I do a lot of talking about the connections between religion and progressive activism, but perhaps it is better to see those connections in action.
So, recently I took myself down to Casa de las Comunidades to view faith-based activism in its natural habitat.
Casa de las Communidades is a local community affiliated with the Catholic Worker. The Catholic Worker is a nationwide movement founded in 1933 by Catholic anarchists Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin.
I know what you’re thinking: Did you say Catholic anarchists?
Yes, you read right. Unlike the Catholic Church, the Catholic Worker operates through a non-hierarchical, community based structure.
Starting with Dorothy Day, it has a long history of commitment to advancing social justice both through direct community based solutions and direct action in the peace, anti-nuclear, labor, and anti-death penalty movements. Although Day’s anarchism may on the surface seem to contradict her Catholicism, she insisted that both were indispensable.
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So when I met with Alan Bronder of Casa de las Comunidades, the question at the forefront of my mind was, “Would you say the Catholic Worker is radical?” In lieu of a direct answer, he replied, “Is the gospel radical?”
Some people might think not, but I’d have to admit that Jesus was a pretty revolutionary sort of a guy. Members of the Catholic Worker ground their sense of social justice in their understanding of the gospel, and in particular, Matthew 5.
You know what I’m talking about –– all that stuff about blessing “the meek,” “those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” “the merciful,” “the peacemakers.” If you know a little of the gospel, you shouldn’t be surprised that some people would work to improve people’s lives and make the world a better place as a result of — rather than in spite of — their Catholicism.
But enough of philosophy. What does the Catholic Worker actually do?
Let’s start with what is probably their most common endeavor: the Houses of Hospitality.
These are essentially places for people to come if they need food and some place to sleep. But they are distinctly different from the typical government operated shelter, as I will shortly explain. Casa de las Comunidades also has a small apartment complex where residents pay only the actual costs, and don’t have to worry about being kicked out if they’re a little late with the rent.
Sister Teresa Aparicio, the founder of Casa de las Comunidades, is organizing a women’s cooperative, non-profit, cleaning business, along with several other women. The goal of the cooperative is to provide women with both job training and just wages in an environment in which they have direct, non-hierarchical control over their employment.
These might sound like some of your ordinary, run of the mill social services, but they’re not. The difference, says Bronder, lies in the Catholic Worker’s “mi casa es su casa” approach.
It’s not a matter of altruism. Because of their understanding of the gospel, members of the Catholic Worker are grateful to those who are willing to express need, thereby giving others the opportunity to live the gospel by helping them.
Within Casa de las Comunidades, people come together to address the needs they see in their own community and to share whatever skills and resources they have to build that community and all its members. Their work is not a quick-fix project, but rather a continuous, lifelong process.
By building such communities, the Catholic Worker is planting the seeds for a more just society. This visionary endeavor is perhaps best understood in something Dorothy Day once wrote: “What we do is very little, but it’s like the little boy with a few loaves and fishes. Christ took that little and increased it. He will do the rest.”
Check out the Catholic Worker at www.catholicworker.org or call 247-1387.
