Capital cities, ground for thoughts in the French and Belgium Catholic world in the 1950s-1960s?

• Published in: Archives de sciences sociales des religions Vol. 59; no. 165; pp. 105 - 118
• Main Author: Chatelan, Olivier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: French
• Published: 01-01-2014
• Subjects: Catholics; Cities; France; Missionaries; Paris, France; Protestants; Theology; Twentieth Century; Urban Areas
• ISBN: 2713224314; 9782713224317
• ISSN: 0335-5985

The French and Belgian Catholic world did not remain indifferent to urban issues in the second half of the Twentieth Century, as can be seen from the abundant sociological literature on this topic. However the capitals were not under any particular investigation. At the time, Paris and Brussels were places with many missionary experiences and parish surveys, but their primacy in the national urban network as such did not draw the attention of observers. When it comes to theology, the situation is a little different: Joseph Comblin published in 1968 a fascinating Theologie de la ville which analyzed the urban phenomenon in a quite positive way, but the author showed an indirect bias towards capital cities as places of power with wealth accumulation. However, just as for the Protestant theologian Harvey Cox in his The Secular City published the same year, capital cities did not differ from other big cities in Europe or in the world, which are all signs of a new civilization. Adapted from the source document.