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Communists Communicate

Avatar photoByDorothy Day

Summary: The Daily Worker, a Communist daily paper, telegraphs The Catholic Worker asking it to denounce “fascist barbarism.” The response protests all war, imperialist, civil, or class, whether fascist or bolshevist. (The Catholic Worker, January 1937, 5. DDLW #313).

A few days before Christmas we received the following telegram from the Daily Worker, Communist newspaper:

WOULD APPRECIATE RECEIVING FIFTY WORD CHRISTMAS MESSAGE BY WEDNESDAY EVENING COLLECT VIA WESTERN UNION DIRECTED AGAINST FASCIST BARBARISM, ASSAULT ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND THREAT TO WORLD PEACE. DAILY WORKER DESIRES TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARD A CHRISTMAS SPIRIT BUILT ON DEMOCRACY AND PEACE.

C. A. HATHAWAY, Editor.

Anxious to oblige, we sent back the following telegram, collect:

CATHOLIC WORKER JOINS IN APPEAL FOR DEMOCRACY AND PEACE, THEREFORE ASKS YOU TO JOIN PROTEST AGAINST ALL DICTATORSHIPS, FASCIST AND BOLSHEVIST, AGAINST ALL SUPPRESSION OF CIVIL LIBERTIES, FASCIST AND BOLSHEVIST, INCLUDING FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA, EDUCATION, AND ORGANIZATION, AGAINST ALL WAR, WHETHER IMPERIALIST, CIVIL, OR CLASS. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

DOROTHY DAY, Editor.

See a PDF scan of the article as it first appeared in The Catholic Worker. You will be redirected to The Catholic News Archive website.

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Dorothy Day (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement along with Peter Maurin. A writer and journalist by trade, she and Maurin founded The Catholic Worker newspaper. Much of her writing on the Catholic Worker Movement website is taken from the newspaper. The Roman Catholic Church is currently considering her cause for canonization.

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