The Catholic Worker Movement
The Catholic Worker Movement, founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933, is grounded in a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every person.
Today there are over 240 Catholic Worker communities around the world. "The exact number is impossible to know because the Catholic Worker Movement has no central headquarters, nor is there a single, authoritative list of communities. New communities are created every year, while other communities close. In addition, there is no agreed-upon definition of what constitutes a Catholic Worker community, although many people would cite some intentional connection to the vision of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, as well as the Aims and Means, as a good standard."
From Catholic Worker Movement website
Every Catholic Worker community remains committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the homeless, exiled, hungry, and forsaken. Catholic Workers continue to protest injustice, war, racism, and violence in all forms.
The aim of the Catholic Worker movement is to live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ. Our sources are the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures as handed down in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the writings of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin.
This aim requires us to begin living in a different way.
We recall the words of our founder, Dorothy Day who said, "The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart: a revolution that starts with each one of us."
We follow the example of our founder, Peter Maurin who wanted to build a society “where it is easier for people to be good".Together we work to understand these ideas and the people who founded the Catholic Worker movement both in their time and how Catholic Worker relates in our time.
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Unknown photographer
File: Dorothy Day, 1916
Catholic Worker Hospitality
We try to live the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy through the practice of hospitality.
For us, hospitality means: providing shelter, food, emotional and spiritual support; breaking the cycle of homelessness; advocacy for homeless and marginalized people; tutoring children, as well as adults for the GED; connecting people to the services that they need; being present to God in the other; where we once were strangers, we are now family.
According to Alexander Stauch, "Hospitality is love in action. Hospitality is the flesh and muscle on bones of love.”We try to live the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy through the practice of hospitality.
Catholic Worker Akron
Our Community
Catholic Worker Akron began in 1998 after a group of St. Bernard’s parishioners' prayerful discernment resulted in the founding of a hospitality house for homeless men, women, and children.
Now, the house offers hospitality to families and women. The Murray Peace House is also used for tutoring and community gatherings.
After two years, another house was opened: Casa Maria Jose, offering outreach to the Hispanic Community. In 2001, Catholic Worker Akron bought a third house. The Dorothy Day House was established as a house in which full-time volunteers live.
The Peter Maurin Center is our drop-in center offering food, coffee, fellowship and prayer to all in South Akron. Since its inception, the Catholic Worker of Akron has been blessed with hundreds of guests who have become family to us. Both the Catholic Worker of Akron and the Peter Maurin Center are 501(c)(3) organizations.
Please enjoy this wonderful documentary about our community founder. It's called Sister: The Life Ministry of Sister Catherine Walsh, by the Joshua Tree Productions:
Sister Catherine Walsh Sister Juliana Beck
Dorothy Day 11/8/1897 – 11/29/1980. List of books she authored.
Peter Maurin 5/9/1877 – 5/15/1949. LIst of Peter's Easy Essays
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