Directory of associations
A constant feature of the life of the Church
The burgeoning of associations of the laity, which are such a typical feature of the contemporary Church, is by no means unprecedented in the Church’s history. As John Paul II has said, across the centuries "we have constantly seen the phenomenon of groups of varying sizes being spontaneously urged on to join together, driven by a mysterious prompting of the Holy Spirit, to pursue specific charitable or spiritual purposes to meet ...Read all...
Repertorio
-
Adsis Communities
OFFICIAL NAME Adsis Communities ALSO KNOWN AS Adsis ESTABLISHED 1964 HISTORY The Adsis Communities were founded in Bilbao, Spain, by Father José Luis Pérez Alvarez. The members include men and women from all states of life, and from the beginning it was intended to... Read more
-
Amigonian Cooperators
OFFICIAL NAME Amigonian Cooperators ACRONYM A.Cs ESTABLISHED 1992 HISTORY The Amigonian Cooperators was instituted by the Capuchin Tertiaries (Amigonian Fathers). Their work among the laity following the charism of the Capuchin Bishop Luis Amigó y Ferrer (1854-1934)... Read more
-
Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt
OFFICIAL NAME Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt ALSO KNOWN AS Schoenstatt Movement ESTABLISHED 1914 HISTORY The Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt was founded by a young Pallotine priest, Josef Kentenich (1885-1968) who was given the pastoral care of a student house at... Read more
-
Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships
OFFICIAL NAME Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships ALSO KNOWN AS Catholic Fraternity ESTABLISHED 1990 HISTORY The Catholic Fraternity was created at the initiative of a number of Catholic Charismatic Communities belonging to the... Read more
-
Catholic Integrated Community
OFFICIAL NAME Catholic Integrated Community ACRONYM KIG - (Katholische Integrierte Gemeinde) ESTABLISHED 1945 HISTORY The Catholic Integrated Community was established in Munich in Germany, under the name "Junger Bund" immediately in the wake of the Second World War and the tragic... Read more
-
Catholic International Education Office
OFFICIAL NAME Catholic International Education Office ACRONYM OIEC (Office International de l’Enseignement Catholique) ESTABLISHED 1952 HISTORY OIEC was founded in Lucerne, Switzerland by a group of people who felt it appropriate to establish relations for cooperation in the field of... Read more
-
Cenacolo Community
OFFICIAL NAME CENACOLO COMMUNITY ESTABLISHED 1983 HISTORY the Cenacolo Community was founded on a hilltop in Saluzzo (Cuneo, Italy) on July 16, 1983, on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, by Sr. Rita Petrozzi (Mother Elvira). After years of waiting and prayer, she received the... Read more
-
Chemin Neuf Community
OFFICIAL NAME Chemin Neuf Community ACRONYM CCN (Communauté "Chemin Neuf") ESTABLISHED 1973 HISTORY CCN was created in 1973 in Lyon, France, by a Charismatic Renewal prayer group, at the initiative of the Jesuit priest, Father Laurent Fabre. The Community was... Read more
-
Christian Life Community
OFFICIAL NAME Christian Life Community ACRONYM CVX ESTABLISHED 1952 HISTORY The origins of CVX date back to the Marian Congregations created in 1563 by the Jesuit priest Jean Leunis and a group of students from the Roman College who wished to follow in the footsteps of... Read more
-
Christian Life Movement
OFFICIAL NAME Christian Life Movement ACRONYM CLM ESTABLISHED 1985 HISTORY CLM was founded in Lima, Peru, by Luis Fernando Figari, drawing on the initiatives and experiences during the 1970s of the members of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, which Figari founded, and... Read more
-
Claire Amitié
OFFICIAL NAME Claire Amitié ESTABLISHED 1946 HISTORY Claire Amitié was established in France by Thérèse Cornille (1917-1989) a young woman trained in Catholic Action and Young Christian Workers, who at the age of 29 decided to devote her life to the service of girls and young women... Read more
-
Comunità Canção Nova
Denominazione ufficiale Comunità Canção Nova Sigla CCN Storia Nel 1975, mons. Antônio Afonso de Miranda, vescovo della diocesi di Lorena (San Paolo, Brasile), colpito dalla ricchezza dell’esortazione apostolica Evangelii Nuntiandi di papa Paolo VI, affidò a don Jonas Abib, già impegnato nel lavoro... Read more
