It has been my experience through fifteen years of priestly service that the personal and familial problems facing Christians are greatly intensified by the consumerism that characterizes much of contemporary American life. As I have come to appreciate the psychological and religious aspects of this influence I have also become increasingly convinced of the social… continue reading
Multinationals Rob Seeds of Poor: Vandana Shiva and Houston Catholic Workers Protest Patenting of Life Forms at RiceTec in Alvin, Texas
December 1, 2000 by
It seemed incredible. A corporation in Alvin, Texas, just an hour and a half by car from Casa Juan Diego, was trying to patent seeds that rice farmers had developed over centuries in India and Pakistan. Actually, they had already done so and were in the process of renewing the patent. Farmers in India and… continue reading
Easter at Casa Juan Diego Center for Immigrants and Refugees; Catholic Worker Hospitality, Easter 2000
August 1, 2000 by
It is Easter evening at Casa Juan Diego. The lights are out in most of the house since the men will be up at 4 a.m. and on their way to the Padre Jack Davis Hiring Hall where hopefully all will pick up a days’ work. Our men are mostly from Mexico and the Central… continue reading
My Friendship with Dorothy Day (Helene Iswolsky)
June 1, 2000 by
Helene Iswolsky, Daughter of the last Tsarist Ambassador to France, a Russian emigré who had become a friend of Dorothy Day, gave talks at the Catholic Worker on Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Soloviev. Dorothy described one of these occasions in the October 1949 CW: “The first week in September we had Helene Iswolsky at the farm at… continue reading
Dorothy Day and the LIGHT FROM THE EAST: Eastern Christianity, Fathers of the Desert, Dostoevsky
June 1, 2000 by
Dorothy Day read great literature all of her life and her reading especially included some of the Russian writers, most of all Dostoevsky. Her reading of authors from the East, which she shared with readers of The Catholic Worker, included not only fiction, but theology, monastic writings and history. She knew the monks from St…. continue reading
Women Left Behind Develop New Economic Models
April 1, 2000 by
This article is the fourth in a series by Dawn McCarty on the impact that undocumented immigration to the United States has on families and communities left behind in Mexico. Dr. McCarty teaches at the University of Houston-Downtown. During long road trips to rural communities in Mexico, I would have a reoccurring daydream: the women… continue reading
Virgil Michel, Benedictine Co-Worker of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin: Justice embodied in Christ-life and Liturgy
February 1, 2000 by
“What blasphemy! As if there were anything really Christian about our modern capitalism.” This was Virgil Michel, O.S.B., responding in Commonweal in 1938 to an article inCatholic World which had called Christ “the first preacher of capitalism as the most workable thesis for society.” Michel had to respond to the neocons (Michael Novak, etc.) of his… continue reading
A Time of Desert for Theology: Ressourcement versus Models of the Church
December 1, 1999 by
I began my philosophical and theological studies in 1964, at a moment when the theological curriculum in the Church was collapsing. I experienced what was the great crisis of theology during and after Vatican II. Here I would like to assess this crisis of the lst 30 years, and to offer what could be the… continue reading
WITNESS TO HOPE: The Biography of Pope John Paul II by George Weigel Falls Short
December 1, 1999 by
Pre-publication publicity promised that George Weigel’s new book, Witness to Hope, would be the definitive biography of Pope John Paul II. It is certainly a very long book (almost 1,000 pages). It is packed not only with details, events, fascinating personal incidents, and even gossip, but also beautiful passages about Karol Wojtyla’s philosophical studies and teaching,… continue reading
The Truth about Immigrants: Xenophobia existed in early America
December 1, 1999 by
Recently, one of my friends was at a family reunion. When she told her family what I was doing this year–volunteering at a house of hospitality for Latin American immigrants–one of her aunts expressed disapproval because “illegal immigrants take jobs away from tax-paying Americans.” This is not an uncommon sentiment. Immigration from Mexico and Central… continue reading
