Some Christians seek to redress injustice through direct protest and civil disobedience. One Australian who has chosen this path is Ciaron O’Rielly. Ciaron’s actions in the cause of peace have seen him arrested and imprisoned on a number of occasions. Ciaron is a member of the Catholic Worker Movement founded in 1933 by Dorothy Day.
What are
core principles and values on which this organisation is based?
The Catholic Worker Movement is grounded in a firm belief in
the God-given dignity of every human person.
Who are
some of the people involved and what are their stories?
Today 225 Catholic Worker communities remain committed to
nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the homeless,
exiled, hungry, and forsaken. Catholic Workers continue to protest injustice,
war, racism, and violence of all forms.
Where and
in what contexts has the Catholic Worker Movement been active?
The Catholic Worker movement was founded in 1933 during the
Great Depression by Dorothy Day at the urging of Peter Maurin. It is best known
for houses of hospitality located in run-down sections of many cities, though a
number of Catholic Worker centers exist in rural areas. Food, clothing, shelter
and welcome is extended by unpaid volunteers to those in need according to the
ability of each household. In 1995 there were 134 Catholic Worker communities,
all but three in the United States.
When and why
did Dorothy Day found the movement?
On May 1, 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, The
Catholic Worker newspaper made its debut with a first issue of twenty-five
hundred copies. Dorothy Day and a few others hawked the paper in Union Square
for a penny a copy (still the price) to passers-by.
