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Copyright of Social Compass is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper deals with the postwar evolution (1945-1980) in the official discourse of the socio-cultural branches of the Catholic labor movement in Flanders, Belgium. More particularly, four organizations of the ACW (General Christian Workers' Organization) were studied: the two youth organizations that were once led by the international renowned cleric, Jozef Cardijn, the KAJ (Catholic Workers' Youth) and the VKAJ (Female Catholic Workers' Youth), and the socio-cultural organizations for adult females and males, the Catholic Workers' Wives (KAV) and the Catholic Workers' League (KWB). The research consisted of a detailed study of the official discourse of these organizations for the period 1945-1980 by analyzing the monthly publications for the members and the core members. Other relevant documents were also consulted, such as the texts of lectures and speeches given at national training courses and congresses. The study reveled three phases within the postwar public discourse of the socio-cultural organizations of the ACW. In the first part of the paper, these phases are identified and described. The second part of the paper offers a sociological interpretation by linking the evolution of discourse to the postwar process of individualization.

This paper analyzes the statistics released by the Catholic Church showing the persistent demand for Catholic baptisms in Flanders, Belgium, between 1967 and 1990. There is abundant evidence that in Belgium religious (Catholic) baptisms, marriages and funerals are still in great demand while weekly church attendance has strongly declined over the last decades. The statistics clearly indicate that some people continue to run to the Catholic Church at significant moments in their lives, without any further weekly involvement. Two remarks regarding the official figures are in order in this paper. First, the percentages concerning Catholic marriages have been calculated in proportion to the total number of marriages. As a result, the drop in the relative number of church weddings can partly attributed to the rise in marriages of divorced people. Second, the inclusion of non-Catholics in the calculations distorts the statistics, especially the differences between the three regions in Belgium, but does not account for all the differences and decreases that can be observed. The author relates that the analysis of the statistics, and the resulting conclusions and questions, induced her to undertake a study of the meaning of the church rituals. In this study, the focus is on baptisms.

Copyright of Social Compass is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper considers the different groups and positions which formulated problems concerning a revision of the School Pact in Belgium. School Pact is an agreement between three political parties in which an accord is made and directives for the future are noted. The problems which existed in 1958 in relation to education were numerous: the maintenance of the constitutional freedom of education; the place and the recognition of state schools in the entire educational system; the definition of the nature of the official neutral school and the position of religious doctrine and non-confessional ethics therein; the democratization of education. Through the School Pact, the Catholics also accepted the neutrality of state education. To oppose the power of the Catholic Church concerning education, the liberals were forced once again to defend state education regardless of their preference for private initiative in other fields. Between 1958 and 1967, 376 new schools and 1,694 sections were established in the state educational system while 465 Catholic schools and 2,489 sections were absorbed into the subsidy system. In the law of the 29th of May 1959, free choice refers to the choice between a neutral and a confessional school, between religious doctrine and non-confessional moral instruction in all neutral schools.

Copyright of Social Compass is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article, we aim to contribute to feminist academic debates about multiculturalism and secularism/religion by drawing upon an analysis of an ethnic minority women’s organisation in Belgium that has been active since 1999: ella. The analysis focuses upon the way in which ella constructs notions of empowerment and emancipation by discussing structural inequalities, cultural-ethnic values and religious authority and identity. First, we look at how ella formulates its ideas about the emancipation trajectories of minoritised women and the potential role of religious belonging. Second, we look at ella’s discussion of religious interpretation and gender/sexual diversity. Here, we explore assumptions about the relationship between religious authority and minoritised women’s and LGBTQs’ desires and pursuit for knowledge. We conclude by considering ella as an affirmative-critical actor of multiculturalism, and an implicit agent of religious reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social Compass is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Social Compass is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)