 Logo/masthead used on the Catholic Worker Movement website and newspaper | |
| Formation | May 1, 1933; 92 years ago (1933-05-01) |
|---|---|
| Founders | |
| Purpose | Catholic anarchist activism |
| Membership | 200 Catholic worker houses of hospitality and farms internationally[1] (2023) |
Publication | Catholic Worker newspaper |
| Website | catholicworker |
TheCatholic Worker Movement is a collection ofautonomous communities founded byDorothy Day andPeter Maurin in the United States in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity ofJesus Christ".[2] One of its guiding principles is hospitality towards those on the margin of society, based on the principles ofcommunitarianism andpersonalism. To this end, the movement claims over 240 local Catholic Worker communities providing social services.[3] Each house has a different mission, going about the work ofsocial justice in its own way, suited to its local region.
Catholic Worker houses are not official organs of the Catholic Church, and their activities, inspired by Day's example, may be more or less overtly religious in tone and inspiration depending on the particular institution. The movement campaigns fornonviolence and is active in opposing bothwar and the unequal globaldistribution of wealth. Day also founded theCatholic Worker newspaper, still published by the two Catholic Worker houses inNew York City, and sold for one cent a copy.
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The Catholic Worker Movement started with theCatholic Worker newspaper, created by Dorothy Day to advance Catholic social teaching and be a neutral,Christian pacifist position in the war-torn 1930s. Day attempted to put her words from theCatholic Worker into action through "houses of hospitality"[4] and then through a series of farms for people to live together oncommunes. The idea ofvoluntary poverty was advocated for those who volunteered to work at the houses of hospitality.[5] Many people would come to the Catholic Workers for assistance, then becoming Workers themselves.[6] Initially, these houses of hospitality had little organization and no requirements for membership.[7] As time passed some basic rules and policies were established.[8] Day appointed the directors of each of the houses, each of which operated autonomously and came to vary in size and character. In the 1930s, the St. Louis Workers served 3,400 people a day while the Detroit Workers served around 600 a day.[9]
TheCatholic Worker newspaper spread the idea to other cities in theUnited States, as well as toCanada and theUnited Kingdom, through the reports printed by those who had experienced working in the houses of hospitality.[6] More than 30 independent but affiliated communities had been founded by 1941. Between 1965 and 1980 an additional 76 communities were founded with 35 of these still in existence today,[10] such as the "Hippie Kitchen" founded in the back of a van by two Catholic Workers onSkid Row, Los Angeles in the 1970s.[11] Well over 200 communities exist today, including several inAustralia, the United Kingdom, Canada,Germany, theNetherlands,Mexico,New Zealand, andSweden.[12]
Day, who died in 1980, is under consideration forsainthood by theCatholic Church.[13][14]
"Our rule is the works of mercy," said Dorothy Day. "It is the way of sacrifice, worship, a sense of reverence."
According to co-founder Peter Maurin, the following are the beliefs of the Catholic Worker:[15]
The radical philosophy of the group can be described asChristian anarchism.[16][17] Anne Klejment, a history lecturer at theUniversity of St. Thomas, wrote of the movement:
The Catholic Worker considered itself a Christian anarchist movement. All authority came from God; and the state, having by choice distanced itself fromChristian perfectionism, forfeited its ultimate authority over the citizen… Catholic Worker anarchism followed Christ as a model ofnonviolent revolutionary behavior… He respected individual conscience. But he also preached a prophetic message, difficult for many of his contemporaries to embrace.[18]
Families have had a variety of roles in the Catholic Worker Movement.[19] Because those donating funds to the houses of hospitality were primarily interested in helping the poor, the higher cost of maintaining a volunteer family (as opposed to maintaining an individual volunteer) conflicted with the wishes of those donating.[20] Author Daniel McKanan has suggested that, for a variety of reasons,Dorothy Day's perspective on family involvement in the movement was controversial.[19] Despite these elements of conflict, families have participated in the Catholic Worker Movement through multiple avenues: some assist thehouses of hospitality while others open up a "Christ room" in their homes for people in need.[21] There are many other opportunities for family involvement in the Catholic Worker as well, with some families running their own houses of hospitality.[22]
Jessica Reznicek is a climate activist from the Des Moines Catholic Worker Community currently serving an eight-year prison sentence for acts ofcivil disobedience related to theDakota Access Pipeline protests.[23] She, along with another Catholic Worker, dismantled machinery along the pipeline route in an act ofsabotage, delaying the pipeline construction by six months, though no one was hurt.[23] She is designated apolitical prisoner/prisoner of war by theAnarchist Black Cross federation,[24] and is also supported by the Jericho Movement,[25] which works to release political prisoners held in custody in the US.[26]
Subsidiarity and its value in promoting the philosophy of personalism was also key to undergirding perhaps the most distinctive element of the CW ideology, its Christian anarchism
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