-
Comunità Domenico Tardini Association
OFFICIAL NAME "Comunità Domenico Tardini" Association ESTABLISHED 1980 HISTORY The Association was founded on the principles put forward by Cardinal Domenico Tardini. He felt called to devote himself to children - to whom Jesus attributed the highest dignity in the Kingdom... Read more
-
Cooperators of Opus Dei
OFFICIAL NAME Cooperators of Opus Dei IDENTITY The Cooperators of Opus Dei are men and women who belong to an association inseparably linked to the Opus Dei Prelature, although they are not incorporated in the Prelature. The Cooperators, together with the faithful of the Prelature,... Read more
-
Couples for Christ
OFFICIAL NAME Couples for Christ ACRONYM CFC ESTABLISHED 1981 HISTORY The Couples for Christ Association was established in Manila, Philippines, by 16 married couples belonging to a Catholic Charismatic Renewal prayer group. It works for Christian couples wishing to deepen their faith by helping... Read more
-
Emmanuel Community
OFFICIAL NAME Emmanuel Community ESTABLISHED 1972 HISTORY The Emmanuel Community was founded in Paris, France, by Pierre Goursat (1914-1991) and Martine Laffitte-Catta based on the experience of a Charismatic Renewal prayer group. It was originally only for lay people, both single and... Read more
-
Encounters of Married Couples
OFFICIAL NAME Encounters of Married Couples ALSO KNOWN AS Dialogues ESTABLISHED 1978 HISTORY Dialogues was established in Poland by a married couple Irena and Jerzy Grzybowscy together with Stanisław Boguszewski, a Polish national living in Canada through whom they learned... Read more
-
Encounters of Youth Promotion
OFFICIAL NAME Encounters of Youth Promotion AKRONYM EYP ESTABLISHED 1968 HISTORY EYP was established in Medellín, Colombia, by the Spanish priest, Father José Maria Pujadas Ferrer following an international course on the dynamics of apostolic youth groups organised in Bogota... Read more
-
Fondacio. Christians for the World
OFFICIAL NAME Fondacio. Christians for the World ALSO KNOWN AS Fondacio ESTABLISHED 1974 HISTORY Fondacio was established in France under the name of Christian Formation Community, in the wake of Catholic Charismatic Renewal and at the initiative of Jean-Michel Rousseau, a... Read more
-
Foyers de Charité
OFFICIAL NAME Foyers de Charité ESTABLISHED 1936 HISTORY Foyers de Charité was instituted following a meeting between Marthe Robin (1902-1981) and Father Georges Finet, who was to become her spiritual director. Marthe Robin, who had been ill from the age of 16, offered herself to the... Read more
-
Franciscans of Mary
OFFICIAL NAME Franciscans of Mary ALSO KNOWN AS Missionaries of Gratitude AKRONYM FM NAME IN OTHER LANGUAGES Spanish: Franciscanos de María. French: Franciscains de Marie. Italian:... Read more
-
Fraternity of Charles de Foucauld
OFFICIAL NAME Fraternity of Charles de Foucauld ACRONYM FCF ESTABLISHED 1991 HISTORY FCF was established at Bayonne, France, by a group of women of 20 nationalities who had shared a long experience of the Jesus Caritas Fraternity (today a Secular Institute). It is one of the... Read more
-
Fraternity of Communion and Liberation
OFFICIAL NAME Fraternity of Communion and Liberation ACRONYM CL ALSO KNOWN AS Communion and Liberation ESTABLISHED 1954 HISTORY At the beginning of the 1950s, realising the need to rebuild the Christian presence in the student world, Father Luigi Giussani,... Read more
-
Fraternity of St Thomas Aquinas Groups
OFFICIAL NAME Fraternity of St Thomas Aquinas Groups ACRONYM FASTA (Fraternidad de Agrupaciones Santo Tomás de Aquino) ESTABLISHED 1962 HISTORY FASTA was established in Leones, Argentina, by Fr Aníbal Ernesto Fosbery OP, in response to the prompting of Vatican II to promote... Read more
-
Heralds of the Gospel
OFFICIAL NAME Heralds of the Gospel ACRONYM EP (from the Latin name of the association Evangelii Praecones) ESTABLISHED 1999 HISTORY EP dates back to the 1960s when a group of young Catholics from São Paulo, Brazil, led by João Scognamiglio Clá Días, Pedro Paulo de Figueiredo... Read more
-
Holy Family Association
