“The aim of the Catholic Worker movement is to live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ. . . . This aim requires us to begin living in a different way. We recall the words of our founders, Dorothy Day who said, ‘God meant things to be much easier than we have made them,’ and Peter Maurin who wanted to build a society ‘where it is easier for people to be good.’”
—the aims and means of the catholic worker
The Movement
An overview of the Catholic Worker: aims and means, history, books, bibliography, and more.
Dorothy Day
Biographies, writings, canonization, and more about the co-founder of the Catholic Worker.
LATEST CATHOLIC WORKER NEWS
After Arrests, Students Renew Call for Notre Dame to Follow Catholic Teaching on War, Investments
At the University of Notre Dame, student protesters and their allies are drawing on Catholic social teaching and the Catholic Worker tradition to press the university to divest from companies…
Stop the Killing!: A Review of Philip Berrigan’s “A Ministry of Risk”
In a new collection of his writings, Philip Berrigan continues to be a mentor and a master of nonviolent civil disobedience. The collection, A Ministry of Risk, should move us…
Casa Juan Diego Seeks Community Members to Work with Immigrants
Casa Juan Diego, the Houston Catholic Worker, Is seeking community members to assist in the Works of Mercy with immigrants and refugees in our Houses of Hospitality and clinic. Functional Spanish…
Who is ‘My’ Property for, Anyway? Property and the Common Good (Part 2)
In his continuing series of articles for The Catholic Citizen, Colin Miller reflects on the Church’s social teaching that property is only legitimately “mine” when it is used for the…
Remembering Bishop Gumbleton: Voices from House of Grace CW & Kay Lasante Clinic
House of Grace Catholic Worker (Philadelphia) sent this letter to its community remembering Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, who passed away on April 4. Community members and staff from Kay Lasante Clinic…
Philip Berrigan Confronts the Ancient Young Warrior
The following excerpt is from the new book A Ministry of Risk: The Collected Writings of Philip Berrigan, a collection of the writings of Philip Berigan compiled and edited by…
At the Factory That Makes Parts for World War III, Protesters Call for a Change of Heart
In the pre-dawn hours on Monday, April 15, dozens of Catholic Workers and their allies gathered at the Kansas City National Security Campus. Their mission was to beg the workers…
Martha Hennessy’s Revolution of the Heart
In an article adapted from her March 2024 talk at the University of Glasgow, Martha Hennessy discusses Dorothy Day, her canonization cause, and how her grandmother’s example led her to…
Down the Rabbit Hole in Search of Community
Tyler Hambley writes about how his encounter with a Catholic Worker community led to personal transformation and a deeper, richer understanding of community–and his faith. This essay is reprinted from…
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THE CATHOLIC WORKER MOVEMENT
A Brief Introduction to the Catholic Worker Movement
Tom Cornell, associate editor of The Catholic Worker and a leader in Catholic peace and justice movements, offers a brief overview of the Catholic Worker Movement.
The Evolution of the ‘Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker’
The Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker movement describe its goals and the means by which the movement hopes to achieve those goals. The Aims and Means have taken…
What is the Catholic Worker?
This essay was written by Jim Forest on the Catholic Worker Movement for The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History to be published by the Liturgical Press. Jim Forest, once a…
Biography of Peter Maurin
This essay by Jim Forest on Peter Maurin was written for The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History published by the Liturgical Press.
The Life and Spirituality of Dorothy Day
This article is from the introduction to the book Praying with Dorothy Day by James Allaire and Rosemary Broughton.
May Day, 1933
An account of the birth of the Catholic Worker Movement on May 1, 1933, in New York City’s Union Square, from the opening paragraphs of “All Is Grace: a Biography…