What is a Catholic Worker?

As co-founder of both the Catholic Worker newspaper and the movement of the same name, Dorothy Day is probably the most widely-known social justice Catholic in the modern American church. Even if you haven’t read Day’s writing, you’ve probably seen some of her more popular quotes reminding Catholics that living the gospel has a socio-political component. You may have read something from the newspaper she helped found, or even visited a Catholic Worker farm. 

But what does it mean to be a Catholic Worker? What’s the nature and structure of the movement, and what does a person have to do, if they want to join up? And does the institutional Catholic Church have any jurisdiction over the movement, the newspaper, or the Catholic Worker communities?

On this episode of the podcast, Renée Roden talks about the history of the movement, and what it means to be a Catholic Worker today. Roden is a journalist and Catholic Worker based in Pennsylvania, and a frequent contributor to U.S. Catholic. 

You can learn more about this topic, and read some of Roden’s writing, in these links.

“How the Catholic Worker movement stays grassroots online,” by Renée Roden
https://uscatholic.org/articles/202402/how-the-catholic-worker-movement-stays-grassroots-online/

“House work: Catholic Worker houses of today,” by Karen Kirkwood
https://uscatholic.org/articles/201109/house-work-catholic-worker-houses-of-today/

“A Catholic worker devotes energy to environmental activism,” by Jeannine M. Pitas
https://uscatholic.org/articles/201909/a-catholic-worker-devotes-her-energy-to-environmental-activism/

“Dorothy Day inspires a new meaning of ‘saint,’” by Brian Terrell
https://uscatholic.org/articles/202311/dorothy-day-inspires-a-new-meaning-of-saint/

“All in a Day’s work: The legacy of Dorothy Day,” by Robert Ellsberg
https://uscatholic.org/articles/201003/all-in-a-days-work/

Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries.
https://www.claretians.org/