The Portuguese Catholic Centre ( pt, Centro Católico Português, CCP) was a political party in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Founded in 1915, it won seats in six consecutive elections, before being disbanded in January 1940.

History

The party was established in

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

in 1915 and won a single seat in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

later that year.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', pp1557–1558 The 1918 elections were boycotted by the three largest parties, and saw the PCC win five House seats and retain its seat in the Senate. The party was reduced back to a single seat in both chambers in the 1919 elections, but won three seats in both chambers in the 1921 elections. Although it was reduced to a single Senate seat in the 1922 elections, the PCC won five seats in the House. The 1925 elections saw the party retain its Senate seat and win four seats in the House. After the

28 May 1926 coup d'état The 28 May 1926 coup d'état, sometimes called 28 May Revolution or, during the period of the authoritarian Estado Novo ( en, New State), the National Revolution ( pt, Revolução Nacional), was a military coup of a nationalist origin, that put ...

, the PCC's direction supported the vote on the National Union and many of its members were invited by

António de Oliveira Salazar António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the re ...

to become part of the National Union. The CCP would have no presence in Parliament after the coup, despite not being disbanded. Instead, the CCP would then serve to provide administrative assistance to the clergy and other catholic corporations. On 7 February 1934,

António Lino Neto António Lino Neto (Mação, 30 January 1873 – 16 November 1961) was a Portuguese Catholic politician, lawyer and professor of Political Economy. He was politically active during the end of the Constitutional Monarchy, the First Republic and th ...

(who had been president since 1919) resigned from the party after a letter from

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

recognized another Catholic association, ''Acção Católica Portuguesa''. The party was officially disbanded by the episcopacy in January 1940, in the context of the 1940

Concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Ed ...

between Portugal and the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. At the time it was the last non-government party still in operation, 14 years after the coup.

Election results

Notable members

, who ran in the

1921 Portuguese legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Portugal on 10 July 1921.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1542 Prior to the elections, the Republican Union had merged with the Evolutionist Party to form the ...

(elected as representative of

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCWorld Heritage Sitesince 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved and a ...

) and

1925 Portuguese legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Portugal on 8 November 1925.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1542 The result was a victory for the Democratic Party (Portugal), Democratic Party, which won 83 o ...

(

Arganil Arganil () is a town and municipality in Coimbra District, in Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 12,145, in an area of 332.84 km2. The present mayor is Luís Paulo Costa, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The munic ...

candidate, was not elected). *

, president of the party (1919 - 1934). *João J. Fonseca Garcia, president of the party (1934).

References

{{Authority control Defunct political parties in Portugal Political parties established in 1915 1915 establishments in Portugal

History

Election results

Notable members

See also

References