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Film, Video Working Catholic Youth's Second National Congress and Convention of 100 Marriages, Montreal, 1939.

About this Item

Title

  • Working Catholic Youth's Second National Congress and Convention of 100 Marriages, Montreal, 1939.

Summary

  • The Jeunesse ouvrière catholique (Working Catholic Youth) in Quebec produced this silent film in 1939, which depicts the Congrès des cent mariages (Convention of 100 Marriages) on the occasion of its Second National Congress. The film is in the Fonds d'archives de la Jeunesse ouvrière catholique (Working Catholic Youth Archive) at the Quebec National Library and Archives. The Canadian group was modeled after the "Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne," (JOC--Young Christian Workers) a Roman Catholic movement lead by Joseph Cardijn (1882--1967), a Belgian cardinal who founded it in 1912. Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne gained the support of Belgian bishops and Pope Pius XI in 1925 and evolved into a global Catholic movement. It spread to Canada in 1931 under the name "Jeunesse ouvrière catholique." The group gained popularity in Quebec during the Great Depression, when Georges Gauthier (1871--1940), archbishop of Montreal, and Father Henri Roy, an oblate, launched an initiative to study and combat social issues facing working-class youth. In Quebec, the Jeunesse ouvrière catholique aimed to reach youth who were increasingly dispirited by the conditions of industrialization and the economic crisis. As a space of social engagement within the Catholic Church, the JOC, or jocistes, represented a current of liberal independence among Catholic congregations. The movement also represented an early example of "youth" seen as a separate social group with its own identity. Led by the youth themselves, the Jeunesse ouvrière catholique established 172 local sections and attracted more than 6,000 members. Between 1935 and 1939 the JOC journal, Jeunesse ouvrière (Working Youth), printed 20,000 copies every week. The group targeted the declining rate of marriage associated with the Great Depression. On July 23, 1939, the Jeunesse ouvrière catholique celebrated 106 outdoor weddings at the Delorimier Stadium in Montreal. This event required months of preparation. The group offered participating couples a gold ring per spouse and paid for wedding festivities for 25 guests per couple. The event was originally intended to be hosted in the Notre-Dame Basilica, but the venue was changed to the Delorimier Stadium to accommodate the 25,000 attendees. Two weeks after the event, World War II broke out, and the JOC's influence gradually declined thereafter. Half the association's members left to participate in the war, and postwar prosperity ended youth interest in the JOC. However, out of the ceremony and Gauthier and Roy's studies were born the Cours de préparation au mariage (Marriage Preparation Courses), which subsequently spread throughout the world.

Names

  • Young Christian Workers Creator.

Created / Published

  • [Quebec] : [publisher not identified], 1939.

Headings

  • -  Canada--Quebec--Montréal
  • -  1939-07-23
  • -  Bishops
  • -  Brides
  • -  Catholic Church
  • -  Catholics
  • -  Congresses and conferences
  • -  Government officials
  • -  Grooms (Weddings)
  • -  Marriage customs and rites
  • -  Priests
  • -  Young Christian Workers

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Reference extracted from World Digital Library: Camille Robert, "La jeunesse ouvrière catholique comme pilier de l'engagement social : 1931-1939 / The Working Catholic Youth as Pillar of Social Engagement: 1931-1939," Le manuscrit : Revue étudiante du département d'histoire de l'UQÀM/ The manuscript: Student Review of the UQAM History Department (2013).
  • -  Original resource at: National Library and Archives of Quebec.
  • -  Content in French.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021671093

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Young Christian Workers Creator. Working Catholic Youth's Second National Congress and Convention of 100 Marriages, Montreal. [Quebec: publisher not identified, 1939] Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021671093/.

APA citation style:

Young Christian Workers Creator. (1939) Working Catholic Youth's Second National Congress and Convention of 100 Marriages, Montreal. [Quebec: publisher not identified] [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021671093/.

MLA citation style:

Young Christian Workers Creator. Working Catholic Youth's Second National Congress and Convention of 100 Marriages, Montreal. [Quebec: publisher not identified, 1939] Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021671093/>.