01/07/2026 16:10 - 17:10

HALL: Parenzo - A12

Contact: Maligot C.

Chair: Kandel Lamdan S., Maligot C., Munera Duenas G.A.

Paul Gauthier (1914-2002) was a key figure in the reflection on poverty at the time of Vatican Il. This panel brings together scholars from various backgrounds who crossed paths with either Gauthier or his wife, Myriam Lacaze (1928-2017) in their research, in an attempt to retrace their steps based on archival records they left behind in their correspondence with others, in the international press, and in their books. The aim is to retrace, "from the outside" and without direct access to their personal papers, not only the unique biographical trajectory of this theologian, humanist, and activist—first a priest, then a layman, after marrying Lacaze, herself a former nun.

Their careers and activism spanned several continents, following the "hot spots" where activism and theology were shaping new reflections on poverty: Europe (France, Italy, Belgium), the Middle East (Israel-Palestine, Lebanon), Asia (India), and Latin America (Brazil). This panel aims to report on the evolution of Catholic thinking on poverty, based on three major milestones: 1. pushing further and beyond social doctrine on "worker issues" after the worker-priests experiment ended, from Europe to Israel-Palestine; 2. the conciliar commitment within the group Jesus, the Church, and the Poor and their critical repositioning in favor of solidarity with Palestinians; 3. the beginnings of liberation theology, when Gauthier and Lacaze left Jerusalem after 1967 for Lebanon, India, and then Brazil.

The panel proposes to retrace the stages of this journey of intellectual and humanitarian, theological and militant commitment within a changing Church; to analyse Gauthier's and Lacaze's critical stance, sometimes visionary, sometimes following pre-existing lines of thought, and their legacy (and eventually limitations to it); all while highlighting the dialectical relationship between center and periphery; marginality and institutions; rupture, institutionalization, and reception; gender and power dynamics.