The ‘Chrétiens Révolutionnaires‘ of «Terre Nouvelle» in the Temperament of the Popular Front and the Church of Pius XI. At the Origins of Paul Ricœur’s Political-Cltural Commitment

Abstract

The essay reconstructs, on the basis of the rich unpublished documentation preserved in the Archives of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the history of the Chrétiens Révolutionnaires movement, which formed around social Christian, Catholic and Protestant associationism in the political-cultural but also religious temperament of the years of the Popular Front. It was joined by the very young Paul Ricœur, who wrote his first articles in their combative journal, «Terre Nouvelle», fulfilling his first original experience as an intellectuel engagé. The movement and the magazine aroused great sympathy and interest in the composite political universe of the Pop-ular Front. They also attracted the attention of the Catholic hierarchy, which was progressively distrustful and hostile, until «Terre Nouvelle» was put on the index by the Holy Office and the Chrétiens Révolutionnaires was condemned for its alliance with the Communists.