Philanthropy, Social Assistance and Religion.

The Dominican laity and the First Tertiary National Congress – 1934

Abstract

Th e Church historiography has been claiming during the recent years the work of the lays religious associations in relation with their assistance commitment with the local churches and their unique infl uence over the Catholic values and traditions support. From this point of view its members expressed solidarity with the material needs of the times and of the needs of the most vulnerable. Th e religious pragmatism, associated with modernity, consolidated the redemptive role of the devotional behavior, while, at the same time, vindicated the need for charity as a means of attaining eternal life. For the particular case of the Venerable Th ird Order, a renewed philanthropic management guaranteed its leadership as an elite group and its devotional commitment with the Preachers Order. As an example of a fruitful trajectory at the service of the community we mention the calling for the First National Tertiary Congress in 1934, an assembly that left a legacy to strengthen the bases of Catholicism and to legitimize the development and validity of the Dominican Brotherhood.