A Prophetic Action: US Bishops Unanimously Advance the Cause for the Canonization of Dorothy Day

By Deacon Keith Fournier
11/15/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink

Dorothy Day saw the face of Jesus in the face of the poor. She heard the word of Jesus spoken through the poor. She points us to the deeper meaning behind the sobering scene recounting the last judgment which is recorded by the Evangelist Matthew in the 25th Chapter of his Gospel

Dorothy Day rendering by an artist

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BALTIMORE, MD (Catholic Online) - Cardinal Timothy Dolan led the Bishops in Baltimore, Maryland this week with the confidence, conviction, concern and charisma which make him a treasure for the Church in this challenging time. This man is a true leader.

Among the topics of discussion was the canonization cause of the Servant of God Dorothy Day. Though considered by many to be a controversial topic, the discussion led to a unanimous voice vote on Tuesday affirming the continuation of the process.

Cardinal Dolan had to leave the Dias because he was to present the motion. Dorothy Day was from New York and, as the Cardinal Archbishop of New York noted, he had a "very enjoyable conflict of interests".

Dorothy Day, along with Peter Maurin, founded the Catholic Worker Movement. Her cause was initiated by the late John Cardinal O'Connor, certainly not a political leftist by any stretch of the imagination.

The late Cardinal was able to see someone whose love for the Lord - and for the poor in whom she saw His Face - transformed her. He wrote a letter to Rome on February 7, 2000 initiating her cause. Here are some excerpts:

"It has long been my contention that Dorothy Day is a saint - not a "gingerbread" saint or a "holy card" saint, but a modern day devoted daughter of the Church, a daughter who shunned personal aggrandizement and wished that her work, and the work of those who labored at her side on behalf of the poor, might be the hallmark of her life rather than her own self.

"To be sure, her life is a model for all in the third millennium, but especially for women who have had or are considering abortions. It is a well-known fact that Dorothy Day procured an abortion before her conversion to the Faith. She regretted it every day of her life.

"After her conversion from a life akin to that of the pre-converted Augustine of Hippo, she proved a stout defender of human life. The conversion of mind and heart that she exemplified speaks volumes to all women today on two fronts. "

"First, it demonstrates the mercy of God, mercy in that a woman who sinned so gravely could find such unity with God upon conversion. Second, it demonstrates that one may turn from the ultimate act of violence against innocent life in the womb to a position of total holiness and pacifism. In short, I contend that her abortion should not preclude her cause, but intensifies it."

"It has also been noted that Dorothy Day often seemed friendly to political groups hostile to the Church, for example, communists, socialists, and anarchists. It is necessary to divide her political stances in two spheres: pre-and post- conversion. After her conversion, she was neither a member of such political groupings nor did she approve of their tactics or any denial of private property. Yet, it must be said; she often held opinions in common with them. What they held in common was a common respect for the poor and a desire for economic equity."

"In no sense did she approve of any form of atheism, agnosticism, or religious indifference. Moreover, her complete commitment to pacifism in imitation of Christ often separated her from these political ideologies. She rejected all military force; she rejected aid to force in any way in a most idealistic manner. So much were her "politics" based on an ideology of nonviolence that they may be said to be apolitical. Like so many saints of days gone by, she was an idealist in a non-ideal world."

"It was her contention that men and women should begin to live on earth the life they would one day lead in heaven, a life of peace and harmony. Much of what she spoke of in terms of social justice anticipated the teachings of Pope John Paul II and lends support to her cause. I have subjected Dorothy Day's post-conversion writings to the careful examination of a dogmatist, moralist, and canonist. All assure me that her writings are in complete fidelity to the Church."

The comments from the Bishops on the floor prior to the vote were moving. Cardinal George of Chicago warned "we should be clear who we are endorsing here" and then whole heartedly endorsed her. Cardinal Dolan called her conversion "Augustinian" ntoing"she was the first to admit it: sexual immorality, there was a religious search, there was a pregnancy out of wedlock, and an abortion. Like Saul on the way to Damascus, she was radically changed". He called her "a saint for our time." Cardinal O'Malley of Boston echoed the sentiment calling her a "magnificent model for our time."

Retired Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick said, "Of all the people we need to reach out to, all the people that are hard to get at, the street people, the ones who are on drugs, the ones who have had abortions, she was one of them. What a tremendous opportunity to say to them you can not only be brought back into society, you can not only be brought ...

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1 - 10 of 34 Comments

KarlVDH
6 months ago
Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast from her, and tradition suggests she MAY have had a life similar to Dorothy Day's before meeting Christ. (Though there is absolutely no biblical suggestion of it.) Paul made a life of hunting Christians for execuation prior to meeting Christ. Francis was a party animal, and the list goes on and on of some of our most beloved Saints who led lives that make Dorothy's look very, very tame by comparison
St.Matthew--extortionst
St.Dismas--thief
St.Callixtus--embezzler
St.Hippolytus--antipope
St.Christopher--servant of the devil
St.Pelagia--promiscous actress
St.Genesius--scoffer
St.Moses the Ethiopian--gangleader
St.Fabiola--bigamist
St.Augustine--heretic and playboy
St.Alipius--obsessed with blood sports
St.Patrick--worshipper of false gods
St.Mary of Egypt--seductress
St.Columba--warmonger
St.Olga--mass murderer
St.Vladimir--fratricide, rapist, human sacrificer
St.Olaf--viking
St.Thomas Becket--hedonist
St.Francis of Assisi--wastrel
Blessed Giles of Portugal--satanist
St.Margaret of Cortona--rich man's mistress
Blessed Angela of Foligno--gossip and hedonist
St.Ignatius of Loyola--egotist
St.John of God--gambler and drunkard
St.Camillus de Lellis--cardsharp and conman
St.Philip Howard--cynic and negligent husband
St.Peter Claver--dithering novice
Venerable Matt Talbot--chronic alcoholic .

