nl, Katholieke Partij
, logo =
, leader1_title = Historical leaders
, leader1_name =
Charles Woeste
Charles, Count Woeste (26 February 1837 – 5 April 1922), was a Belgian Roman Catholic politician of German descent.
He was born in Brussels, the son of Edouard Woeste, who was of Prussian descent who became a naturalized Belgian on 15 January ...
Paul de Smet de Naeyer
Paul Joseph, Count de Smet de Naeyer (13 May 1843 – 9 September 1913) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
Born in Ghent, son of a cotton industrialist, he was himself also an industrialist and a banker. He was head of the Société Génà ...
Jules de Burlet
Jules Philippe Marie de Burlet (10 April 1844 – 1 March 1897) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
Born in Ixelles, de Burlet was educated as a lawyer. He practised law in Nivelles, where he made his home, and he served as mayor of the to ...
Auguste Beernaert
Auguste Marie François Beernaert (26 July 1829 – 6 October 1912) was the prime minister of Belgium from October 1884 to March 1894, and the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Life
Born in Ostend in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands 1829, h ...
Gustave Sap
Gustave Charles Sap (21 January 1886 – 19 March 1940) was a Belgian politician and minister for the Catholic Party. Sap was also professor at the Catholic University of Leuven (Leuven, Belgium). During his professional career, he was active in ...
, foundation = 1869
, dissolved = 1945
, predecessor =
, successor =
Christian Social Party
, headquarters =
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, wing1_title = Trade Union wing
, wing1 =
Confederation of Christian Trade Unions
The Confederation of Christian Trade Unions ( nl, Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, or ACV; french: Confédération des syndicats chrétiens, CSC) is the largest of Belgium's three trade union federations.
History
The federation was founded in ...
, ideology =
Belgian nationalism
Belgian nationalism, sometimes pejoratively referred to as Belgicism (; ), is a nationalist ideology. In its modern form it favours the reversal of federalism and the creation of a unitary state in Belgium. The ideology advocates reduced or no a ...
Christian democracy
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
Conservatism
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
, position =
Centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
, religion =
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, international =
, colours =
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
, country = Belgium
The Catholic Party (french: Parti catholique; nl, Katholieke Partij) was a Belgian political party established in 1869 as the Confessional Catholic Party ( nl, Confessionele Katholieke Partij).
History
In 1852, a ''Union Constitutionnelle et Conservatrice'' was founded in
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
, in
Leuven
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
(1854), and in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, and
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
in 1858, which were active only during elections. On July 11, 1864, the Federation of Catholic Circles and Conservative Associations was created (french: Fédération des Cercles catholiques et des Associations conservatrices; nl, Verbond van Katholieke Kringen en der Conservatieve Verenigingen).
The other group which contributed to the party were the ''Catholic Cercles'', of which the eldest had been founded in
Bruges
Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
. The
Malines Congresses The Malines Congresses were a series of Catholic Congresses held in Mechelen (french: Malines), Belgium, with the purpose of bringing together Catholics with leading roles in all walks of life, on the model of the German ''Katholikentage''.M. Defo ...
in 1863, 1864, and 1867 brought together
Ultramontanes
Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...
or ''Confessionals'' and the Liberal-Catholics or ''Constitutionals''. At the Congress of 1867, it was decided to create the ''League of Catholic Circles'', which was founded on October 22, 1868.
The Catholic Party, under the leadership of
Charles Woeste
Charles, Count Woeste (26 February 1837 – 5 April 1922), was a Belgian Roman Catholic politician of German descent.
He was born in Brussels, the son of Edouard Woeste, who was of Prussian descent who became a naturalized Belgian on 15 January ...
, gained an absolute majority in the
Belgian Chamber of Representatives
The Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: , french: link=no, Chambre des représentants, german: link=no, Abgeordnetenkammer) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered ...
in 1884 from the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
in the wake of
the schools dispute. The Catholic Party retained its absolute majority until 1918. In 1921, the party became the Catholic Union, and from 1936 the Catholic Bloc.
At the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, on 18–19 August 1945 the party was succeeded by the
PSC-CVP.
Notable members
*
Auguste Beernaert
Auguste Marie François Beernaert (26 July 1829 – 6 October 1912) was the prime minister of Belgium from October 1884 to March 1894, and the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Life
Born in Ostend in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands 1829, h ...
