Editing Catholic Worker Movement

{{short description|Autonomous communities of Catholics and their associates}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                    = Catholic Worker Movement
| full_name               = 
| native_name             = <!-- organization's name in its local language -->
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| logo                    = Catholic Worker Movement.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
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| logo_alt                = 
| logo_caption            = Logo/masthead used on the Catholic Worker Movement website and newspaper
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| named_after             = 
| predecessor             = 
| merged                  = <!-- any other organization(s) which it was merged into -->
| successor               = 
| formation               = {{start date and age|1933|5|01}}
| founders                = {{ubl|[[Dorothy Day]]|[[Peter Maurin]]}}
| founding_location       = 
| dissolved               = <!-- or |defunct = --><!-- use {{end date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| merger                  = <!-- other organizations (if any) merged with, to constitute the new organization -->
| type                    = <!-- e.g., [[Nonprofit organization|Nonprofit]], [[Non-governmental organization|NGO]], etc. -->
| tax_id                  = <!-- or |vat_id = (for European organizations) -->
| registration_id         = <!-- for non-profits -->
| status                  = <!-- legal status or description (company, charity, foundation, etc.) -->
| purpose                 = [[Christian anarchist|Catholic anarchist]] activism
| headquarters            = 
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| origins                 = 
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| membership              = 200 Catholic worker houses of hospitality and farms internationally<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Darline Roden |first=Renée |date=15 May 2023 |title=The Anarchism of the Catholic Worker |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/catholic-worker-dorothy-day-peter-maurin/ |magazine=[[The Nation (magazine)|The Nation]] |location= |publisher= |access-date=1 December 2023}}</ref> 
| membership_year         = 2023
| sec_gen                 = <!-- or |gen_sec for General Secretary -->
| leader_title            = <!-- defaults to "Leader" -->
| leader_name             = 
| leader_title2           = 
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| board_of_directors      = 
| key_people              = 
| publication             = [[Catholic Worker (newspaper)|''Catholic Worker'' newspaper]]
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| funding                 = <!-- source of funding e.g. for "think tanks" -->
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| website                 = {{URL|https://catholicworker.org}}
}}
The '''Catholic Worker Movement''' is a collection of autonomous communities founded by [[Dorothy Day]] and [[Peter Maurin]] in the United States in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of [[Jesus Christ]]".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.catholicworker.org/cw-aims-and-means.html | title=The Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker | website=Catholicworker.org | access-date=February 4, 2018 | archive-date=December 5, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205083714/https://www.catholicworker.org/cw-aims-and-means.html | url-status=live }}</ref> One of its guiding principles is hospitality 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.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.catholicworker.org/ | title=Catholic Worker Movement | website=Catholicworker.org | access-date=February 7, 2005 | archive-date=January 31, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131054149/http://www.catholicworker.org/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Each house has a different mission, going about the work of [[social justice]] 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 [[anti-war|war]] and the unequal global [[distribution of wealth]]. Day also founded the ''[[Catholic Worker (newspaper)|Catholic Worker]]'' newspaper, still published by the two Catholic Worker houses in [[New York City]], and sold for a penny a copy.

==History==
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| image1 = Dorothy Day, 1916 (cropped).jpg
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| footer = The founders of the movement, [[Dorothy Day]] and [[Peter Maurin]]
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The Catholic Worker Movement started with the ''Catholic Worker'' newspaper, created by Dorothy Day to advance Catholic social teaching and be a neutral, [[Christian pacifism|Christian pacifist]] position in the war-torn 1930s. Day attempted to put her words from the ''Catholic Worker'' into action through "[[house of hospitality|houses of hospitality]]"{{sfn|Piehl|1982|p=96}} and then through a series of farms for people to live together on [[Intentional community|communes]]. The idea of [[voluntary poverty]] was advocated for those who volunteered to work at the houses of hospitality.{{sfn|Piehl|1982|p=98}} Many people would come to the Catholic Workers for assistance, then becoming Workers themselves.{{sfn|Piehl|1982|p=107}} Initially, these houses of hospitality had little organization and no requirements for membership.{{sfn|Piehl|1982|pp=98–99}} As time passed some basic rules and policies were established.{{sfn|Piehl|1982|p=106}} Day appointed the directors of each of the houses, each of which operated autonomously and came to vary in size and character. In the 1930s, the St. Louis Workers served 3,400 people a day while the Detroit Workers served around 600 a day.{{sfn|Piehl|1982|p=[https://archive.org/details/breakingbreadcat0000pieh/page/110/mode/1up 110]}}

