Os movimentos sociais na Igreja

: uma concretização no contexto da II Guerra Mundial, a família Ulma : dinâmicas confraternais que conduziram o casal Ulma a arriscar a própria vida pela justiça, verdade e caridade

Abstract

The couple Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children were, throughout the Nazi occupation of Poland during the Second World War, shot, as were the Jews to whom they had given their aid. The Nazi regime had banned, under capital punishment, any kind of help given to Jews and the decision of the Ulma couple to transgress this prohibition, with all the risks that it implied, was the result of a conscience configured in the search for justice and charity. The depth of this choice is explained, however, by a Christian experience and formation beyond Sunday Mass: Józef Ulma had belonged, in his youth, to one of the four columns of Catholic Action in Poland – the Catholic Association of Men’s Youth – and later to the Peasant Union of Young People “Wici”. Catholic Action was, therefore, crucial for the spiritual life of the Ulma Family, as a fraternal dynamic that allowed them to put into practice what Pope Pius XI had proclaimed about the relationship between justice and charity, as well as the Catholic position towards Nazism and the Communism.

Date of Award	14 Nov 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Matos Ferreira (Supervisor)