New Book Takes a Detailed Look at French Idea That Encouraged Both Privileged and Working Class to Play Leadership Roles in Various Aspects of French Society

Known as "Le Sillon," the lay persons movement is barely known outside of France

TORONTO, March 19, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Le Sillon was a social movement which existed from 1894 to 1910. It originally began as educational, such as using the personal resources of the upper educated classes to enrich the political and cultural life of the often illiterate, uneducated working classes. It aimed to bring Catholicism into a greater conformity with French Republican and socialist ideals, in order to provide an alternative to Marxism in the union movement and other anticlerical labour movements. Founded by Marc Sangnier, he spent his life trying to advance these social Catholic, democratic, and ecumenical values until his death in 1950.

In "Le Sillon: A Lay Catholic Movement that Transformed France," by Linda Arbour, readers are introduced to Sangnier, as the book details the discovery of Le Sillon as a lay movement in France that sprung forth out of the church thanks to the leadership of young students, clergy and aristocrats at the turn of the twentieth century.

As they matured, so did the aims of the movement, and they became an educational force that encouraged both the upper classes and working class to join together for the benefit of the workers unions, then dominated by the anti-clerical left. Their activities brought them into conflict with the French hierarchy and the papacy itself and matured into an expression of Christian economic democracy that challenged Catholic hierarchical norms.

"The idea behind sharing this history is to support and validate teachers and engaged lay Catholics in their efforts to raise consciousness about the Church's social teachings and to provide leadership in their local contexts," said Arbour.

Although well known in France, Le Sillon and Sangnier are mostly unknown in North America. Le Sillon's middle left orientation permeated French Catholicism and kept the Communist Party out of power in France after the second world war. This book highlights the history leading up to Le Sillon, and how Sangnier's ideas spread from an elite Parisian secondary school to cities and towns throughout the country.

"A commitment to social justice is constituent of the gospel, not an option," said Arbour. "Jesus must historically have been an advocate for the poor and marginalized as he came from these people."

"Le Sillon: A Lay Catholic Movement that Transformed France"
By Linda Arbour
ISBN: 9781663221759 (softcover); 9781663221742 (electronic)
Available at iUniverse, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the author
Linda Arbour is one of the first lay Catholic women trained in theology in Toronto, Canada, and received a masters in religious education from St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto. She has been a professional educator in Toronto's public Catholic secondary schools and specialized in integrating a social justice perspective in a theological tradition previously absent from the religious education curriculum. Her personal commitments include a life of activism on concrete issues in education, in the Church and in the community, local and national. To learn more, please visit http://www.iuniverse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/828527-le-sillon. 

Media Contact

Ziggy Goldfarb, LAVIDGE, 4803067065, [email protected]

SOURCE Linda Arbour