A friend of the Houston Catholic Worker is in danger in Guatemala. Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini, who collaborated with us in the development of Houses of Hospitality for immigrants and refugees in Tecun Uman, in his Diocese next to the Mexican border, has received very serious death threats again in his home country. Bishop Ramazzini has… continue reading
Slave Wages Condemned by Pope John Paul II
April 1, 2005 by
There has been a great effort in recent years by neoconservative and libertarian Catholics and Calvinists to revise Catholic Social Teaching in favor of the enormous corporations which control so much of the property and pay slave wages around the world to gain more property. Just as they opposed the Pope on war, so they… continue reading
Pope John Paul II Speaks on the Psalms
February 1, 2005 by
Pope John Paul II, in his weekly audiences, has been presenting catecheses on various Psalms. VIS, the Vatican Information Services, has provided excerpts from his texts on powerful themes for the life of the Christian. Several of these follow: DO NOT BASE YOUR LIFE ON FALSE VALUES VATICAN CITY, NOV. 10, 2004 (VIS) The Pope… continue reading
Celebrating 25 Years: Casa Juan Diego Opens to Help Poor Immigrants and Refugees in Houston
February 1, 2005 by
This article appeared in the first edition of the Houston Catholic Worker, May 5, 1981. Casa Juan Diego is the result of allowing ourselves to dream. The vision of a Catholic Worker house on Washington Avenue in Houston established to serve the poor and Spanish speaking first came to us in 1979 while working in… continue reading
The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins by Mark and Louise Zwick – Book Reviews
January 1, 2005 by
Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins by Mark and Louise Zwick Paulist Press, 2005; 367 pages Reviewed by Mike Wisniewski “The Catholic Worker movement provides a perspective for living out in a practical way a radical following of Jesus.” This statement by the authors, Mark and Louise Zwick, provides an accurate assessment of what those… continue reading
The Charity of Christ Toward Migrants (Erga migrantes caritas Christi)
December 1, 2004 by
(Excerpted from the new document from the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People) Today’s migration makes up the vastest movement of people of all times. In these last decades, the phenomenon, now involving about two hundred million individuals, has turned into a structural reality of con-temporary society. It is becom-ing… continue reading
New Lay Monasticism: Schools for Conversion
October 1, 2004 by
Over 60 people responded to the call for a new monasticism at a recent conference in Durham, N. C. The Editors were invited to participate and to make a presentation having written about New Monasticism (and old monasticism) over the years in the Houston Catholic Worker. (Unfortunately, we were unable to participate.) The community at… continue reading
Why We Will Not Vote for Bush or Kerry
October 1, 2004 by
Many of us are struggling with the issue of how to promote a culture of life and a civilization of love. It is an issue that is of special concern during this season of election. The ancient question of how Catholics can participate in the political process and remain committed to the truth seems especially… continue reading
Dorothy Day: Writings from Commonweal. Ed. by Patrick Jordan. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2002.
August 1, 2004 by
If anyone can lay claim to a role in the development of the Catholic Worker movement, it isCommonweal magazine, a periodical edited by Catholic lay people since 1924. It was Commonweal’s editor at the time, George N. Shuster, who sent Peter Maurin to Dorothy Day (they met on December 8, 1932 on the Feast of the… continue reading
The Passion of the Christ: No One Said Violence Against Immigrants Was Obscene
June 1, 2004 by
We avoided seeing “The Passion,” not by choice but by life style. We have not been in a movie theater in a number of years, though we have dropped off our grandchildren with their mother, all of whom who live with us, a number of times, which helps the kids to keep up with the… continue reading