The ''Catholic Worker'' newspaper spread the idea to other cities in the [[United States]], as well as to [[Canada]] and the [[United Kingdom]], through the reports printed by those who had experienced working in the houses of hospitality.{{sfn|Piehl|1982|p=107}} 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,<ref>Dan McKanan, [https://books.google.com/books?id=LalvZo7fx5sC&q=Catholic+Worker Catholic Worker After Dorothy], Liturgical Press, 2008. pp 75–76 via books.google.com</ref> such as the "Hippie Kitchen" founded in the back of a van by two Catholic Workers on [[Skid Row, Los Angeles]] in the 1970s.<ref>{{cite news | last=Streeter | first=Kurt | url=http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-c1-catholic-workers-20140409-dto-htmlstory.html | title=A couple's commitment to skid row doesn't waver | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=April 9, 2014 | access-date=February 4, 2018 | archive-date=February 4, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204182259/http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-c1-catholic-workers-20140409-dto-htmlstory.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Well over 200 communities exist today, including several in [[Australia]], the United Kingdom, Canada, [[Germany]], the [[Netherlands]],  [[Mexico]], [[New Zealand]], and [[Sweden]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicworker.org/communities/directory-picker.html |title=Directory of Catholic Worker Communities |website=www.catholicworker.org |access-date=January 8, 2017 |archive-date=January 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107092404/http://www.catholicworker.org/communities/directory-picker.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Day, who died in 1980, is under consideration for [[sainthood]] by the [[Catholic Church]].<ref>{{cite news | title=Saint Dorothy Day? Controversial, Yes, But Bishops Push for Canonization | url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/14/saint-dorothy-day-controv_n_2133584.html | first=David | last=Gibson | work=[[The Huffington Post]] | date=November 14, 2012 | access-date=February 4, 2018 | archive-date=April 10, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410050104/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/14/saint-dorothy-day-controv_n_2133584.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=US bishops endorse sainthood cause of Catholic Worker's Dorothy Day |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1204800.htm |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20121207032158/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1204800.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 7, 2012 |access-date=November 8, 2022 |website=Catholic News Service}}</ref>

==Beliefs==
{{Anarchism sidebar}}
"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:<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.catholicworker.org/petermaurin/easy-essays.html#%3CB%3EWhat%20the%20Catholic%20Worker%20Believes%3C/B%3E | title=What the Catholic Worker Believes |website=www.catholicworker.org | first=Peter | last=Maurin | access-date=November 9, 2017 | archive-date=November 15, 2018 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181115191427/http://www.catholicworker.org/petermaurin/easy-essays.html#%3CB%3EWhat%20the%20Catholic%20Worker%20Believes%3C/B%3E | url-status=live }}</ref>
# gentle [[personalism]] of traditional Catholicism.
# personal obligation of looking after the needs of our brother.
# daily practice of the [[Works of Mercy]].
# [[House of hospitality|houses of hospitality]] for the immediate relief of those who are in need.
# establishment of Farming Communes where each one [[From each according to his ability, to each according to his need|works according to his ability and receives according to his need]].
# creating a [[new society within the shell of the old]]{{Efn | The concept of "a new society within the shell of the old" appeared in [http://www.iww.org/en/culture/official/preamble.shtml the preamble to the constitution] of the [[Industrial Workers of the World|IWW]], though it was not given a religious rationale. {{Webarchive |url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110904034634/http://www.iww.org/en/culture/official/preamble.shtml |date=September 4, 2011}}}} with the philosophy of the new.

The radical philosophy of the group can be described as [[Christian anarchism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cornell |first= Tom |author-link= Tom Cornell | date=May 2010 | title= In Defense of Anarchism|journal=[[Catholic Worker]] | volume=LXXVII | issue= 77th Anniversary Issue | pages=4–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last= Prentiss | first=Craig R. | year=2008 |title=Debating God's Economy: Social Justice in America on the Eve of Vatican II | page= 74 | publisher=Penn State Press | isbn=978-0-27104762-1 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wWY-DhOnFXkC&pg=PA74 | quote= Subsidiarity and its value in promoting the philosophy of personalism was also key to undergirding perhaps the most distinctive element of the CW ideology, its Christian anarchism}}</ref> Anne Klejment, a history lecturer at the [[University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)|University of St. Thomas]], wrote of the movement:

