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Group Formed to Promote Canonization of Dorothy Day: Reflections on Dorothy’s Life and Spirit

Robert Ellsberg spoke at a gathering of individuals interested in the canonization of Dorothy Day on June 7, 2005, held under the auspices of the Cardinal Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Egan. Since Dorothy Day was from New York, it fell under the responsibility of the Ordinary of her diocese to pursue the canonization process…. continue reading

Dorothy Day, Co-Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, Servant of God, 1897-1980, a Patroness of Migrants

Many hearts have been touched by the stories of the suffering of immigrants and refugees coming to the United States, and especially the deaths this summer in the trailer truck in Victoria, Texas Many ask what they can do to help those who have been uprooted from their homes and families, those who have tried… continue reading

The Power of Fritz Eichenberg Woodcuts with Dorothy Day Text in The Catholic Worker: The Peaceable Kingdom

Fr. Daprile, a priest from the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, has just sent us a copy of his dissertation at Duquesne University. It is entitled The Power of the Visual Image and its Correlation to Text: The Graphic Illustrations of Fritz Eichenberg and the Texts of Dorothy Day as found in The Catholic Worker 1949-1980…. continue reading

Saint Juan Diego

Dorothy Day wrote these reflections on the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego after a pilgrimage to the Basilica in Mexico City. It was in 1531 that Our Lady appeared to the Indian Juan Diego (his Spanish name given him at his baptism.) There were not many Catholics then among the Indians,… continue reading

A Call to Change America: How would Dorothy Day Respond to an Attack such as September 11?

The tragedy of September 11 has given us the opportunity to re-evaluate how we live and how we relate to other countries. We don’t want this to be a lost opportunity. Those who take the spiritual life seriously have to ask the question, not only why did this happen, but what is God asking of… continue reading

John Paul II Calls for End to Usury: Support for Peter Maurin, Catholic Worker Theme

On April 14, 1999, Pope John Paul II addressed the members of the National Council of Anti-Usury Foundations and their regional delegations. The Holy Father gave a special welcome to about one thousand volunteers “who came to call the public’s attention to the worrisome and, unfor-tunately, widespread phenomena of usury, which often brings with it… continue reading

“Blowing the Dynamite of the Church”: Catholic Radicalism from a Catholic Radicalist Perspective

In the wake of their momentous encounter in December 1932, Peter Maurin subjected Dorothy Day to a pedagogical program that he dubbed “indoctrination,” which, from Day’s account, consisted of Maurin coming over to her apartment and expounding to her on God, the Church, the Church Fathers, the saints, the poor, hospitality, liberalism, capitalism, fascism, communism,… continue reading

Dorothy Day, a Catholic for All Americans

Why would a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church recommend for sainthood a woman who was a radical socialist and pacifist, a divorcee who had had an abortion? Why would he recommend for sainthood a woman who had had affairs and spent her nights in bars drinking and reading poetry with the likes of Eugene… continue reading

Dorothy declared Peter Maurin Saint of the CW Movement

Dorothy Day credited Peter Maurin as being the heart and soul of the Catholic Worker movement. She would be the first to proclaim him the saint of the movement. Peter was filled with the history and tradition of Catholicism, as well as an extensive knowledge of papal encyclicals. This was Peter’s common ground. He was… continue reading

Baroness calls Dorothy Day a Saint

Catherine de Hueck Doherty, a refugee of the Russian Revolution, began working with the poor during the Great Depression, opening Catholic Friendship Houses in Toronto, Harlem and later Chicago. She went on to establish the Madonna House Lay Apostolate in 1947, which is based in Combermere, Ontario, Canada. Since her death in 1985, her lay… continue reading