Christian Youth Rural Movement

The Mouvement Rural de Jeunesse Chrétienne (MRJC), known in English as the Christian Youth Rural Movement, is a French association managed and led by young people aged thirteen to thirty. It is the heir of the Jeunesse Agricole Catholique (JAC), founded in 1929 in Lorraine by Abbé Charles Jacques, and of the Jeunesse Agricole Catholique des Femmes (JACF). The movement's work focuses on education, agriculture, rurality, environment, employment, faith, globalisation, politics and economics. The MRJC emerged from the JAC's adaptation to the changing French countryside of the post-war period. From 1961, the Mouvement rural de la jeunesse catholique brought together several organisations: the JAC, the Jeunesse chrétienne de l'industrie (JCI, formerly JROC), the Jeunesse chrétienne sanitaire et sociale (JCSS) and the Jeunesse chrétienne de l'artisanat et du commerce (JCAC). In parallel, the JACF gave birth from 1963 to the Mouvement rural de la jeunesse catholique féminine (MRJCF). On 16 January 1966, the MRJC and MRJCF officially merged, making the movement mixed, and on 25 May 1966 the name was officially changed in the Journal officiel from 'catholique' to 'chrétien'. The late 1960s saw a political radicalisation, with Marxist ideology gaining ground among leading teams and the events of May 1968 accelerating the phenomenon. In November 1972 an internal crisis erupted when the national team, converted to Maoism and close to the banned PCMLF, advocated direct revolutionary action; the base rejected this strategy and the pro-Maoist national team had to resign. By 1976 the MRJC, once a mass movement, counted only about 10,000 activists. From the 1980s, references to Marxism and class struggle faded, giving way to more consensual discourse on unemployment, the sacred, schooling and the army, though the movement has remained anchored on the left since the 1990s. In November 2012, the MRJC officially took a position against the Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport project. Today the MRJC presents itself as an educational actor, a rural actor, a place to prepare for agricultural installation, an association run and animated by young people, and a movement that 'hurries to slow down', with Christian life and spirituality at its heart. It offers stays and BAFA/D training rooted in the rural world, civic service, volunteering, training sessions and events, and runs a hosting and training centre. Many former members have gone on to political and agricultural union careers, including former Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, senators, MEPs and FNSEA and Confédération paysanne leaders.

