The International Christian Union of Business Executives or UNIAPAC is an

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

organization for

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

businesspeople.

History

The predecessors of the organization were national federations of Catholic employers in

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1915,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in 1921 and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1926. In 1931, a group of Catholic employers created an ''International Comité d'Initiative'' at the 40th anniversary of the encyclical ''

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 ...

'' in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In addition they took the initiative to organize regularly ''Internationales des Associations Patronales Catholiques''. UNIAPAC was founded in Rome in 1931 as the International Conferences of Catholic Employers by the organizations of Catholic entrepreneurs from France, Belgium and The Netherlands and also people from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. In 1946, under General Secretary A.H.M. Albregst, UNIAPAC was established as the ''Union Internationale des Associations Patronales Catholiques''. In 1948 UNIAPAC expanded to Latin America, starting in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. In 1958, a permanent international secretariat was created in

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 ...

with the support of

Léon Bekaert Léon Antoine Bekaert (Zwevegem, 9 December 1891 - Zwevegem, 19 December 1961) was a Belgian industrialist and politician. He was the son of Leo Leander Bekaert, who founded the family business in 1880. He expanded the family venture ''Tréfiler ...

(Belgium) and Peter H. Werhahn (Germany).

Presidents

* 1956-1959: Giuseppe Mosca (Italy) * 1960-1964: (Germany) * 1965-1968: Léon de Rosen (France) * 1969-1972: Reinier A.H.M. Dobbelmann (The Netherlands) * 1973-1976: Romuald Burkard (Switzerland) * 1977-1981: Carlos E. Dietl (Argentina) * 1981-1985: Léon Antoine Bekaert (Belgium) * 1986-1987: Philippe de Weck (Switzerland) * 1988-1990: Ernst van den Biggelaar (The Netherlands) * 1990-1993:

Michel Albert Michel Albert (; 25 February 1930 – 19 March 2015) was a French economist. He was born in Fontenay-le-Comte, Vendée and was the Permanent Secretary of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques since 1 January 2005. Biography Michel Al ...

(France) * 1994-1996: Guy de Wouters (Belgium) * 1997-2000: Domingo Sugranyes Bickel (Spain) * 2000-2003: H. Onno Ruding (The Netherlands) * 2003-2006: Etienne Wibaux (France) * 2006-: José Ignacio Mariscal (Mexico)

Sources

* http://www.lesedc.org/Uniapac.html * http://www.christiansinpolitics.org/May-2005-The-UNIAPAC_a163.html * John D. Donovan, ''The Catholic Movement of Employers and Managers: A Study of UNIAPAC'', Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Spring, 1964), pp. 276–277

External links

UNIAPAC

UNIAPAC
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ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures

UNIAPAC Belgium
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ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures
{{Authority control Religious organisations based in Belgium International trade associations Christian parachurch organizations