The Founder, Cardijn

• Born on 1882 in Brussels, Belgium
• Henry Cardijn (father)
• Louise Cardijn (mother) – very religious
• Loved to chat with the artisans
• Curious boy, voracious reader, loved school
• Very sensitive to every human suffering he met
• At dawn he always saw factory workers going to the factories with their 7-8 years old child.
• Belgian workers work 12-14 hours and earned a penny with no rest.

Three fundamental truths dominate and illumine the problem of the working youth of the world. They inspire, explain, and direct us towards the solution that the Y.C.W. has to give:

1. A truth of faith. The eternal and temporal destiny of each young worker in particular and of all the young workers in general.

2. A truth of experience. The terrible contradiction which exists between the real state of the young workers and this eternal and temporal destiny.

3. A truth of pastoral practice or method. The necessity of a Catholic organization of young workers with a view to the conquest of their eternal and temporal destiny.