History of UNIAPAC
The predecessors of the organisation were national federations of Catholic employers in The Netherlands in 1915, Belgium in 1921 and France in 1926. In 1931, a group of Catholic employers created an International Comité d'Initiative at the 40th anniversary of the encyclical Rerum novarum in Rome. In addition, they took the initiative to organise regularly the Internationales des Associations Patronales Catholiques. UNIAPAC was founded in Rome in 1931 as the International Conferences of Catholic Employers by the organisations of Catholic entrepreneurs from France, Belgium and The Netherlands and also observers from Italy, Germany and Czechoslovakia.
In 1946, under General Secretary A.H.M. Albregst, UNIAPAC was established as the Union Internationale des Associations Patronales Catholiques. In 1948, UNIAPAC expanded to Latin America, starting in Chile. In 1958, a permanent international secretariat was created in Brussels with the support of Léon Bekaert (Belgium) and Peter H. Werhahn (Germany). In 1975, the first edition of the UNIAPAC World Congress was launched, as the “Churches-Transnational Corporations” Dialogue in Europe. The origin of these dialogues was the development of a consciousness, on the part of business and the Churches, on the role of business in society. In 1991, UNIAPAC commemorated in Rome the centenary of “Rerum Novarum” and presented to His Holiness John-Paul II the book “The Churches facing the enterprise – A Hundred Years of Social Thinking”.
Today, the head office of UNIAPAC is established in Paris, with Rodrigo Whitelaw as the Secretary General.
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The FIMCAP, which is short for Fédération Internationale des Mouvements Catholiques d'Action Paroissiale, is an umbrella organization for Catholic youth organizations. Its 31 member organizations are based in 28 countries. The FIMCAP was founded in 1962 and is recognised as an official Catholic organization by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. FIMCAP is also a full member of the European Youth Forum.
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