François Houtart (Brussels, 1925) is a priest and Marxist sociologist Belgian, founder of the Center Tricontinental (CETRI) and director of the review Alternatives South .

Appear recognized Mouvement altermondialist, it is one of the fathers of Other Davos and the Worldwide social forum of Porto Alegre. Vis-a-vis the evolution of the world situation and with the attempts at recovery whose it is the object, the movement altermondialist would have interest according to him to radicalize its speech.

Formation

Catholic and intellectual priest Marxist of international repute, grandson of the count Henry Paperboard of Wiart (1869-1951) - - which was one of the leaders of the Catholic Party and pioneer of the Christian Democrat - -, François Houtart followed a training in philosophy and theology to the Great seminar of Malines.

It was ordered priest in 1949. Laid off in political sciences and social of the catholic university of Leuwen and graduate of the International Institute of higher learning of Town planning applied of Brussels, he is doctor in Sociologie of the catholic Université of Leuwen where he was professor of 1958 to 1990.

Research

Between 1958 and 1962, F. Houtart coordinated the work of the International federation of the research institutes socio-nun, which carried out a great investigation into the situation of Catholicism in the demographic context, social and cultural of the Latin America, published in 43 volumes.

It was ready exactly at the moment when Jean XXIII announced the Concile Vatican II. Dom Helder Camara, which was then vice-president of CELAM, jointly with Mgr Larrain, Chilean bishop, required to make a summary of this study to distribute it in several languages of all the bishops, at the time of the opening of the Concile Vatican II. The idea was “to make known the problems of Latin-American Catholicism to the world episcopate” writes it in Nueva Sociedad .

See too

Related articles

• Theology of the release

External bonds

• Center tricontinental (www.cetri.be)