International Movement of Catholic Students

The MIEC (IMCS) is born in Freiburg (Switzerland) in 1921, under the name Pax Romana. 77 representatives from 17 European countries were present : England, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, Java and the United States.

It defines itself as a “Confederatio Studentium Universi Terrarum Orbis Catolica”, i.e. a Catholic Confederation of Students throughout the world.

Its aim is to “gather and represent all legitimate forms of catholic organisations in the university world” in order to raise awareness of the problems specific to University.

In 1935, the organisations from Northern America and Asia joined the International Coordination, in 1941, organisations from Latin America, in 1957, African movements.

In 1946-47, Pax Romana divided itself into two branches: the MIEC(International Movement of Catholic Students) for University and the MIIC (International Movement of Catholic Intellectuals) for the professionals. Their common Secretariat remained in Freiburg.

Pax Romana was born as a service for University in a historical period when the concept of Catholic Action brought forward by Pius XI still had not spread in all countries and the pattern of specialized Catholic Action were not born yet.

International Young Catholic Students

Contrary to the MIEC which, since 1921, coordinated existing experiences, the JECI was born as the development of Catholic Action movements in 1925.

Several JEC movements developed at that stage (Flanders, Wallonia, France, Germany,…) This development was pulled to a stop by the II World War.

The International JEC was born in 1946 on the initiative of Canada, United States and France : an eight-day session (1st-8th September) defined the fundamental orientations of JEC (signed by the movements from Canada, Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg, Flanders, Wallonia, the United States, Italy, France).

Without getting too far into the details of the objectives and pedagogy of JECI , let’s remind some elements of this initial definition: a movement of Catholic Action, educational movement, a movement for the evangelization of students, the importance of grass-roots team as the basic cell of students community, a way of life, the search for complete humanism, etc.