Christian Democracy

Christian Democracy is a political ideology, born at the end of the 19th century, largely as a result of the papal encyclical Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII, in which the Vatican recognized workers' misery and agreed that something should be done about it, in reaction to the rise of the socialist and trade-union movements. The position of the Roman Catholic Church on this matter was further clarified in a subsequent encyclical, Quadragesimo Anno, by Pope Pius XI in 1931.

Though the Christian Democratic movement is very heterogeneous, there is general agreeemnt on certain issues. The proposed design of the Chrisitan democratic State is different from that advocated by the liberals: it must be decentralized, to be made up by various bodies, but to have an unquestionable capacity. Christian Democracy sees the economy as being at the service of humanity; however, most Christian Democratic Parties do not call capitalism itself into question. The duty of the State to care for its citizens is of some importance for Christian Democrats, but they generally do not support Christian socialism, and, in recent decades, Christian Democratic parties in Europe have shifted more towards the conservative position of reducing the role of the State in the economy.

Christian Democrats tend to follow the Vatican positions on some public-moral issues. However, most of them have accepted separation of church and state, divorce and, at times, even abortion and same-sex marriage.

While Christian Democracy is of Roman Catholic origin, it has been adopted by many Lutherans and some Calvinists as well; however it is not that popular in most majority-Calvinist societies.

Christian Democracy has been especially important in Italy, inspired by Luigi Sturzo, Norway (see Christian Democratic Party of Norway (KrF)) and Germany (see Christian Democratic Union (CDU)) and Christian Social Union (CSU). Major Christian Democratic influence can also be seen in the politics of Belgium, Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Slovenia, and Chile.

There are also Christian trade unions that set themselves apart from revolutionary trade unions.

The Justice and Development Party, currently in power in Turkey, has publicly stated that it sees the Christian Democratic parties of Europe as a model, and seeks to reconcile the tenets of Islam with separation between church and state. It has therefore been described abroad as espousing Islamic Democracy.

See also

• Christian Democratic Parties
• Christian peoples Alliance
• Christian politics in New Zealand
• Communitarianism
• European Christian Political Movement
• International Democrat Union

External link

• Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats in the European Parliament
• European Christian Political Movement