OFFICIAL NAME Holy Family Association ESTABLISHED 1892 HISTORY The Holy Family Association took up the legacy of the Pious Association of Christian Families, established in 1892 by Leo XIII with his Brief Neminem Fugit to bring together all the different movements and associations... Read more
-
Home of the mother
OFFICIAL NAME Hogar de la Madre de todos los hombres, Madre de la Juventud ALSO KNOWN AS Hogar de la Madre ACRONYM HM NAME IN OTHER LANGUAGES English: Home of the Mother (HM). French: Foyer de la Mère (FM). Italian: Focolare della Madre (FM). ESTABLISHED 1982 HISTORY The Hogar de la Madre... Read more
-
Immaculate Heart of Mary
OFFICIAL NAME Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Mercy Association or Tuus Totus ACRONYM CIM (Coeur Immaculé de Marie) ALSO KNOWN AS Tuus Totus ESTABLISHED 1963 HISTORY Tuus Totus was established in 1963 in Rouen in France by Mgr Jehan Dahyot-Dolivet, Proto-notary... Read more
-
Institute for World Evangelisation
OFFICIAL NAME Institute for World Evangelisation ALSO KNOWN AS ICPE Mission ESTABLISHED 1985 HISTORY ICPE Mission was founded in Malta by Mario and Anna Cappello, supported by the leaders and members of the Glory of God International Covenant Community, a Catholic Charismatic... Read more
-
Intercontinental Christian Fraternity of the Chronic Sick and Physically Disabled
OFFICIAL NAME Intercontinental Christian Fraternity of the Chronic Sick and Physically Disabled ACRONYM FCIPMH (Fraternité Chrétienne Intercontinentale des Personnes Malades Chroniques et Handicappées Physiques) ALSO KNOWN AS Frater ESTABLISHED 1945 HISTORY Frater was... Read more
-
International Alliance of Catholic Knights
OFFICIAL NAME International Alliance of Catholic Knights ACRONYM IACK ESTABLISHED 1979 HISTORY IACK was founded in the United Kingdom by the Orders of Catholic Knights from Britain, the United States, Ireland, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. It was... Read more
-
International Association of Caterinati
OFFICIAL NAME International Association of "Caterinati" ESTABLISHED 1970 HISTORY The International Association of followers of Saint Catherine of Siena was founded in Siena by Archbishop Mario Ismaele Castellano OP on the same day that Pope Paul VI proclaimed St Catherine... Read more
-
International Association of Charities
OFFICIAL NAME International Association of Charities ACRONYM AIC (Association Internationale des Charités) ESTABLISHED 1971 HISTORY The AIC dates back to 1617, the year in which St Vincent de Paul gathered together a group of women at Châtillon-les-Dombes, France, creating the first attempts... Read more
-
International Association of Faith and Light
OFFICIAL NAME International Association of Faith and Light ALSO KNOWN AS Faith and Light International ESTABLISHED 1971 HISTORY Faith and Light International came into being following a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, in 1971 organised by Jean Vanier and Marie Hélène Mathieu in... Read more
-
International Association of Missionaries of Political Charity
OFFICIAL NAME International Association of Missionaries of Political Charity ESTABLISHED 1976 HISTORY The International Association of Missionaries of Political Charity was originally founded in Milan by Alfredo Luciani as European Christian Social Action, a movement dedicated to... Read more
-
International Catholic Centre for Cooperation with UNESCO
OFFICIAL NAME International Catholic Centre for Cooperation with UNESCO ACRONYM CCIC (Centre Catholique International de Coopération avec l’UNESCO) ESTABLISHED 1947 HISTORY CCIC was established in the same year as UNESCO, to guarantee a Catholic presence in this new United... Read more
-
International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services
OFFICIAL NAME International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services ACRONYM ICCRS ESTABLISHED 1978 HISTORY The origins of ICCRS go back to 1970 when an International Communications Office (ICO) began operating at Ann Arbor (Michigan) at Notre Dame University, to keep... Read more
-
International Catholic Child Bureau
OFFICIAL NAME International Catholic Child Bureau ACRONYM BICE (Bureau International Catholique de l’Enfance) ESTABLISHED 1948 HISTORY BICE was founded in Paris as a tool to serve those who, in the Catholic world, are working to establish the rights of children and to ensure their comprehensive... Read more
-
