the study circles, which seems to be due at least in part to the spread of sillonnist concepts (Vermeesch 1908: 51).
ANNEXE III: THE SILLON AND THE YCW IN 5 STAGES
1903-10: La découverte du Sillon par Joseph Cardijn: Le Sillon commence à avoir un rayonnement en Belgique dès 1900. En 1903, Cardijn découvre ce mouvement à travers ses publications et ses actions, par exemple, le Meeting Sanglant. Il participe dans un Cercle d’Études au Grand Séminaire qui semble très proche du Sillon dans son orientation. En 1906, il y avait une tentative non-avenue de créer un Sillon à Malines. Cardijn visite la France en 1907 où il rencontre le Sillon du Nord et participe dans une grande réunion publique à Amiens. Le Sillon ‘soumit’ à la décision de Pie X dans son encyclique, Notre Charge Apostolique du 25 août 1910. Grand impact sur Cardijn de cette soumission.
1912-18: Les oeuvres de Laeken: Pour organiser les oeuvres féminines dans la paroisse, Cardijn choisit de travailler avec Victoire Cappe, elle-même formée dans les méthodes sillonnistes. Il rencontre Fernand Tonnet, qui a travaillé avec les méthodes sillonnistes à Quiévrain, et qui a fondé un groupe de Jeunes Gardes le 25 août 1912. Ils modifient l’orientation du Sillon en mettant en avant les aspects ouvrier et jeune. Ils précisent les méthodes de formation du Sillon.
1919-25: Lancement d’un mouvement : La Jeunesse Syndicaliste s’organise sur base de la méthodologie sillonniste. La JS se trouve devant les mêmes problèmes que le Sillon: l’autonomie, les attaques des conservateurs (Action Française), le menace d’une condamnation. Mais la JOC est sauvé par Pie XI, qui est sympathique au Sillon, qui cherche un successeur à Marc Sangnier, et qui rédéfinit l’Action Catholique en termes du projet sillonniste: la participation et la collaboration des laïcs dans la mission de l’Église.
1925-35: Extension internationale de la JOC : La JOC se développe en s’appuyant en partie sur le réseau des sympathisants du Sillon, en Belgique, en France et même plus loin. La JOC choisit la date du 25 août 1935 pour ouvrir son premier congrès international à Bruxelles. Lettre Autographe de Pie XI pour consacrer cet événément.
1935-57: Développement de la JOCI : Cardijn repense la JOCI en termes de la doctrine, les méthodes et des structures du Sillon. Date d’ouverture du Premier Conseil Mondial à Rome le 25 août 1957.
ANNEXE 4: BIBLIOGRAPHY
LE SILLON AND THE SILLONISTS
BARTHÉLEMY-MADAULE Madeleine, Marc Sangnier 1873 – 1950, Seuil, Paris, 1973, 301p. (Cited as MBM)
BEAUPIN Eugène, L’Éducation social et les Cercles d’Études, Bloud et cie, Paris, 1911, 249p.
CARON Jeanne, Le Sillon et la démocratie chrétienne 1894 – 1910, Plon, Paris, 1967, 798p.
COGNETS Jean des, L’un d’eux : Amédée Guiard, Bloud et Gay, Paris, 1921, 205p.
CONSTANT Léonard, Henry du Roure, Bloud et Gay, Paris, 1917, 239p.
DEBOUT Jacques, Les nouvelles semailles, Marc Sangnier et le Sillon, 5ème edition, Beauchesne, Paris, 1904, 251p.
DELBREIL Jean-Claude, Marc Sangnier, Témoignages, Beauchesne, Paris, 1997, 408p.
DESGRANGES Jean, Carnets intimes, Journal d’un conférencier populaire, La Palatine, Paris-Génève, 1960, 451p.
DU ROURE Henry, Chroniques Françaises et Chrétiennes, La Démocratie, Paris, 1913, 261p.
DU ROURE Henry, Lettres précédées d’un journal intime, 2 tomes, Plon, Paris, 1921, 257p. + 219p.
DU ROURE Henry, Essais et Nouvelles 1902-1914, Plon, Paris, s.d., 381p.
FABREGUES Jean de, Le Sillon de Marc Sangnier, Perrin, Paris, 1964, 315p.
GALLIOT Simone & Hélène, Marc Sangnier (1873 – 1950), Chez les auteurs, Le Mans, 1960, 144p.
INDA Jean-Pierre, Léonard Constant 1880 – 1923, Universitaire et apôtre, Cerf, Paris, 1988, 378p.
INSTITUT MARC SANGNIER, Marc Sangnier et les débuts du Sillon 1894, Institut Marc Sangnier, Paris, 1994, 153p.
LESTRAT Gaston, Les beaux temps du Sillon, Bloud et Gay, Paris, 1926, 203p.
MONTIER Edward, Les essaims nouveaux, Paris, 1911, ???p.
PEZET Ernest, Chrétiens au service de la Cité, De Léon XIII au Sillon et au MRP 1891-1965, Nouvelles Editions Latines, Paris, 1965, 236p.
RENARD Georges, La vie charitable de Marguerite Renard 1879-1930, Témoignages et Documents, Cerf, Paris, 1934, 302p.
SANGNIER Marc, L’éducation sociale du peuple, Rondelet, Paris, 1899, ???p.
