The Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities of

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and their associates founded by

Dorothy Day Dorothy Day (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and anarchist who, after a bohemian youth, became a Catholic without abandoning her social and anarchist activism. She was perhaps the best-known ...

and

Peter Maurin Peter Maurin (; May 9, 1877 – May 15, 1949) was a French Catholic social activist, theologian, and De La Salle Brother who founded the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933 with Dorothy Day. Maurin expressed his philosophy through short pieces of ...

in the United States in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ". One of its guiding principles is

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, chevalier de J ...

towards those on the margin of society, based on the principles of communitarianism and personalism. To this end, the movement claims over 240 local Catholic Worker communities providing social services. Each house has a different mission, going about the work of

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

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 for nonviolence and is active in opposing both

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and the unequal global

distribution of wealth The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or economic heterogeneity. The distribution of wealth differs from the income distribution in that ...

. Day also founded the ''

Catholic Worker ''Catholic Worker'' is a newspaper published seven times a year by the flagship Catholic Worker community in New York City. The newspaper was started by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin to make people aware of church teaching on social justice. His ...

'' newspaper, still published by the two Catholic Worker houses in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and sold for a penny a copy.

History

The Catholic Worker Movement began in the 19th century. Some pioneers are

Adolph Kolping Adolph Kolping (8 December 1813 — 4 December 1865) was a German Catholic priest and the founder of the Kolping Association. He led the movement for providing and promoting social support for workers in industrialized cities while also working ...

, St. John Bosco and Léon Harmel all more or less contemporaries who sought to respond to the needs of young workers in a rapidly industrializing Europe. At the end of the century,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

gave voice to the plight of workers and the problem of labour in his 1891 encyclical

Rerum Novarum ''Rerum novarum'' (from its incipit, with the direct translation of the Latin meaning "of revolutionary change"), or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, pass ...

which is the foundation of Catholic social teaching. In the US, the Catholic Worker Movement started with the ''Catholic Worker'' newspaper, created by Dorothy Day to advance Catholic social teaching and stake out a neutral,

Christian pacifist Christian pacifism is the theological and ethical position according to which pacifism and non-violence have both a scriptural and rational basis for Christians, and affirms that any form of violence is incompatible with the Christian faith. Chri ...

position in the war-torn 1930s. Day attempted to put her words from the ''Catholic Worker'' into action through " houses of hospitality" and then through a series of farms for people to live together on

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

. The idea of

voluntary poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

was advocated for those who volunteered to work at the houses of hospitality. Many people would come to the Catholic Workers for assistance, only to become Workers themselves. Initially, these houses of hospitality had little organization and no requirements for membership. As time passed, however, some basic rules and policies were established. Day appointed the directors of each of the houses, but tried to maintain autonomy in the actual running of the houses. Because of this policy, the houses varied in both size and character: in the 1930s, the St. Louis Workers served 3400 people a day while the Detroit Workers served around 600 a day. The ''Catholic Worker'' newspaper spread the idea to other cities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, as well as to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, through the reports printed by those who had experienced working in the houses of hospitality. 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, such as the "Hippie Kitchen" founded in the back of a van by two Catholic Workers on

Skid Row, Los Angeles Skid Row is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles. The area is officially known as Central City East. As of a 2019 count, the population of the district was 8,757. Skid Row contains one of the largest stable populations (about 9,200–15,000) ...

in the 1970s. Well over 200 communities exist today, including several in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the United Kingdom, Canada,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Co-founder Day, who died in 1980, is under consideration for

sainthood In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Beliefs

"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: # gentle personalism of traditional Catholicism. # personal obligation of looking after the needs of our brother. # daily practice of the

Works of Mercy Works of mercy (sometimes known as acts of mercy) are practices considered meritorious in Christian ethics. The practice is popular in the Catholic Church as an act of both penance and charity. In addition, the Methodist church teaches that the ...

. # houses of hospitality for the immediate relief of those who are in need. # establishment of Farming Communes where each one works according to his ability and receives according to his need. # creating a

new society within the shell of the old Prefigurative politics are the modes of organization and social relationships that strive to reflect the future society being sought by the group. According to Carl Boggs, who coined the term, the desire is to embody "within the ongoing political p ...

with the philosophy of the new. The radical philosophy of the group can be described as Christian anarchism. Anne Klejment, a history lecturer at the

University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: *Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

, wrote of the movement:

Family involvement

Families have had a variety of roles in the Catholic Worker Movement. 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. Author Daniel McKanan has suggested that, for a variety of reasons,

's perspective on family involvement in the movement was controversial. Despite these elements of conflict, families have participated in the Catholic Worker Movement through multiple avenues: some assist the houses of hospitality while others open up a "Christ room" in their homes for people in need. There are many other opportunities for family involvement in the Catholic Worker as well, with some families running their own houses of hospitality.

Notes

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Main website of the Catholic Worker Movement
*
Dorothy Day-Catholic Worker Collection at Marquette University

The Way of Love: Dorothy Day and the American Right
– by

Bill Kauffman Bill Kauffman (born November 15, 1959) is an American political writer generally aligned with the localist movement. He was born in Batavia, New York, and currently resides in Elba, New York, with his wife and daughter. A devout Roman Catholic ...

, '' Whole Earth'' (Summer 2000)
Following Jesus in love and anarchy
–

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, February 29, 2008
Maurin, Day, the Catholic Worker, and Anarcho-Distributism
by Nicholas Evans 2018 {{Authority control Anti–Iraq War groups Catholic lay organisations Catholic social teaching Catholic trade unions Catholicism and far-left politics Christian anarchism Christian pacifism Christian radicalism Christian organizations established in 1933 Dorothy Day Distributism Anarchist intentional communities Christian communities