International Catholic Committee for Gypsies
OFFICIAL NAME International Catholic Committee for Gypsies ACRONYM CCIT (Comité Catholique International pour les Tsiganes) ESTABLISHED 1976 HISTORY CCIT was created following a number of informal meetings organised in Paris, France, at the beginning of the 1970s by the French... Read more
-
International Catholic Committee of Nurses and Medical Social Assistants
OFFICIAL NAME International Catholic Committee of Nurses and Medical Social Assistants ACRONYM CICIAMS (Comité International Catholique des Infirmières et Assistantes Médico-Sociales) ESTABLISHED 1933 HISTORY CICIAMS came into being in Lourdes, France, under the name "International Study... Read more
-
International Catholic Conference of Guiding
OFFICIAL NAME International Catholic Conference of Guiding ACRONYM ICCG ESTABLISHED 1965 HISTORY ICCG was originally established by some 20 organisations belonging to the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. The first meetings of Catholic Guide leaders from different countries began in... Read more
-
International Catholic Conference of Scouting
OFFICIAL NAME International Catholic Conference of Scouting ACRONYM ICCS ESTABLISHED 1948 HISTORY ICCS started out as the International Office of Catholic Scouts, which was created in 1920 at the first World Jamboree, by the French Jesuit Jacques Sevin (Scouts de France),... Read more
-
International Catholic Migration Commission
OFFICIAL NAME International Catholic Migration Commission ACRONYM ICMC ESTABLISHED 1951 HISTORY ICMC was established in order to deal with the massive movement of refugees following the upheavals caused by the Second World War, and also in order to restore to millions of people... Read more
-
International Catholic Movemente for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs
OFFICIAL NAME International Catholic Movemente for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs ACRONYM ICMICA-Pax Romana ESTABLISHED 1947 HISTORY Officially founded in Rome, Pax Romana-ICMICA was established historically and sociologically by the members of the International Movement of... Read more
-
International Catholic Society for Girls
OFFICIAL NAME International Catholic Society for Girls ACRONYM ACISJF (Association Catholique Internationale de Services pour la Jeunesse Féminine) ESTABLISHED 1897 HISTORY ACISJF was the first Catholic international association for girls, founded in Friburg in Switzerland in 1897 by... Read more
-
International Christian Union of Business Executives
OFFICIAL NAME International Christian Union of Business Executives ACRONYM UNIAPAC (after the original name of the Association: Union Internationale des Associations Patronales Catholiques) ESTABLISHED 1931 HISTORY UNIAPAC began as the International Conference of Associations... Read more
-
International Confederation of Professional Associations of Domestic Workers
OFFICIAL NAME International Confederation of Professional Associations of Domestic Workers ACRONYM IAG (Internationale Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Berufsverbände Christlischer Arbeitnehmerinnen in der Hauswirtschaft) ESTABLISHED 1959 HISTORY The first moves were made to found the... Read more
-
International Confederation of the Society of St Vincent de Paul
OFFICIAL NAME International Confederation of the Society of St Vincent de Paul ACRONYM SSVP ESTABLISHED 1833 HISTORY The SSVP was founded in Paris as a result of a Conference on Law and History organised by the journalist Emmanuel Bailly for university undergraduates at a time... Read more
-
International Confederation of the Volunteers of Suffering Centers
OFFICIAL NAME International Confederation of the Volunteers of Suffering Centers ALSO KNOWN AS International Confederation CVS (Centri Volontari della Sofferenza) ESTABLISHED 1943 HISTORY International Confederation CVS was created in Rome by Monsignor Luigi Novarese... Read more
-
International Coordination of Young Christian Workers
OFFICIAL NAME International Coordination of Young Christian Workers ACRONYM ICYCW ESTABLISHED 1987 HISTORY The Young Christian Workers (YCW) was founded in Belgium in 1925 at the initiative of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn who was then a young priest. The experience of this group of young working... Read more