International League of Religious Socialists

The International League of Religious Socialists is an umbrella organization of religious socialist movements in political parties throughout the world. Founded in the 1920s, it has member groups in 21 countries totalling 200,000 members. For most of its history it was mainly European and contained mainly Christian socialist groups, but has recently expanded to the Americas, Africa, and Australia and to include more groups with connections to other religions. It is an associate organisation of the Socialist International.

The member organisations are:

Ernest Burgmann Society (Australia)
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christentum und Sozialdemokratie (Austria)
Christians on the Left (Britain)
Bulgarian Religious Social Democrats (Bulgaria)
Cristianos por la Liberacion (Costa Rica)
Frente Nacional de Cultos (Dominican Republic)
Kristillisten Sosialidemokraattinen Liitto (Finland)
Covenant of Religious Socialists of Germany
Religious Socialist Section of the MSZP (Hungary)
Social Christians (Italy)
Latvian Christian Social Democratic Organisation (Latvia)
Religious Social Democrats (Lithuania)
Trefpunt van Socialisme en Levensovertuiging (Netherlands)
Christian Socialists [no] (Norway)
Contak (Philippines)
ANC Commission on Religious Affairs (South Africa)
Norabideak/Cristianos en el PSOE (Spain - Basque Country)
Satyodaya (Sri Lanka)
Religious Social Democrats of Sweden (Sweden)
Religiös-Sozialistische Vereinigung der Deutschschweiz (Switzerland)

History

Background

The International League of Religious Socialists (ILRS) is the oldest continuing socialist organization Europe. The first international conference of the ILRS was held in the Netherlands by Willem Banning and Carl Mennicke in 1926. Willem Banning served as a Dutch preacher and co-founded the Dutch Labor Party. Carl Mennicke was a German-born theologian.^[1]