Dorothy Day: former atheist and social advocate journalist, on the way to sainthood




January 8, 2013. (Romereports.com) The story of Dorothy Day depicts a passionate woman, always in search of truth. As a journalist, her journey could have her become Church's first journalist saint.  

LUCETTA SCARAFFIA
Osservatore Romano
“She was a great writer and American journalist, who was not Catholic. She was an atheist and a socialist, who was very involved in the worker movement. At a certain point she converted to Catholicism and created a large movement working closely with workers, and with the poor, through a magazine called the Catholic Worker.”

She had a tough life, and even underwent an abortion. But after her conversion, she changed her life. In addition to the magazine, she also established soup kitchens and shelters where victims of the Great Depression could eat and sleep. She also advocated actively during the Second Vatican Council to condemn war.

LUCETTA SCARAFFIA
Osservatore Romano
“She worked with a group of women from all around the world and from different religions to pressure or lobby the Second Vatican Council, and to make a statement for peace and to condemn war, which until then the Church had never done. They achieved it.”

A woman with a strong will, she never stopped fighting her entire life for causes she deemed as just. Her stance is supported by “Women, the Church and the World,” a supplement to the Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper.

LUCETTA SCARAFFIA
Osservatore Romano
“We published a page from her diary where she talks about how they were invited to an audience with the Pope, and he addressed them. That was, in fact, the last audience of John XXIII, and it took place precisely with those women who asked for peace. They were very happy.”

Dorothy Day died in New York City in 1980, at 83 year old. Precisely there, in her hometown, the canonization process has started. And her supporters are expecting good news soon.

Comments

Blog Archive

Show more

Popular posts from this blog

The Spirituality and Miracles of St. Clare of Assisi

Saint Michael de Sanctis: Patron of Cancer Patients

Saint Gerard of Brogne: Patron of Abbots