{{blockquote|The Catholic Worker considered itself a Christian anarchist movement. All authority came from God; and the state, having by choice distanced itself from [[Christian perfectionism]], forfeited its ultimate authority over the citizen… Catholic Worker anarchism followed Christ as a model of [[nonviolent revolution]]ary behavior…  He respected individual conscience. But he also preached a prophetic message, difficult for many of his contemporaries to embrace.<ref>{{cite book | title= A Revolution of the heart: essays on the Catholic worker | last1=Klejment |first1=Anne | first2=Patrick | last2=Coy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dG87jxGDFcC |via=books.google.co.uk |year= 1988 | publisher=Temple University Press |pages=293–94 | isbn=978-0-87722-531-7 }}</ref>}}{{Libertarian socialism sidebar}}

=== Family involvement ===
Families have had a variety of roles in the Catholic Worker Movement.{{sfn|McKanan|2007a}} 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.{{sfn|McKanan|2007a|p=94}} Author Daniel McKanan has suggested that, for a variety of reasons, [[Dorothy Day]]'s perspective on family involvement in the movement was controversial.{{sfn|McKanan|2007a}} Despite these elements of conflict, families have participated in the Catholic Worker Movement through multiple avenues: some assist the [[house of hospitality|houses of hospitality]] while others open up a "Christ room" in their homes for people in need.{{sfn|McKanan|2007b|p=154}} There are many other opportunities for family involvement in the Catholic Worker as well, with some families running their own houses of hospitality.{{sfn|McKanan|2007b|p=158}}

==See also==
{{colbegin|colwidth=25em}}
* [[Catholic Radical Alliance]]
* [[Catholic social teaching]]
* [[Catholic trade unions]]
* [[Christian anarchism]]
* [[Christian communism]]
* [[Christian left]]
* [[Christian socialism]]
* [[Christian trade unions]]
* [[Christian views on poverty and wealth]]
* [[Catholicism and socialism]]
* [[Friendship House]]
* [[Georgism]]
* [[Industrial Workers of the World]]
* [[Liberation theology]]
* [[List of anti-war organizations]]
* [[Political Catholicism]]
* [[Settlement movement]]
* [[Saint Patrick's Day Four]]
* [[Pitstop Ploughshares]]
{{colend}}

===Similar Christian movements===
* [[Anabaptism]], in particular the emerging peace church movement
* [[Beguines and Beghards]], medieval religious communities composed entirely of laity
* [[Christian democracy]], particularly [[distributism]]
* [[Focolare]], Catholic/Ecumenical movement promoting the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood. 
* [[Madonna House Apostolate]]
* "[[New Monasticism]]" related communities
* [[Peace Churches]]
* [[Servants to Asia's Urban Poor]]
* [[Labour Church]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==Sources==
* {{cite journal | last=McKanan | first=Daniel | title=Inventing the Catholic Worker Family | journal=[[Church History (journal)|Church History]] | date=March 2007a | volume=76 | issue=1 | page=94 | jstor=27644925 | doi=10.1017/s0009640700101428 | s2cid=162589205 }}
* {{cite journal | last=McKanan | first=Daniel | title=The Family, the Gospel, and the Catholic Worker | journal=[[The Journal of Religion]] | date=April 2007b | volume=87 | issue=2 | pages=153–182 | jstor=10.1086/510646 | doi=10.1086/510646 | s2cid=145471121 }}
* {{cite book|last=Piehl|first=Mel|title=Breaking Bread: The Catholic Worker and the Origin of Catholic Radicalism in America|publisher=[[Temple University Press]]|location=Philadelphia|year=1982|isbn=9780877222576|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/breakingbreadcat0000pieh}}

==Further reading==
* Dorothy Day (1997) ''Loaves and Fishes: The inspiring story of the Catholic Worker Movement''. Maryknoll: [[Orbis Books]], 1963.
* On the English CW, see: Olivier Rota, ''From a social question with religious echoes to a religious question with social echoes. The 'Jewish Question' and the English Catholic Worker (1939–1948)'' in Houston Catholic Worker, Vol. XXV n°3, May–June 2005, pp.&nbsp;4–5.

== External links ==
* [http://www.catholicworker.org/ Main website of the Catholic Worker Movement]
* [http://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/Mss/DDCW/DD-main.shtml Dorothy Day-Catholic Worker Collection at Marquette University]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0GER/is_2000_Summer/ai_63500751/ The Way of Love: Dorothy Day and the American Right] – by [[Bill Kauffman]], ''[[Whole Earth Review|Whole Earth]]'' (Summer 2000)
* [https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/following-jesus-in-love-and-anarchy-xjcw09wxp9d Following Jesus in love and anarchy] – [[The Times]], February 29, 2008
* [http://la.indymedia.org/news/2019/01/297451.php Maurin, Day, the Catholic Worker, and Anarcho-Distributism]  by Nicholas Evans 2018

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