Christian Democracy - History

History

Christian democracy as a political movement was 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 subsequent encyclicals, such as Quadragesimo Anno, by Pope Pius XI in 1931, Populorum Progressio by Pope Paul VI in 1967, Centesimus Annus, by Pope John Paul II in 1991, and Caritas in Veritate by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. Christian democracy has evolved considerably since then, and it is no longer the Catholic ideology of Distributism, although it is based on Catholic social teaching, as outlined in the 2006 official "Catechism of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church". (In Germany, for example, the Christian Democratic Party emerged as a grouping dominated by Rhenish and Westphalian Catholics, but also encompassed the more conservative elements of the Protestant population.) Following World War II, Christian democracy was seen as a neutral and unifying voice of compassionate conservatism, and distinguished itself from the far right. It gave a voice to 'conservatives of the heart', particularly in Germany, who had detested Adolf Hitler's regime yet agreed with the right on many issues.

In Protestant countries, Christian democratic parties were founded by more conservative Protestants in reaction to the political power of liberal tendencies within the Protestant churches. In the Netherlands, for instance, the Anti Revolutionary Party was founded in 1879 by conservative Protestants. It institutionalized early 19th century opposition against the ideas from the French Revolution on popular sovereignty. It held the position that government derived its authority from God and not from the people. This Burkean position is sometimes also called Christian Historian. It was a response to the liberal ideas that predominated in political life. The Christian Democrats of Sweden, rooted in the Pentecostal religious tradition, has a similar history.

While Christian democracy is of Roman Catholic origin, it has been adopted by many Protestant and Eastern Orthodox Christians as well. Some Christian democratic parties, particularly in Europe, no longer emphasize religion and have become much more secular in recent years. Also within Europe, two essentially Islamic parties, the Democratic League of Kosovo and Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (usually known by the Turkish acronym AKP, for Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) have moved towards the tradition. The Democratic League of Kosovo is now a full member of the Centrist Democrat International (see below).

Christian democracy can trace its philosophical roots back to Thomas Aquinas and his thoughts about Aristotelian ontology and the Christian tradition. According to him, human rights are based on natural law and defined as the things that humans need to function properly. For example, food is a human right because without food humans cannot function properly. Modern authors important to the formation of Christian democratic ideology include Emmanuel Mounier, Étienne Gilson, and Jacques Maritain.