SANGNIER Marc, Discours, Tome 1, 1891 – 1905, Bloud et Gay, Paris, 1910, 526p.
SANGNIER Marc, Discours, Tome 2, 1906-1909, Bloud et Gay, Paris, 1910, 509p.
SANGNIER Marc, Une méthode d’éducation démocratique, Au Sillon, Paris, 1906, 165p.
SANGNIER Marc, L’Esprit démocratique, Perrin, Paris, 1906, 290p.
SANGNIER Marc, Cléricalisme et Démocratie, Au Sillon, Paris, 1907, 49p.
SANGNIER Marc, Une méthode d’éducation démocratique, Cercles d’Études et Instituts Populaires, La Chapelle-Montligeon, Montligeon, 1901, 25p.
LA JOC -THE YCW
BOULIER Jean, J’étais un prêtre rouge, Ed. de l’Athanor, Paris, 1977, ???p.
BRAGARD Lucie, FIEVEZ Marguerite et al., La Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne Wallonie-Bruxelles 1912-1957, Vie Ouvrière, Bruxelles, 1990, 2 tomes, 422p. (BRAGARD 1990)
CARDIJN Joseph, Le monde d’aujourd’hui et l’Apostolat des laïcs, Lecon d’ouverture au Congrès Mondial de l’Apostolat des laïcs, Rome, 8 octobre 1951, Bruxelles, 1951, 32p.
CARDIJN Joseph, Laïcs en premières lignes, Editions universitaires, Paris, Vie Ouvrière, Bruxelles, 1963, 201p.
CARDIJN Joseph, Original Texts, The Cardijn Project.
FIEVEZ Marguerite, La vie de Fernand Tonnet, Premier jociste, Editions jocistes, Bruxelles – Genève, Editions ouvrières, Paris – Montréal, 1947, 488p.
JORET Bernadette, Les origines de la JOCF, mémoire de licence, UCL Louvain, 1971.
JOC, Manuel de la JOC, Bruxelles, 1925, 231p.
PIERRARD Pierre, Georges Guérin, Une vie pour la JOC, Editions de l’Atelier, Paris, 1997, 320p.
TONNET Adrien, Fernand Tonnet, Mort à Dachau, Biographie, L. De Lannoy, Genval, 1945, 217p.
TONNET Fernand, Un jociste, Raymond Delplancq, Editions jocistes, 6ème éd., Bruxelles, 1942, 95p.
TONNET Henri, Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne et Jeune Garde Catholique à Notre Dame de Laeken, 1909-1914, Librairie Saint Luc, Bruxelles, 1958, 71p.
TONNET Henri, Les sources boraines de la JOC, Imprimerie Sintal, Louvain, s.d., 14p.
TONNET Henri, Au berceau de la Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne, Chez l’auteur, Bruxelles, 1961, 31p.
WALCKIERS Marc, Joseph Cardyn, jusqu’avant la fondation de la JOC,Vicaire de Laeken, 1912-1918, directeur des oeuvres sociales de Bruxelles, 1915-1927, thèse de doctorat en philosophie et lettres, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1981, 465p. (WALCKIERS 1981)
WALCKIERS Marc, Sources inédites relatives aux débuts de la JOC 1919-1925, Nauwelaerts, Louvain-Paris, 1970, 213 p. (WALCKIERS 1970)
OTHER REFERENCES
BAYART Pierre, L’Action catholique spécialisée, Desclée, De Brouwer, Paris; Editions de la Cité chrétienne, Bruxelles, 1935, 203p.
CAPPE Victoire, La femme belge, ???, Bruxelles, 1914, ???
COLLECTIVE, René-Gabriel van den Hout, 1886-1969, Editions Universitaires, Bruxelles, 1969, 163p.
EATON Evelyn Thayer, The Belgian Leagues of Christian Working-Class Women, doctoral thesis, Collection Catholic University of America No. 39, Catholic University of America Press, Washington D.C., 1954, 250p.
GUITTON Georges S.J., Léon Harmel, 1829-1915, Action Populaire, Spes, Paris, 1927, 2 vol.
HAURIOU Maurice, La Science Sociale Traditionnelle, La Rose, Paris,1896, xii + 433p.
LE PLAY, Frédéric, La Méthode Sociale, Alfred Mamé et fils, Paris, 1879, 648p.
MAURRAS Charles et DAUDET Léon, L’Action française et le Vatican, Flammarion, Paris, 1927, 319p.
MOLETTE Charles, L’Association catholique de la jeunesse catholique, 1886-1907, Une prise de conscience du laïcat catholique, Armand Colin, Paris, 1968, 813p.
VERMEESCH Arthur, Manuel social, Bruxelles, 1908, ???p.
WEBER Eugen, L’Action Française, (traduit de l’anglais par Michel Chrestien), Stock, Paris, 1964, 649p.
ANNEXE 5: ARCHIVES
Fonds Cardijn, Archives Générales du Royaume, Brussels (Cited as AC)
Fonds Cardijn, Bibliothèque Générale de Sciences Humaines, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve
Archives of Marc Sangnier, Institut Marc Sangnier, Paris (Cited as IMS)
Archives Tonnet, Diocesan Archives, Tournai