JERSEY WORKERS NOT URGING WAR, PACIFISTS FIND
New York Call Sunday, April 1, 1917, page 1, above the fold
Fear In Our Time
Summary: Recounts times she experienced strong fear–being shot at and verbally abused in the South, in prison. Urges praying for the courage to bear pain and hardship because of one’s belief in pacifism and faith in God. (DDLW #253). The Catholic Worker, April 1968, 5, 7.
On Pilgrimage (December 1966)
Summary: Recommends two books on pacifism, visits her daughter in Vermont and then friends in Montreal. Attends the funeral of Jane Marra who started the Catholic Worker in Boston. (DDLW #846). The Catholic Worker, December 1966, 2, 6.
On Pilgrimage (September 1966)
Summary: Diary-like chronicle of canning tomatoes, panhandling, use of a missal at Mass, evils of drink, murder of peace activists, a visit to her daughter and grandchildren, a peacemaker conference, and non-violent work in India. (DDLW #843) The Catholic Worker, September 1966, 2, 7.
Clarification
Summary: Responds to criticism of their refusal to participate in air raid drills. Says they are rejecting the authority of the State to compel men to war. Says “Self-suffering, non-resistance to evil, is an alternative offered by the pacifist to the government, . . .” Keywords: civil disobedience, pacifism. (DDLW #728: The Catholic Worker, October 1957, page 2.)
Why Do the Members of Christ Tear One Another?
Summary: Protesting against a journalist’s assertion that they are sentimentalists in their pacifism and afraid of suffering, she challenges her critics to spend time in the city slums where Catholic Workers regularly battle the realities of disease, poverty, filth, cold, foul smells, etc. Quoting Dostoevsky, she assures her readers that Catholic Workers were not sanctimonious but approached their work with true humility and love. Notes with irony that pacifism, while not popular with society as a whole, was the philosophy which society wished to impose on the poor and disenfranchised victims of America’s class war. Rejects the suggestion that they should remain silent. (DDLW #390). The Catholic Worker, February 1942, 1, 4, 7.
Our Country Passes from Undeclared War to Declared War; We Continue Our Christian Pacifist Stand
Summary: A month after Pearl Harbor she reaffirms the gospel basis of pacifism. Says she will not be carping in her criticism of our country but refuses to participate in war. Recommends constant prayer, the works of mercy, and mutual forbearance in disagreements. (DDLW #868) The Catholic Worker, January 1942, 1,4.
Our Stand
Summary: Reasserts their pacifist stand and opposes the use of force in the labor movement, in class struggle, and struggles between countries. Quotes Catholic theologians and Popes. Repeats that God’s Word is Love and that using only non-violent means is indeed “the Folly of the Cross.” Doubts that the conditions for a “just war” can be met in these times. (DDLW #360). The Catholic Worker, June 1940, 1, 4.