,
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
in 1909.
*
Jules de Burlet
Jules Philippe Marie de Burlet (10 April 1844 – 1 March 1897) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
Born in Ixelles, de Burlet was educated as a lawyer. He practised law in Nivelles, where he made his home, and he served as mayor of the to ...
*
Paul de Smet de Naeyer
Paul Joseph, Count de Smet de Naeyer (13 May 1843 – 9 September 1913) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
Born in Ghent, son of a cotton industrialist, he was himself also an industrialist and a banker. He was head of the Société Génà ...
*
Jules Vandenpeereboom
Jules (Julius) Henri Pierre François Vandenpeereboom (18 March 1843 – 6 March 1917) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
Vandenpeereboom was born in Kortrijk and educated as a lawyer. He represented Kortrijk in the Belgian Chamber of Peo ...
*
Jules de Trooz
Jules Henri Ghislain Marie, Baron de Trooz (21 February 1857 – 31 December 1907) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
De Trooz was born in Leuven, and had studied philosophy before entering politics. He represented Leuven in the Belgian C ...
*
Gustaaf Sap
Gustave Charles Sap (21 January 1886 – 19 March 1940) was a Belgian politician and minister for the Catholic Party. Sap was also professor at the Catholic University of Leuven ( Leuven, Belgium). During his professional career, he was active ...
*
Frans Schollaert
François (Frans) Victor Marie Ghislain Schollaert (19 August 1851 – 29 June 1917) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
Born in Wilsele, Schollaert trained as a lawyer and practiced in Leuven. He served as head of the Flemish farme ...
*
Charles de Broqueville
Charles Marie Pierre Albert, 1st Count de Broqueville (4 December 1860 – 5 September 1940) was the prime minister of Belgium, serving during World War I.
Before 1914
Charles de Broqueville was born into an old noble family with its roots in F ...
*
Gérard Cooreman
Gérard (Gerard) François Marie Cooreman (25 March 1852 – 2 December 1926) was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.
Born in Ghent, Cooreman was trained in law, and practised as a lawyer, but was more active as a businessman and financier, an ...
*
Henri Baels
Henri Louis Baels (18 January 1878 – 14 June 1951), was a Belgian Catholic Party politician, and ship-owner from Ostend.
Early life
Baels was born on 18 January 1878 in Ostend, Belgium. He was the son of Julius Ludovicus Baels (1851–1896) an ...
See also
*
Politics of Belgium
The politics of Belgium take place in the framework of a federal, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy. The King of the Belgians is the head of state, and the prime minister of Belgium is the head of government, in a multi-party ...
*
Christene Volkspartij
* ''
Rerum novarum
''Rerum novarum'' (from its incipit, with the direct translation of the Latin meaning "of revolutionary change"), or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, pass ...
''
*
Graves de communi re
''Graves de communi re'' was an encyclical written by Pope Leo XIII in 1901, on Christian Democracy. It is part of a larger body of writings known as Catholic social teaching, that trace their origin to ''Rerum novarum'' which was issued by Pop ...
* ''
Het Volk''
*
Catholic Church in Belgium
The Catholic Church in Belgium, part of the global Catholic Church in Belgium, is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome and the Episcopal Conference of Bishops.
Dioceses
There are eight dioceses, including one archdioces ...
Electoral history
Chamber of Deputies
*
1936 Belgian general election
General elections were held in Belgium on 24 May 1936.
The result was a victory for the Belgian Labour Party, which won 70 of the 202 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 39 of the 101 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 94.7%.
Desp ...
: 61 seats, 27.67% of votes
*
1939 Belgian general election: 67 seats, 30.38% of votes
Sources
*
*
* Th. Luykx and M. Platel, ''Politieke geschiedenis van België'', 2 vol., Kluwer, 1985
* E. Witte, J. Craeybeckx en A. Meynen, ''Politieke geschiedenis van België'', Standaard, 1997
Defunct political parties in Belgium
Christian democratic parties in Belgium
Defunct Christian political parties
Political parties established in 1869
1869 establishments in Belgium
1945 disestablishments in Belgium
Political parties disestablished in 1945
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