From Maritain to the «Brazilian Revolution»: the Social Thought of the Juventude Estudantil Católica (JEC) and Juventude Estudantil Universitária Católica (JUC)

The essay reconstructs some decisive stages in the history of JEC\r\n(Juventude Estudantil Católica) and JUC (Juventude Universitária Católica)\r\nin Brazil between the 1950s and 1960s, highlighting the influence of the\r\nfrancophone model of “specialized” Catholic Action on the history of the\r\ntwo Brazilian student movements. Since the second half of the 1950s, the\r\nBrazilian JEC and JUC had expressed a desire to move beyond an approach\r\nthat focused exclusively on the religious education in favor of a model that\r\ncombined both faith education and social action. This led the leaders of\r\nthe JEC and JUC to look for models that they initially found in Maritain’s\r\nthought, as documented by the debate around the «Ideal Histórico» at the\r\nturn of the Fifties and Sixties, or in the theory of «Engajamento», which\r\nthey took from the model of French Catholic Action. In just a few years,\r\nhowever, young Brazilians would come to a radical critique of the\r\nfoundations of Maritain’s thought, from which they had started, outlining\r\nthe theoretical and practical basis for the Theology of Liberation\r\nelaborated by Gutiérrez in the early 1970s. The events of the JEC and JUC,\r\neven with some peculiarities, represent a paradigmatic anticipation of some\r\nprocesses that will affect some of the Catholic Action youth groups in\r\nSouth America and Europe after 1968.