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Christians must Transform the World: No Revolutions based on Hate and Greed (Jacques Maritain)

We have said that in the ordinary course it is principally by its sincerity or single-mindedness that an effort at reform or revolution is made effective and that it has a chance of success in the actual order o things. But how is this possible in the case of an effort to renew the temporal… continue reading

The Saints Refuse to Accept Evil (Jacques Maritain)

I take the liberty of insisting thereon: if Christians, in effect, were to renounce keeping in their hearts the desire for sanctity (even if they only desire it very distantly, excessively distantly, even if they live in evil), this would be an ultimate betrayal against God and against the world. The saints participate throughout the… continue reading

Pure Means – Ethical Choices (Jacques and Raissa Maritain)

(A free translation by Peter Maurin from a chapter in the untranslated volume of Maritain–The Temporal Regime and Liberty. (Later published in English as Freedom in the Modern World.) 1. GOING TO THE ROOTS In trying to bring the spirit of the Gospel, the spirit of integral humanism into the cultural  and temporal order, people fail to realize  the… continue reading

Jacques and Raissa Maritain influenced the early Catholic Worker

This is the sixth article in a series on the philosophers and spiritual guides who inspired Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in founding and living out the vision of the Catholic Worker. In this issue we feature a married couple, Jacques and Raissa Maritain. We are grateful to the Catholic Worker Archives at Marquette University… continue reading

A CIVILIZATION OF LOVE: THE POPE’S CALL TO THE WEST

On the anniversary of the publication one year ago of a statement signed by the editors of nine Catholic publications, the Houston Catholic Worker here publishes that statement, “A Civilization of Love: The Pope’s Call to the West” and adds its endorsement to it. Some were surprised, most were moved to respect, when Pope John Paul… continue reading

U.S. Stylish Clothing Manufactured at Slave Wages

For several years we have printed in these pages that the average wage in Honduras was $.37 per hour. This included companies (maquiladoras) owned by corporations from First World countries such as the United States. Because of the low wages paid by these companies, people are forced to immigrate to the United States and other countries. These… continue reading

New Colonialism Emerging WHITHER BEIJING?

Hopes welled up in many of us when we first read about the United Nations fourth world conference on women in Beijing this September–even though the irony of its location was not lost on us. Maybe the concerns of poor women of the world would really be addressed. Perhaps the dignity of women of the… continue reading

Saint Catherine of Siena: A Woman who Influenced her Times

This article, the fifth in a series on the saints, philosophers and spiritual guides who influenced Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in their vision and living out of the Catholic Worker movement, features St. Catherine of Siena. Dorothy had read a biography of St. Catherine of Siena, before meeting Peter Maurin. In two of her… continue reading

Saint Catherine of Siena: Do for your Neighbor what you Cannot Do for Me

The following are excerpts from The Dialogue (Catherine’s dialogue with God in which God is speaking to her): I would have you know that every good, whether perfect or imperfect, is acquired and made manifest in me. And it is acquired and made manifest by means of your neighbor. Even simple folk know this, for… continue reading

A Busy Day at Casa Juan Diego

Fr. Edwin Correa, who keeps his promise he made when he was a
 volunteer seminarian at Casa Juan Diego, to return to celebrate the
 liturgy each month for refugees, brought a couple with a four-day-old
 baby and a two-year-old who were living on the street. With Fr. Edwin, no questions are necessary. Wedding of Presbyterian,… continue reading