In
December 1932, Dorothy Day, a radical journalist,
met Peter Maurin, a Franciscan monk. The couple decided to
establish the Catholic
Worker,
a newspaper that would be able to publicize Catholic social teaching.
Day became editor and the first edition appeared on 1st May, 1933.
The newspaper criticised the economic system and supported organisation
such as trade unions that were attempting
to create a more equal society. It also argued that the Catholic
Church should be a pacifist organization. Day and Maurin believed
the nonviolent way of life was at the heart of the Gospel.
The Catholic
Worker
became a vehicle for creating a national movement. By 1936
there were 33 Catholic Worker Houses spread out across the country.
These were charitable, self-help communities for people suffering
the effects of the Depression. Today
there are 130 of these houses in 32 states and eight foreign countries.
The Catholic
Worker
encountered problems during the Spanish Civil
War. Most Catholics in the United States supported the fascists
and saw Franco as the defender of the Catholic faith. As pacifists,
Day and Maurin refused to support either side. As a result the newspaper
lost two-thirds of its readers.
Even during the Second World War, Day maintained
her pacifism. This was an unpopular stance to take and over the first
few months of the war, fifteen Catholic Worker Houses were forced
to close as volunteer workers withdrew their support from the organization.
Dorothy Day was publisher, editor and chief
writer, of the Catholic Worker until her death in 1980. Since then
the Catholic Worker movement has had no central leader. However the
movement continues to grow and by 1995 there were 131 Catholic
Worker Houses
in the United States. The Catholic
Worker
has a circulation of about 100,000.
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