header icons

The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins by Mark and Louise Zwick – Book Reviews

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

Searching Through the Mountains in Guatemala for the Family of an Immigrant

Miguel, originally from Guatemala, is a seminarian for the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, studying at the seminary in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. He spent several months at Casa Juan Diego this summer. We have no idea how he managed to get to Houston from Guatemala, but one day Epimelio was at Casa Juan Diego’s door and the… continue reading

Are the Immigrants Terrorists? What I Learned at Casa Juan Diego, the Houston Catholic Worker

“No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to suppose that they are like himself.” – John Steinbeck Ricardo is a seminarian with the Scalabrini Fathers and Brothers, studying at the Catholic Theological Union. He spent several months at Casa Juan Diego this summer. Ricardo is studying to be… continue reading

The Charity of Christ Toward Migrants (Erga migrantes caritas Christi)

(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

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

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

The Passion of The Christ: A Pacifist Film

Fr. McCarthy is a priest of the Eastern Rite (Byzantine) of the Catholic Church. Formerly a lawyer and university educator, he is the founder and the original director of The Program for the Study and Practice of Nonviolent Conflict Resolution at the University of Notre Dame and is also co-founder of Pax Christi-USA. Fr. McCarthy… continue reading

The Passion of The Christ: The Movie Should Have Been Called “The Pietà”

Gil Bailie, teacher, lecturer, and writer, is the foremost interpreter of the work of René Girard and the author of Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads. A few have asked if I have any thoughts on Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of the Christ.” Not only have wiser observers than I have opined at great… continue reading

Dorothy Day: Writings from Commonweal. Ed. by Patrick Jordan. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2002.

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

On Helping People at Casa Juan Diego: Unsuccessful Love

Jonathan is a Catholic Worker who will be studying journalism at Columbia University in the fall. Jonathan came to us through his uncle, Ken Cooper, who shares the Houston Catholic Worker with the students in his classes in a Catholic high school in Washington, D.C. In my first month as a volunteer at Casa Juan… continue reading