From Slums to Community: The Urban Turn of Catholicism in Post-War Brussels (1950-1975)

Abstract

Adding to research on the link between religion and urbanization, this article explores how the notion of poverty influenced the relationship between Catholic actors and the city of Brussels (Belgium). It shows how the dynamics between clerics and urbanization changed on a local level because of the international renewal campaign of the Catholic Church in the 1960s. Before the Second Vatican Council, Catholics saw urban poverty as proof of the secularization process in modern European cities. From the 1960s onward, however, the Catholic clergy in Brussels—as well as in other European cities—started to refute the idea that religion and urbanization were irreconcilable, and instead urged for a positive attitude toward modern cities. By ceasing to associate modern cities with poverty, the Brussels vicariate stimulated its parish priests to engage in an active relationship with the city in order to shape its physical and social environment.