On 25 March 1961, Fr Ernest Michel, national chaplain to the French-speaking (Walloon) Belgian JOC, wrote to Cardijn, who had sought his views on the pastoral letter then being drafted by Bishop Emile-Joseph De Smedt of Bruges.
“Here are the few suggestions that I think you could make to Bishop De Smedt regarding his letter,” Michel wrote.
“In the chapter: Living in union with Christ, Reigning in his people, from page 10.
“Stress the possibility and the need for Christians to collaborate with all people of good will – even those who are non-Christian – in the construction of the world.
“Similarly, underline with a little more force the need for Christians to get involved in organisations to carry out their temporal mission (organisations which, in fact, do not always need to be confessional).
“This is what is now often describes as ‘temporal engagement,’ a term that does not appear as such in the letter.
In relation to Catholic Action, Michel suggested that the letter should indicate “that very often specialised Catholic action, especially when it works in dechristianised environments, is that impactful Catholic action of which he speaks.”
SOURCE
Original French
Ernest Michel – Cardijn 25 03 1961 (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)
English translation
Ernest Michel – Cardijn 25 03 1961 (Joseph Cardijn Digital Library)