The MRJC's history begins with the Jeunesse Agricole Catholique (JAC), founded in 1929 by Abbé Charles Jacques (1900–1939, born in Maixe) of the Diocese of Nancy-Toul. He named it JAC as a play on his own name. The movement grew rapidly: 2,500 young people attended a first national council in 1935; 25,000 gathered at the Vél d'Hiv in Paris in 1939; during the war the JAC went underground; in 1950 it brought together 50,000 young people for its twentieth anniversary; and by its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1954 it counted 350,000 young people across the country, at its peak. But French society of the Trente Glorieuses was changing: non-agricultural residents in villages were increasingly numerous, rural workers grew in number, young people stayed in school longer, and rural exodus intensified. Agricultural and rural reality no longer coincided. The JAC decided to adapt. From 1961, the Mouvement rural de la jeunesse catholique (MRJC) was born, gradually grouping several organisations: the Jeunesse agricole catholique (JAC), the Jeunesse chrétienne de l'industrie (JCI, formerly Jeunesse rurale ouvrière chrétienne, JROC), the Jeunesse chrétienne sanitaire et sociale (JCSS) and the Jeunesse chrétienne de l'artisanat et du commerce (JCAC). In parallel, the Jeunesse agricole catholique féminine (JACF) followed the same process and from 1963 gave birth to the Mouvement rural de la jeunesse catholique féminine (MRJCF) through the merger of the JACF, JROCF, JCSSF and JCACF. On 16 January 1966, the MRJC and MRJCF officially merged, making the movement mixed under the single name MRJC. On 25 May 1966, the name was officially changed in the Journal officiel: the MRJC was now 'chrétien' rather than 'catholique'. The late 1960s were marked by political radicalisation. Marxist ideology progressed, notably among members of the leading teams, and the May 68 movement accelerated the phenomenon. Many MRJC activists joined the revolting students. In March 1969, a session held at Jambville brought together about a hundred MRJC leaders and as many chaplains to analyse 'relations of domination and exploitation within the capitalist system'. The MRJC also organised training in Marxism for its members and sympathisers, inviting Marxist intellectuals such as Gilbert Mury and Henri Lefebvre, and 'red Dominicans' Paul Blanquart, Jean-Pierre Jossua and Jean-Yves Jolif, favourable to the Chinese and Cuban revolutions and to liberation theology. In November 1972, an internal crisis erupted. The national team of the MRJC, converted to Maoism and close to the Parti communiste marxiste-léniniste de France (PCMLF), banned by the Ministry of the Interior, advocated direct revolutionary action by MRJC activists, which would have meant the end of the MRJC as a Church movement and its transformation into a far-left revolutionary organisation. But this strategy was rejected by the base, which opted for engagement in existing trade unions (CGT, CFDT, etc.) and within the Union de la Gauche. The pro-Maoist national team had to resign after a hard conflict. At the same time, this internal crisis disoriented many sympathisers who chose to distance themselves from the MRJC. In 1976 the MRJC, once a mass movement, counted only about 10,000 activists. From the 1980s, references to Marxism and class struggle gradually faded, giving way to more consensual discourse on unemployment, the sacred, schooling, the army, etc. Since the 1990s, the MRJC has maintained a position nonetheless anchored on the left. In November 2012, the MRJC officially took a position against the Grand Ouest airport project at Notre-Dame-des-Landes. Many young people who passed through the MRJC later engaged in politics and agricultural unionism. Examples include Jean-Marc Ayrault, former Prime Minister; Jean Besson, socialist senator for Drôme from 1989 to 2014; Adrien Zeller, former president of the Alsace Regional Council; Joseph Daul, president of the EPP group in the European Parliament; Luc Guyau, president of the FNSEA from 1992 to 2001; François Dufour, former spokesperson of the Confédération paysanne, former vice-president of ATTAC and former vice-president (EELV) of the Basse-Normandie Regional Council; Dominique Potier, socialist deputy for the 5th constituency of Meurthe-et-Moselle since 2012; and Mathilde Hignet, insoumise deputy for the 4th constituency of Ille-et-Vilaine.

• 2012

  The MRJC officially takes a position against the Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport project.

• 1976

  The MRJC, once a mass movement, counts only about 10,000 activists.

• 1972

  Internal crisis: the pro-Maoist national team is forced to resign after the base rejects revolutionary strategy.

• 1969

  A session at Jambville brings together about a hundred MRJC leaders and chaplains to analyse capitalist domination.

• 1966

  On 16 January the MRJC and MRJCF officially merge; on 25 May the name changes from 'catholique' to 'chrétien' in the Journal officiel.

• 1963

  The JACF gives birth to the Mouvement rural de la jeunesse catholique féminine (MRJCF).

• 1961

  The Mouvement rural de la jeunesse catholique (MRJC) is born, gradually grouping the JAC, JCI, JCSS and JCAC.

• 1954

  At its twenty-fifth anniversary the JAC counts 350,000 young people, its peak.

• 1950

  The JAC brings together 50,000 young people for its twentieth anniversary.

• 1939

  25,000 gather at the Vél d'Hiv in Paris; during the war the JAC goes underground.

• 1935

  2,500 young people attend the JAC's first national council.

• 1929

  Abbé Charles Jacques founds the Jeunesse Agricole Catholique (JAC) in Lorraine.

A youth-led rural Christian movement engaged in transforming society, rooted in education, agriculture, environment and faith.

• Séjours (stays and camps)

  Stays rooted in the rural world for young people.

• BAFA/D training

  Training for youth work qualifications.

• Service civique

  Civic service engagement.

• Formations

  Training sessions, meetings and sharing.

• Centre d'hébergement et de formation

  Hosting and training centre.

1. 1MRJC official websitemrjc.org
2. 2Nos services | MRJCmrjc.org
3. 3Christian Youth Rural Movement - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Mouvement rural de jeunesse chrétienne - Wikipédiafr.wikipedia.org