Thomist Revival, Belgian Catholic jurists and their international networks, 1880s-1920s
This contribution explores the vast societal and intellectual impact of the Thomist revival in Belgium in the late 19th and early 20th century. We focus on the neoscholastic infrastructure at the Catholic University of Leuven, with special attention to the (international) networks linked to its High...
Enregistré dans:
| Dans: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cjm, |
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| Auteur principal: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Langue: | Anglais |
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Cahiers Jean Moulin
2025
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| Accès en ligne: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Résumé: | This contribution explores the vast societal and intellectual impact of the Thomist revival in Belgium in the late 19th and early 20th century. We focus on the neoscholastic infrastructure at the Catholic University of Leuven, with special attention to the (international) networks linked to its Higher Institute of Philosophy (1889), founded by the later Archbishop and Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier (1851-1926). Following the lines set out in Aeterni Patris (1879) also Mercier’s initiative was both academic, pedagogic, pastoral and apologetic. We highlight the main actors, institutions and periodicals linked to the Thomist revival in Leuven, with special attention to the different semi-academic initiatives involving legal scholars. The Leuven neo-Thomist movement shaped the ways in which Catholic intellectuals, legal scholars in particular, approached the question sociale, helped to develop policy answers and mobilized civil society to counter the rise of socialism. We particularly highlight the Union Internationale d’Études Sociales, an international network of Catholic moral theologians and lay experts established in Mechelen in 1919-1920, and its efforts to update Catholic social teachings. |
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