Catholic Worker
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.
