INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC UNION OF SOCIAL SERVICE. - An association among Catholics to study, promote and represent on the international plane the Catholic point of view concerning Social Service.
The U.C.I.S.S. was founded in Milan on 17-19 Oct. 1925 with its statutes, which were amended and revised in 1948. They were subsequently brought into conformity with the provisions of the Belgian law of 1919, which grants civil personality to international associations with a scientific purpose. Such personality was granted to the U.C.I.S.S. by royal decree of 4 Nov. 1950.
I. AIMS OF THE U.C.I.S.S. - They are: 1) to develop social service, in order to help bring about a social order conforming to the natural law and inspired by Catholic social doctrine; 2) to study in common, in the light of Catholic principles, the scientific and practical questions concerning social service; 3) to promote the creation of Catholic social schools and the creation of Catholic social assistance groups in the various countries; 4) to facilitate relations between schools of social service and between social assistance groups, in order to coordinate and support their action; 5) to represent, on the official or private international level, the Catholic point of view concerning social service.
II. ORGANIZATION
The U.C.I.S.S. comprises two sections: that of the Schools of social service, which also groups together the Centers of social formation; and that of the Professional Associations of social workers.
It is animated by a Committee and a Presidency. The Committee is composed of delegates of the full members, that is, one delegate for each school and one delegate for each group of social workers affiliated with the U.C.I.S.S.
The Presidency, or Central Office, is composed of a group varying from six to twenty persons, chosen by the Committee and forming part of it: one half represents the schools, the other half the groups of social workers. The Central Office designates a president, a secretary general and, if necessary, one or several technical advisers. A moral adviser, that is, a kind of ecclesiastical assistant, designated by the local Ordinary, is a member of the Central Office by right. The daily work and the execution of the decisions of the Committee and of the Central Office are ensured by a secretary under the responsibility of the secretary general, who may take on collaborators. At the meetings of the Committee and at the congresses, only the delegates of the full members have the right to vote.
III. MEMBERS
They are divided into full members and adherent members, plus members in their individual capacity. The full members are: 1) Catholic social schools, that is, schools which, by means of theoretical and practical courses lasting at least one year and ending with an examination, give those who attend them a technical and moral formation, with the aim of preparing them for social service and social action (schools for women, for men or coeducational, university-level or not); 2) groups of social workers, that is, associations with statutes, which gather as full members Catholic social workers holding a diploma from a school of social service. The adherent members are: 1) schools of social service, recently founded and which have not yet trained certified graduates; 2) centers of social formation or temporary courses in social service, which do not train social service agents, but which prepare students for these studies or train simple militants of Christian social action; 3) groups of social workers in the initial stage. The members in their individual capacity are: A. 1) the directors (men or women) of Schools of social service who, for one reason or another, cannot be part of the U.C.I.S.S.; 2) the Catholic members of the Committee and of the Teaching Staff of the Schools of social service, whether or not they are full members or adherent members; B. 1) Catholic social workers (men or women) holding diplomas from countries which do not yet have a Catholic professional association or which, for one reason or another, are not represented by full or adherent members; 2) experienced Catholic social workers; C. any qualified expert. The U.C.I.S.S. currently brings together 89 Schools of Social Service and Centers of social formation, and 28 Associations of social workers from 27 countries on all continents. Twelve schools, centers of social formation and associations are in correspondence with the secretary in order to obtain affiliation. This would bring the members of the U.C.I.S.S. to approximately 130, without counting the individual members.
IV. CONGRESSES AND ACTIVITIES
The Secretariat of the Christian Women's Social Works of Belgium, established in Brussels, after having founded two Schools of social service as early as 1920, understood in 1925 the need to establish a link between the Schools of social service that existed in the various countries. The project was received with enthusiasm at the Milan Congress of 1925; 25 schools gave their adherence. The international Conferences followed one another rapidly: Brussels 1926; Aix-la-Chapelle 1927; Paris 1929. Committee meetings, study days, and propaganda meetings were interspersed among the Congresses. In 1935, the 10th year of the existence of the U.C.I.S.S., there was a great Congress in Brussels that brought together 650 congress participants from 29 countries. The concept of Social Service, which the U.C.I.S.S. had sought to define during the early years, was accepted by the Congress as a whole: to promote a social service that, with its constructive technique, would tend toward the establishment of the Christian social order.
The world war interrupted the international meetings. As early as 1946, the Secretariat of the U.C.I.S.S. organized a new international meeting in Brussels: 30 schools and 12 groups responded to the appeal in order to examine together, among other things, a draft code of professional ethics for social workers and some form of social service. In 1947, the 6th Congress took place in Lucerne. 500 people gathered. There they studied, among other things, the International Code of Professional Ethics of social service and the adaptation of social service to current social transformations. In 1949, international study days brought together in Nijmegen, in Holland, the delegates of the groups of Social Workers. The 25th anniversary of the U.C.I.S.S. (1950), during the Holy Year, was marked by an important Congress in Rome, which had the honor of a letter from the Pope addressed to the general president and closed with a solemn audience in the basilica of St. Peter (AAS, 42 [1950], pp. 485-88).
In 1951, there were two study cycles for the directors and professors of the Schools of social service; one at Montpellier for French-speaking attendees, the other at Beuron for German-speaking ones. A study cycle took place at Bernried for the social workers of the German-speaking countries and another for those of the French-speaking countries in 1952, at Pau.
V. EXTENSION IN AMERICA AND ON THE OTHER CONTINENTS
The relations of the U.C.I.S.S. with the schools of social service of the United States and Canada were established from the beginning and as the schools were created. Two of their most eminent representatives are members of the Central Office of the U.C.I.S.S. Around 1930, the U.C.I.S.S. had also begun its activity in Latin America. Three secretariats were created in Chile, Brazil, and Colombia. In July 1949, a study meeting of the U.C.I.S.S. took place in São Paulo. The union is seeking to expand in Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
VI. INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
The U.C.I.S.S. maintains the best relations with international bodies that wish to uphold the Christian ideal in international life and that take an interest in the development of social service throughout the world; and it takes part in congresses of that kind. Since 1926 it has played an active part in the Conference of Presidents of International Catholic Organizations. It has been admitted in a consultative capacity (category B) to the United Nations Economic and Social Council since August 1947. It collaborates with the International Labour Organization and with UNESCO (v.).
VII. PUBLICATIONS, DOCUMENTATION AND STUDY TRIPS
The U.C.I.S.S. documents the people who address it regarding the organization of Schools of social service. The quarterly journal it publishes, Servizio sociale nel mondo, is the first international forum dealing with questions of social service. It organizes periods of practical training, exchanges, and study trips in various countries for students, for the staff of social schools and for social service workers.
Bibliography
Maria Baers