Catholic Worker

The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us? -Dorothy Day

Overview

The Catholic Worker Movement was founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933, and centers around a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every human being. There are over 185 Catholic Worker communities today which seek to live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ. Their committment is strong to nonviolence, prayer, hospitality for the homeless, and feeding the hungry, and also to protest to injustice, war, racism, and violence. Their motivation comes from the teachings of Jesus, especially from the Sermon on the Mount. Of the 185 Catholic Worker communities, 168 are in the US, 6 in Canada, and 15 in 10 other countries. These communities are not dependent on each other and differ in their activities as well as in their connection to the Catholic Church and how they incorporate Catholic Worker philosophy and tradition.

Aims and Means

"The aim of the Catholic Worker movement is to live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ. Our sources are the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures as handed down in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, with our inspiration coming from the lives of the saints,'men and women outstanding in holiness, living witnesses to Your unchanging love'(Eucharistic Prayer)"

This quote from The Catholic Worker newspaper (May, 2002) provides the basic purpose of the movement. The aim of the movement can be broken down into various areas of society in which we can better understand where the Catholic Worker's focus is. These areas include economics, labor, politics, morals, and the arms race.

Economics

Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin saw an unjust distribution of wealth which comes from private and state capitalism. This capitalism places the majority of money under the control of a few big corporations and people. During the beginning of the Catholic Worker movement, Standard Oil, General Motors, and Henry Ford were some of the top money-holders. Today they can be equated to the global market, giant corporations, and sweatshops. Those with power live off of the hard work of others who are not justly compensated for the work they do. The number of hungry and poor is astounding but would not exist if wealth was better distributed.

Labor

With the expansion of technology, need is no longer the reason for human labor. People have become alienated from their work because it is not meaningful anymore. Jobs are focused in productivity and administration because of the demand in society of high-tech disposible goods. Workers in this kind of labor often do not see the results of their labor, so their work does not mean much to them.

Politics

Day and Maurin also saw many problems with politics. They believed that the state functions to regulate life. Its increase in power blossomed with growth in technology resulting in policy priority going to military, scientific and corporate interests. Their view of bureaucracy or, "government by nobody," is that it is impersonal and makes accountability almost non-existent.

Morals

Race, class, and gender often determine the worth of a person within society which aids the warped image people have of one another and leads to oppression. Another moral flaw also comes from capitalism which puts workers against those in power with the least productive left behind. Spiritual morals are non-existent among many leading to violence and promiscuity.

Arms

Nations are very focused on beefing up their arms to prove themselves more powerful than others. A person's basic right to life is almost no longer a right with nations owning strong enough weapons to wipe out huge areas. Problems are attemped to be solved by finding new technology for bigger and better weapons.

The Common Good

Central to the Vision and Mission of the Catholic Worker is St. Thomas Aquinas' doctrine of the Common Good, the idea that each person is part of a larger body. This concept can be compared to the organs of the body. Each is part of an overall system of the body with its own job necessary to keep a person alive. The Catholic Worker believes we are all ordered to the same good by God and we cannot attain this good by ourselves. With the common good the desired end, the Catholic Worker strives for personalism, a decentralized society, and a "green revolution." Personalism considers the freedom and dignity of each person something that should be a main concern of individuals. This would move people away from self-centeredness and toward the care of others. A decentralized society would be one that differs from the current big systems of governement, industry, educa