Following the example of German and Italian Catholics united in the ‘Katholikentage' and the ‘Opera dei congressi', French Catholics trained for charitable work by the Société de Saint-Vincent-de-Paul formed Catholic Committees after 1870, for the coordination of Catholic charitable works and the defence of their religion. Their action, which was later disdained and is now somewhat forgotten, deserves to be re-assessed. Although these Catholic Committees had encountered failures in the political arena under ‘the Republic of republicans', they nevertheless obtained lasting results. They participated in popularizing pilgrimages, Eucharistic congresses and the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The contributed to the foundation of many free schools, from primary level to university, not forgetting specialized teaching; they animated youth fellowship; they defended the Church in their newspapers. But it was especially in the social domain that their charity showed creativity. They were involved with all of the working class initiatives of their epoch; they strove to adapt medieval corporations to their century via mixed unions; they inaugurated unions in agricultural areas and set up rural funds as well as mutual benefit banks, participating all the while in charitable works (including accommodation and allotments for working class families). Some wanted to go further and help workers organize their own social training. After retracing the history of Catholic Committees, this book sketches a typical portrait of the militant Catholic around five great figures (Charles Chesnelong, Émile Keller, Anatole de Caulaincourt, Charles Thellier de Poncheville, Charles de Nicolay). It then presents a panorama of Catholic charitable works in their ensemble. Thanks to these activities, the Catholic Church, after the years of confrontation, appeared in the eyes of French society as an institution driven more by charity than the search for domination.

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