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

LATEST CATHOLIC WORKER NEWS

Whose Confession?

Forty-five years after the publication of Michael Garvey’s “Confessions of a Catholic Worker,” Larry Chapp has written his own “Confession.” But his attempt to link the theology of Joseph Ratzinger and Hans Urs von Balthasar to the vision of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin is far off the mark, writes Brian Terrell.
Read More Whose Confession?

On Its 40th Anniversary, a New Intro for “Reluctant Resister”

On the 40th anniversary of “Reluctant Resister,” a collection of L.A. Catholic Worker Jeff Dietrich’s letters from prison, the book has been republished with a new Introduction, reprinted here with the permission of the author. This article first appeared in the April 2023 edition of the Catholic Agitator, newspaper of the L.A., Catholic Worker.
Read More On Its 40th Anniversary, a New Intro for “Reluctant Resister”

Heard Around the Catholic Worker (#7)

In this issue: The Nation runs a long piece on the state of the movement; two new Catholic Worker communities now listed, bringing number of CW communities to 177; Iowa City raises $30,000 for new living space; Great Turning signs purchase agreement for second house; Chapp publishes “Confession of a Catholic Worker; death of Tampa CW co-founder Ann Doyle; Casa Maria preaches Christian nonviolence to gun owners; a conversation about voting; and more.
Read More Heard Around the Catholic Worker (#7)

Upcoming Catholic Worker Events

CATHOLIC WORKER VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

GET TO KNOW
THE CATHOLIC WORKER MOVEMENT

What is the Catholic Worker?

Posted on
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 managing editor of The Catholic Worker, is the author of Love is the Measure: a Biography of Dorothy Day; and Living With Wisdom: a Biography of Thomas Merton. Both are published by Orbis.

Read More What is the Catholic Worker?

May Day, 1933

Posted on
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 of Dorothy Day,” by Jim Forest. “Dorothy found more bewilderment than enthusiasm from those who had the paper thrust into their hands. They all knew The Daily Worker, a Communist paper that was a militant supporter of unions and strikes. But a radical paper, a paper for workers, put out by Catholics?”
Read More May Day, 1933

EXPLORE CATHOLIC WORKER COMMUNITIES
AROUND THE WORLD