Catholic Centre Party (Portugal)

The Catholic Centre Party (Portuguese: Partido do Centro Católico, PCC) was a political party in Portugal founded on 8 August 1915 and extinguished on January 1940.[1]

History

The party was established in Braga on 8 August 1915. It won a single seat in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 1915 parliamentary elections.[2] The 1918 elections were boycotted by the three largest parties, and saw the PCC win five House seats and retain its seat in the Senate.[2] The party was reduced back to a single seat in both chambers in the 1919 elections, but won three seats in both chambers in the 1921 elections. Although it was reduced to a single Senate seat in the 1922 elections, the PCC won five seats in the House. The 1925 elections saw the party retain its Senate seat and win four seats in the House.[2]

After the 28 May 1926 coup d'état, the CCP's direction recommended the vote on the National Union and many of its members were invited by António de Oliveira Salazar to become part of the National Union. The CCP would have no presence in Parliament after the coup, despite not being extinguished. Instead, the CCP would then serve to provide juridic and administrative assistance to the clergy and other catholic corporations.[1] On 7 February 1934, António Lino Neto (who had been president since 1919), would resign from the party after a letter from Pope Pius XI recognized another catholic association, a Acção Católica Portuguesa.[1] The party would be officially extinguished by the episcopacy on January 1940, in the context of the 1940 Concordat between Portugal and the Holy See.[1]

Election Results

Elections	Chamber of Deputies	Senate
1915 legislative elections	1 / 163	1 / 69
1918 general election	5 / 155	1 / 73
1919 legislative election	1 / 163	1 / 71
1921 legislative election	3 / 163	3 / 71
1922 legislative election	5 / 163	1 / 70
1925 legislative election	4 / 163	1 / 65

Notable members

• António de Oliveira Salazar, who ran in the 1921 Portuguese legislative election (elected as representative of Guimarães)[3] and 1925 Portuguese legislative election (Arganil candidate, was not elected).[4]
• António Lino Neto, president of the party (1919 - 1934).[1]
• João J. Fonseca Garcia, president of the party (1934).[1]

References

1. Borges Santos, Paula (2014). Religião e Política Entre Guerras. Existência e fim do Centro Católico Português (CCP): uma releitura da sua evolução histórica (1919 - 1940).
2. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1557–1558 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
3. "Centro Católico Português (1917) | Politipedia". www.politipedia.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-07-02.
4. "Eleições de 1925". web.archive.org. 2003-09-28. Retrieved 2020-07-02.