Voices From the Catholic Worker

by Rosalie Riegle Troester

This rich oral history weaves a tapestry of memories and experience from interviews, roundtable discussions, personal memoirs, and thorough research. In the sixtieth anniversary year of the Catholic Worker, Rosalie Riegle Troester reconfirms the diversity and commitment of a movement that applies basic Christianity to social problems. Founded in 1933 by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, the Catholic Worker has continued to apply the principles of voluntary poverty and nonviolence to changing social and political realities. Over 200 interviews with Workers from all over the United States reveal how people came to this movement, how they were changed by it, and how they faced contradictions between the Catholic Worker philosophy and the call of contemporary life. Vivid memoirs of Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and Ammon Hennacy are interwoven with accounts of involvement with labor unions, war resistance, and life on Catholic Worker farms. The author also addresses the Worker's relationship with the Catholic Church and with the movement's wrenching debates over abortion, homosexuality, and the role of women.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, History, Catholic, Sociology, Philosophy

597 pages, Paperback

Published September 29, 1993

Reviews

[P.J. Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The intellectual ferment at the Catholic Worker comes across in this book, which includes views ranging from those of prominent people to those of children. Catholic Workers are fiercely independent thinkers who take ideas seriously. Their roundtable discussions are not unlike those of the Transcendentalists at Boston and Brook Farm in the 1840s. But they don't live in ivory towers. They are in the front lines of the struggle for social justice. Practicing hands-on Christianity, they live with the broken people they serve, and have stories to tell that most people cannot even imagine! I especially liked the one about the Catholic Worker activist who was sentenced by a judge to do community service. "I already do that," she replied, to the consternation of the judge.

This provocative book of practical philosophy covers the movement from every angle: why people join, why they leave, what they think about war and peace, usury and capitalism, going to jail for justice, community and family life, abortion, homosexuality, feminism, the Catholic church, and many other issues. No evasion of thorny issues here! There are insights from many Worker communities in the U.S. and Canada, plus interesting accounts of the history and personalities of the movement. A very lively and candid discussion! Catholic Workers try to live according to the Christian gospels; this book is a discussion of how they apply those gospel principles to the issues of today.

[Deirdre Clancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rosalie is to be commended for providing those interested and involved in the Catholic Worker movement with an invaluable resource. It is especially useful to those of us who, as Europeans, are interested in finding out more about the philosophy of the movement as it is manifested in the U.S., where the movement had its genesis.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being so long, this book took me a long time to read. But very worthwhile if you're interested in the Catholic Worker movement!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over twenty years ago. It helped to launch me on my CW journey.