Almost immediately after her death in 1980 controversy arose about whether Dorothy Day should be canonized a Saint by the…
Almost immediately after her death in 1980 controversy arose about whether Dorothy Day should be canonized a Saint by the Church.
Many voices are in support of the canonization process, citing Dorothy Day’s life as an example that has inspired them to prayer and action for social justice. Her faithfulness to the Gospel, living the “preferential option for the poor” and showing that a lay person can achieve heroic virtue are often cited.
Dorothy Day icon by Nicholas Tsai
Voices opposing the process say that Dorothy Day shunned the suggestion she was a saint and believe she would rather have any money spent on her canonization given to the poor. Others are concerned that her radical vision will be sanitized and spun to support Catholic traditionalism and a narrow anti-abortion stance, neutralizing her ardent pacifism, radical critique of society, and love of the poor.
“Dorothy Day is already a saint” is a common refrain, which reminds us that the Church doesn’t make saints, but only recognizes what the faithful acknowledge as the action of God’s grace in a person’s life.
Organizations supporting canonization
Dorothy Day Canonization Support Network Includes prayers, links to resources about CW news and Dorothy Day, and a list of current groups, organizations and communities who are members.
The Dorothy Day Guild Includes information about the canonization process, her life and words, and a blog anyone can participate in.
Text of Cardinal O’Connor’s homily at Sunday Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral November 9, 1997. Reprinted with permission from Catholic New York, November 13, p. 13-14.
Dorothy Day, saint and troublemaker. Most saints lived in the distant past, and have been presented to us with all blemishes removed. The record of Dorothy was, what she was like, and what she did is too complete and accessible to for to be hidden in the wedding-cake icing.
In this classic essay from the May 2015 issue of The Catholic Worker, Robert Ellsberg reflects on what saints meant to Dorothy Day, what they mean for the Church, and why the question of her canonization ultimately comes down to whether it will draw people to live out the radical love of Jesus.
Presented at the Dorothy Day Centenary Conference, Marquette University, October 10, 1997. This article also appeared in a shorter form as “The Trouble With Saint Dorothy“, U.S. Catholic, November 1997.
Many Catholic Workers support the process of adding Dorothy Day to the Church’s official roster of canonized saints—but not all do. While this opposition to the canonization process is often acknowledged, the reasons behind it are rarely detailed. In the spirit of “clarification of thought,” then, here are some of the those reasons.
Article by Robert Elsberg in The Catholic Worker, May 2015, pp 1, 5 . He writes in support of the cause for Dorothy Day’s canonization, addressing “the many deep admirers and even followers of Dorothy Day who have no doubts about her holiness but are skeptical or suspicious of the process of canonization. “
Jim Allaire is a retired psychologist and software developer. In addition to raising two sons with his wife, Barbara, he co-founded the Winona Catholic Worker (Winona, Minnesota). At about the same time, he began developing CatholicWorker.org with the help of many volunteers. He is also the author of two books: Praying With Dorothy Day (Word Among Us Press, 1995) and Costly Grace (iUniverse, 2009), a mystery novel. He currently resides in Newton, MA, near Boston.
Summary: Writes of how people are treated poorly at the Home Relief office. Describes a visit to the garden commune on Staten Island, swims, walks, the inviting smells of plants, and visiting children from Harlem. (The Catholic Worker, July-August 1935, 2. DDLW #291).
Summary: Recounts her involvement with the I. W. W. in Chicago and, in some detail, an accidental jail experience. After a move to New Orleans she starts to make “visits” to Church. With the money from selling a book she wrote, she buys a beach house, enters into a common law marriage, and begins to “read and think and ponder, and I notice from my notebooks that it was at this time that I began to pray more earnestly.” (DDLW #209).
An Introduction to The Eleventh Virgin by Paul Bowers. Paul Bowers lives with his wife and daughter on a ten-acre farm in Ringwood, Oklahoma. He earned a B.A. from The University of Tulsa, M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Oklahoma State University. He currently teaches writing and literature at Northern Oklahoma College in Enid, and serves as the Coordinator for Academic Service Learning.
Summary: Contrasts the violence against strikers in Chicago at the Republic Steel Mills, egged on by the media, with the peaceful methods of dealing with strikers by law enforcement officials in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Comments on the joyful antics of the many children at the farm in the Summer, and enumerates their many unmet needs at the farm. Describes the noisy rebuilding going on at Mott Street. On the road, she reports on housing efforts in Chicago and a beautiful liturgy in St. Louis, explaining why they say Compline in New York. (DDLW #447).
Summary: Defines Christian personalism as “the realization of the dignity of the other fellow, of our obligation to him, the willingness to work with him, on those elements of truth he has seized hold of, accepting his cooperation as far as he will give it, and the refusal to admit disappointment when he doesn’t go as far as we think he might.” Argues that the Marshall Plan has denied this definition and is an extension of industrial capitalism and abrogates our personal responsibility. (The Catholic Worker, December 1947, 1. DDLW #156).
