Day, Dorothy (1897-1980), was an American journalist and cofounder of the Catholic Worker, a radical Roman Catholic social movement that began in 1933. Radicalism is a philosophy concerned with eliminating injustices in society. The Catholic Worker movement has influenced many Catholics and others in the United States and elsewhere.
Day was born in Brooklyn, New York, on Nov. 8, 1897. She grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, California; and Chicago, Illinois. Day attended the University of Illinois for two years, then moved to New York City. In the 1910’s, she became involved in radical social movements and journalism. She also became acquainted with many notable activists, artists, and writers of the period. In 1927, after the birth of her daughter, Day converted to Roman Catholicism. But she struggled for several years to integrate her new faith with her social beliefs.
In 1932, Day met the French-born philosopher Peter Maurin. Maurin inspired Day to begin publishing The Catholic Worker newspaper in 1933 and to open “houses of hospitality,” where Catholic volunteers lived and worked for social justice. Such houses provided food and shelter for thousands of poor and homeless people. In addition to helping the poor, the movement advocated for laborers and for peace. Day and Maurin also established farm communes that they envisioned as models for a simpler, more just society. A commune is a place where people live together cooperatively.
The Catholic Worker movement thrived during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. More than 40 houses of hospitality were founded, and the circulation of The Catholic Worker reached nearly 200,000 by 1940. However, the movement lost support during World War II (1939-1945), because Day was a strong supporter of pacifism. Pacifism is the rejection of violence.
The Catholic Worker movement revived in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Day’s autobiography, The Long Loneliness (1952), added to her reputation as an insightful religious writer. Her activism on behalf of poor, working-class people and peace attracted new, young Catholic Workers who engaged in activities to combat poverty, nuclear weapons, and the Vietnam War (1957-1975). Day also became a leading advocate of Cesar Chavez’s farm workers movement. Chavez was a Mexican American labor union organizer and spokesman for the poor. During Vatican Council II, Day joined others in urging the Catholic bishops to speak out on issues of peace and social justice. Vatican Council II was a general council of the Catholic Church that met from 1962 to 1965.
Day died on Nov. 29, 1980. Today, the Catholic Worker movement includes more than 200 houses of hospitality and farm communes in several countries. In 2012, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops endorsed a proposal to have Day declared a saint of the Catholic Church.