Now... the US Bishops- EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM- have called for Sainthood for Dorothy Day. Sonce the vast majority of objections raised here have been nothing but American politics, I suggest we trust our Bishops and embrace what will probably be the next American Saint.
Dorothy Day, Pray for us!
KarlVDH
6 months ago
Vance,if I'm wrong, I'm wrong... but you've also accused ME of both supporting Obama and being a Marxist myself.Neither is even vaguely CLOSE to true. You continue to call me some sort of Democrat. Also completely untrue. And you've been told so many, many times. I may be somewhere left of YOU, but I'm not what you say I am. So, you've sort of got some credibility to earn back with me if we're to have real conversation. Forgive me if I take your invective about others with a great many grains of salt.
timothy canezaro
6 months ago
I am struck by the negative feedback on this woman because the Catholic Bishops decided to consider a catholic woman for sainthood. The reasons are fairly clear as she was a woman almost ahead of her time early on in life as she was extremely independent, met and communicated with many different people from all sorts of avenues during early 20th century. She had an abortion. Well, she had a Conversion. This changed her thoroughly and she came to be what the Bishops deem through the power of the Holy Spirit at work during that gathering in Baltimore that she be studied for further advancement pertaining to possible Canonization. Nothing seems so wild her to me especially considering so many people can relate to the journey of her life as we too in the modern world are having to navigate ever more powerful and seculaized governments, in the united states alone we have committed over 50 million abortions on the unborn in just a few decades while in peru nearly a million women after giving birth in state run hospitals came out only to find they had all been sterilized, ceaseless wars that regular people often can’t make sense of, starving children, crime…I live in Chicago and we have an epidemic of murders by youth on youth with fatalities equaling the wars in iraq and afghanistan over the same time period. Yes we still have it all. It seems fairly obvious that Saul who become Paul set the precedent already for a great sinner, one of the greatest persecutors of early christians. Why did the Holy Spirit speak to him? Why was he of all people chosen for such an extreme and complete conversion? And to think he became our greatest new testament contibutor, his writings beings priceless to our Sacred Text. Dorothy Day…don’t think it is as crazy as some posters here are making it seem when considered from this catholic light rather than the shade of ego. Thinking of Dorothy as “lowering the bar” for your own possibilities for Sainthood is shortsighted and un-useful. Why not spend some time in prayer and try to understand why the Holy Spirit may be moving through the Church’s Bishops decision to consider her more carefully for Sainthood. Such wasted spiritual energy as determing for yourselves whether the life lead by a woman sure isn’t serving your spiritual needs and challenges or the greather Mission of the Church of Christ here on earth.
judy claar
6 months ago
Vance, Thank you. I did read it. I also posted there. Yes, the Church needs a Wake Up and a Shake Up. And I think in it's slow way, it has been doing so. Blessed Pope John Paul was the first to really Shake things, but I have read that the two popes before him, were slowly laying the ground work for Vatican II. Now, with Pope Benedict, he is carrying on the load, taking the first "Bite" of Far Left priests who nearly start their own religion! Indeed, there needs to be more Bites! Our Catholic Colleges and especially government colleges are rife with them! I know from personal experience. I have family members voicing the same! People should be concerned with who writes the books their children read for education. The Liberal Left has storehouses of books ready and ripe for educating our young. How do I know? I've seen them!

I do not give in to scare tactics. Yet, this much I know IS true. If I were a parent now, it would be Catholic school, or Home Teaching Catholic Education. It IS available, for much less the cost, and you know what your children are learning. Sorry. Just had to give a plug for Catholic Faith and Education.
vance
6 months ago
Judy, the name of the excommunicated priest is Roy Bourgeois. There are plenty more where he came from.
vance
6 months ago
Judy, the information about the Mary Knolls has been around for the last 35 years. The Mary Knolls were not shy or secretive about what they were doing or what they were about. Back in the 70's and 80's I read their own periodicals that were very forthright about their philosophy. Catholic Online just published an article about the excommunication of a Mary Knoll Priest. Read about this priest and you will have a good idea of what made up the body of that organization. God bless.
judy claar
6 months ago
Vance, Thanks for the information. I did not even know that. What our Holy Fathers suffer, on account of their children, who think they know it all. Thank you again...Blessings
vance
6 months ago
KarlVDH, Yes, the Mary knolls were promoting "Liberation Theology". I see you don't know anything about that. They were out right promoting communism in Central and South America as well as here in the United States starting in the late 1950's thru the early 1980's. It was Blessed Pope John Paul II who strongly urged them to change course and abandon their crusade. Blessed Pope Paul VI referred to these and other anti-Catholic Charlatans as his "Crown of Thorns". Pop Paul VI commissioned a crucifix sculptor to make him a crucifix of Christ with no crown of thorns because he said that he wore the crown of thorns.
judy claar
6 months ago
KarlVDH: Instead of lol at Vance,... Why not ask him, with honest and truthful intent, where he got his information. Blessings...
KarlVDH
6 months ago
Vance, you're a riot. Anyone to your political left- whch pretty muck includes anyone from Atilla the Hun over- is automatically some sort of communist conspirator, and not a person of faith. The Maryknolls are Marxists? That's just hilarious!

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