Last night at the Church of Saint Catherine of Siena (NYC) a remarkable event took place. About 120 people from all over the Metropolitan New York area attended an event co-sponsored by the Siena Forum for Faith and Culture and Crossroads Cultural Center whereby we wanted to know more about a pivotal figure of the 20th century who was truly human and in love with Christ through the poor, the Servant of God Dorothy Day. Ms. Mary Lathrop, a longtime friend and spiritual daughter of Day’s, with Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete, spoke about the person of Dorothy Day, the Catholic Worker Movement and Catholic Social teaching. Albacete as you know is the well known priest, physicist and theologian who works with the lay movement Communion and Liberation in the USA. Lathrop is a remarkable woman of faith and conviction who gave us a deeper appreciation for the real person that Day was and not the ideaology that is often passed off for the same.
A video of the event is located here.
The following article by Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete was published today on Il Sussidiario (English edition):
This week I was asked to participate in a discussion about Dorothy Day, founder of the “Catholic Worker Movement.” The story of her life captures like none other the history of the Catholic Church in the United States during the last century, and a judgment on her life pretty much indicates how American Catholics look at the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.
Dorothy Day was born in Brooklyn, NY, on November 8, 1897 and died on November 29, 1980. I must confess that I knew very little about her during the 60’s and 70’s, except that she was a very controversial Catholic pacifist, feminist, and maybe socialist who made many Church authorities very nervous (and still does here and there). I knew about her opposition to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, but it was not until recently that I read her stunning editorial excerpted below so you can get a feel for her soul’s style:
Mr. Truman was jubilant. President Truman. True man; what a strange name, come to think of it. We refer to Jesus Christ as true God and true Man. Truman is a true man of his time in that he was jubilant…the newspapers said. Jubilate Deo. We have killed 318,000 Japanese…
Continue reading Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement: an American witness to the Culture of Life
Today is the anniversary of Peter Maurin’s death. Dorothy credited Peter with being the real founder of the Catholic Worker, in fact, she insisted, that he was the real founder of the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933.