Catholic Worker History

Dorothy Day was born November 8, 1897 and died on November 29, 1980. She was active with a number of political causes, and was first arrested in 1917 in front of the White House, demonstrating for women's suffrage.

In 1932, while living in New York City, she met Peter Maurin. He is not as well known as Dorothy Day, but his role in the founding of the Catholic Worker movement was immense. Peter was a peasant from southern France. During the Depression, he came to the US and met Dorothy in New York City. Peter saw the need for radical action to meet the challenges of the immense worldwide poverty of his era. He called people to remember the tradition of the Church -- the works of mercy, personal involvement with the poor, and the importance of justice for all.

Dorothy and Peter proposed a three point program: Houses of Hospitality (shelters and soup kitchens), clarification of thought (via discussions and publishing a newspaper), and farming communities, all based in the social teaching of the Church. Together, they started a newspaper, the Catholic Worker, and shortly thereafter, a soup kitchen and the first "House of Hospitality". Today, there are more than 130 Catholic Worker houses throughout the world, each one autonomous, but all inspired by Dorothy and Peter's original vision of working to build a society where it was easier to be good. Before he died, Cardinal O'Connor of New York began the process to canonize her as a saint.