About us
The Semaines Sociales de France were born at the beginning of
the XXth century, from the will of a certain number of Catholics to make known
the social thought of the Church and to apply it to the issues of their time,
such as the condition of manufacturing workers, denounced as inhuman by the
Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891).
Marius Gonin, founder of the Semaines Sociales de
France (1904). |
Created by two laymen, Marius Gonin and Adéodat
Boissard, it hold its first session in Lyon in 1904 (200 persons were
expected, 450 attended !). Henri Lorin was the President of this team
until he died in 1919. Between the two World Wars, under the presidency
of Eugene Duthoit, Professor in Law in Lille, the Semaines Sociales held
more specialized sessions, dealing not only with social issues but also
with subjects related to the major concerns of these times, in particular
Peace and Democracy.
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Shortly after the Second World War, under the presidency
of a former "Résistant", Charles Flory (until 1960) and
of Alain Barrère, Professor in Economics (until 1985), the Semaines
Sociales covered various social topics, with more pronounced economic
approaches, in particular related to the problems of the Third World and
the phenomena of socialization. The most successful session gathered up
to 5,400 persons in Lyon in 1964.
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Charles Flory, president of the SSF 1945-1960.
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Jean Boissonnat, president of the Semaines Sociales
de France 1995-2000. |
As a result of the crisis of the "Action Catholique",
of Christian trade-unionism and of political forces which were attached
to the stream of the Christian democracy, the Semaines Sociales lost dynamism
in the Seventies, before reappearing in the middle of the Eighties, under
the presidency of Jean Gélamur (until 1995) and then Jean Boissonnat
(until 2000). They have found their annual rhythm since 1995, with a number
of participants which oscillates around 2,000 people (it gathered 2,500
people in 1999).
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The topics of the last years were: "Work and
Employment" (1987); "The challenges of Training"
(1989); "Competition and Solidarity" (1991); "Us
and the media" (1993); "A new idea: the Family"
(1995); "Which Europe ?" (1996); "The Migrants
: challenge and wealth for our society" (1997); "To 'democracise'
the Republic: representation and participation of citizens" (1998);
"From one century to another : the Gospel, Christians and the
Challenge to Society" (1999); "To Work and To Live"
(2000) ; "Biology, medicine and society : what will we make of
the human being ?" (2001) ; "The violence. How will we
live together ?" (2002) ; "The money" (2003).
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Michel Camdessus, current president of the SSF. |
Our goals
The sessions of the Semaines Sociales de France are a meeting
place for all, believers or not, opened to all individuals who are sensitive
to the dialogue and the search for Meaning. Today, while the values and the
ethical references are at the same time challenged, relativized but also looked
for, the Semaines Sociales de France appear well connected to our time. The
crossroads they offer at a national level answers a triple need:
- a need for gathering - because the Christians who are involved in social
action cannot exist without a place where they acknowledge each other,
- a need for memory - i.e. history -, and for learning,
- a need for sense and meaning - because what we make contains a direction
and a significance.
To enter the new millennium with hope, the Semaines Sociales
de France want to be a place for reflection and action.
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We propose you a certain number of texts and links, related
to our action :
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For further information you can e-mail us at: europe@ssf-fr.org
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