liberal catholicism was a current of thought that was influential, especially in france, in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. being predominantly political in nature, liberal catholicism was distinct from the contemporary theological movement of modernism, and is distinct also both from the attitude of catholics who are described as theologically "progressive" or "liberal". == definition == liberal catholicism has been defined as "in essence a trend among sincere catholics to exalt freedom as a primary value and to draw from this consequences in social, political, and religious life, seeking to reconcile the principles on which christian france was founded with those that derived from the french revolution"."essentiellement une tendance, chez des catholiques sincÃ¨res, Ã  exalter la libertÃ© comme valeur premiÃ¨re avec les consÃ©quences que cela entraÃ®ne pour les principes qui rÃ©gissent la vie sociale, politique et religieuse : on en vient Ã  vouloir concilier des inconciliables, les principes sur lesquels Ã©taient fondÃ©s la france chrÃ©tienne et ceux qui dÃ©coulent de la rÃ©volution" (arnaud de lassus, connaissance Ã©lÃ©mentaire du libÃ©ralisme catholique, 1988). == history == the movement of liberal catholicism was initiated in france by hugues felicitÃ© robert de lamennais with the support of jean-baptiste henri lacordaire, charles forbes renÃ© de montalembert and olympe-philippe gerbet, bishop of perpignan, while a parallel movement arose in belgium, led by franÃ§ois antoine marie constantin de mÃ©an et de beaurieux, archbishop of mechelen, and his vicar general engelbert sterckx.j. p. t. bury, the new cambridge modern history: the zenith of european power, 1830-70 (cambridge university press 1960 isbn 978-0-521-04548-3), p. 77 lamennais founded the newspaper , the first issue of which appeared on 16 october 1830, with the motto "god and liberty". the paper was aggressively democratic, demanding rights of local administration, an enlarged suffrage, separation of church and state, universal freedom of conscience, freedom of education, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press. styles of worship were to be criticized, improved or abolished in absolute submission to the spiritual, not to the temporal authority. on 7 december 1830, the editors articulated their demands as follows: :we firstly ask for the freedom of conscience or the freedom of full universal religion, without distinction as witho
Christian_philosophy Christian_politics Political_ideologies Political_philosophy