Catholic Centre Party (Portugal)


The Catholic Centre Party was a political party in Portugal founded on 8 August 1915 and extinguished on January 1940.

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. 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. 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.
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. On 7 February 1934, António Lino Neto, would resign from the party after a letter from Pope Pius XI recognized another catholic association, a Acção Católica Portuguesa. 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.

Election Results

Notable members