CLC History and Current Organization
Early
Years
In 1563 in Rome, a young Jesuit, John Leunis, founded
the first CLC by gathering a group of young lay students
at the Roman College to help them unite their lives with
Christian values in their jobs, studies, families, relationships,
etc. The movement was originally called the Sodality of
Our Lady was confirmed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1584.
In the first two centuries of Jesuit life, Sodalities
were enormously effective and recognized as such by those
who opposed them. They started credit unions, collected
clothing for beggars and street people, visited the sick,
instructed prisoners, published pamphlet, and the list goes
on. The movement was suppressed in the mid-1700's and the
link with the Spiritual Exercises faded when the Sodality
was taken over by zealous bishops. In 1948, Pius XII urged
groups like the Sodality to rediscover their original roots
and to stop trying to be mass movements. Happily, things
got back on track.
Over
the years the Sodality has spread dramatically. In 1920,
there were 80,000 sodalities worldwide. In the 1950s, there
were over two million teenage members and numerous adult
members. In 1967, the name changed to CLC when the Statement
of General Principles was drawn up. As CLC continues forward,
we maintain a close relationship with the Jesuits and the
Spiritual Exercises.
CLC is a Lay Organization
CLC is a lay movement. The International and National
Presidents are lay persons. Jesuits and other priests are
often guides and/or members of a community.
National
and International
Although primarily associated with the Catholic Church,
many communities have some other Christians as members.
Today Christian Life Communities exist in 64 countries in
the world, with CLC world headquarters situated in Rome.
There is a national US community which meets regularly.
Some of the National CLC duties include: to preserve the
integrity of the local CLC communities; to foster its growth;
to supervise national meetings; to act as a liaison with
the international community.
Regional Councils
In 1994, , the National CLC USA organization decided
to regionalize, breaking into 10 CLC Councils. These 10
CLC regions align with the geographical areas of the 10
provinces of the Jesuits in the United States.
