Pope Francis gives support to the autobiography of Dorothy Day

 

Italian edition of Dorothy Day's autobiography, "I found God through His poor" with a preface by Pope Francis (LEV) 

POPE

• POPE FRANCIS
• BOOK
• LIBRERIA EDITRICE VATICANA

Pope Francis remembers Dorothy Day, finding God in love for poor

Pope Francis writes the preface to the Italian edition of Dorothy Day's autobiography, entitled, “I found God through His poor. From atheism to faith: my inner journey" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana-LEV). Dorothy Day (1897-1980), founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, journalist, writer, pacifist and activist, is remembered for her commitment to the poor and social justice.

By Vatican News

In his preface to the Italian translation of Dorothy Day's autobiography, Pope Francis recalls how she arrived at Christian faith from "the grace that flows from charity, the beauty that flows from witness, and love that is expressed concretely" through service, more than any human efforts or strategies. He recalled how Pope Benedict XVI said that the Church grows through attraction, not by proselytism, and we see this in Dorothy Day's conversion, life and witness.

Declared a Servant of God in 2000, American Dorothy Day (1897-1980) dedicated her life to social justice and human rights, especially the poor, exploited workers, marginalized by society. The Pope paid tribute to her life witness writing that we can all learn from her restlessness, her understanding of the Church, and how she served others.

Always searching

Describing the restlessness of Dorothy Day, the Pope writes about her path from abandoning religious practice to discovering it once again, as she was always searching and open to the spiritual quest that led her to rediscover faith in God, seeing it as the fulness of life and they way to happiness. Dorothy came to see God as not only our consolation, but the fulfillment of our desire for meaning and joy.

The Pope writes how "the Lord longs for restless hearts, not bourgeois souls who are satisfied with what exists."  He explains how God gives us "the fire of divine love that brings to fruition what is beautiful, true and right dwelling in the heart of every person." Dorothy Day's path shows us "an adventure that is good for the heart," the Pope writes, in responding to and accepting God's love for us. 

The Church, leading us to God

The Pope then looked at the beautiful words Dorothy Day had for the Catholic Church, despite the failings and weakness of its members. "As her adherence to the truths of faith grew, so did her consideration of the divine nature of the Catholic Church," the Pope writes. But she recognized the weaknesses of Church members with an "honest and enlightened attitude" that could still see clearly the big picture of "the vocation and identity of the Church: a divine, not human reality which leads us to God and with which God can reach us."

Service expressing God's love

Dorothy Day's concrete outreach to assist others as an activist and a journalist "became a sort of 'highway' with which God touched her heart," the Pope writes. And she shows how the struggle for justice offers a way to realize God's dream of a reconciled humanity. The Pope adds that even today believers and non-believers can be "allies in promoting the dignity of every person when they love and serve the most abandoned persons."

Newest Staten Island Ferry named for the co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement

 

Staten Island Ferry

Named For Dorothy Day

Makes Maiden Voyage

By Steven Schwankert

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (OSV News) — A floating monument to Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, made its maiden voyage to Manhattan April 28, sailing forth from Day’s adopted home of Staten Island that afternoon.

Day had deep roots on Staten Island, one of New York’s five boroughs. She was received into the Catholic Church there and lived part of her life there. As an adult, she was baptized at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Tottenville in 1927.

Retired New York Auxiliary Bishop John J. O’Hara, Auxiliary Bishop Peter J. Byrne and Msgr. Kevin O’Sullivan of Catholic Charities represented the Archdiocese of New York.

“Our saint. Our Dorothy Day, whom the Lord called over the years, and then in an encounter on the South Shore on the beach with a Sister of Charity, he began drawing her closer and closer and closer. As he formed those prophets of old, so too did he form this great woman,” said Bishop O’Hara in remarks at the ferry’s launch.

The bishop was referring to Sister Aloysia Mary Mulhern, whom Day had approached in 1926 to ask where she could have her newborn daughter, Tamar, baptized. The conversation led to Sister Mulhern instructing Day in the Catholic faith and her baptism Dec. 28, 1927.

Day is a candidate for sainthood and was given the title “Servant of God” when her cause was officially opened in 2000.

“She is not to be admired; she is to be imitated. And as we set sail today on this vessel which bears her name, this ‘Servant of God,’ whom we pray will one day be St. Dorothy Day — I think she’s St. Dorothy Day already,” said Bishop O’Hara, to applause from the approximately 200 guests in attendance.

“Dorothy Day is just the third Staten Island Ferry boat ever to be named after a specific woman. It is only fitting and appropriate to have this new Ferry enshrined (with) the name Dorothy Day,” said New York State Assemblyman Charles D. Fall, in a statement. “Just as she did with her activism, the Ferry continues to bring all walks of life, ethnicity, and faith together as we sail forward. We are proud as a community to have this Ferry today commissioned after the legendary 20th-century Catholic peace icon.”

Robert Ellsberg, who attended the inaugural cruise and had worked with Day as a teenager at The Catholic Worker newspaper, said, “In 1997, which was the centenary of her birth, I wrote to Cardinal (John J.) O’Connor (of New York) and said I hoped he would use the occasion to promote her cause for canonization, which he did.”

Ellsberg later served as the newspaper’s managing editor for two years. Raised in the Episcopal Church, he became a Catholic before editing a number of collections of Day’s writings.

“She was a woman who really took seriously the beatitudes. She not only lived them but stretched them to apply to the issues of her time,” Ellsberg told The Good Newsroom, the digital news outlet of the Archdiocese of New York.

“She was the model of a saint who didn’t just try to care for the poor, care for those who are wounded or sick, but tried to change the social system that creates so many poor people. She did that all as a layperson, as a woman in the church, created a lay movement without asking permission, but just read the Gospels and set out to live that in the most radical way,” added Ellsberg, who is publisher of Orbis Books.

The Dorothy Day is an Ollis-class ferry, costing $85 million and with a maximum capacity of 4,500 passengers, New York City’s Department of Transportation said in a statement. The vessel was commissioned in November 2022. The Staten Island Ferry provides free transportation for pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles between St. George on Staten Island’s northern tip, and Lower Manhattan.

Guests and other passengers marveled at the cleanliness of the brand new ferry. The 25-minute voyage cruised past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on calm New York Harbor waters, a cloudy sky the only low point of the occasion.

Day lived part of her life on Staten Island, one of New York’s five boroughs. Besides it being where she was received into the Catholic Church, it also was where she began a cooperative farm in Pleasant Plains in 1950, operating it for the people in need and Catholic Worker members until 1964, when it was sold. She died in 1980 at age 83 and is buried in Resurrection Cemetery, also in Pleasant Plains.

It was in Manhattan where Day met Peter Maurin and started The Catholic Worker newspaper in the depths of the Great Depression and Mary House, the first Catholic Worker hospitality house, of which there are more than 250 worldwide today.

Steven Schwankert is the digital editor of The Good Newsroom, the online news outlet of the Archdiocese of New York.

Catholic Dorothy Day to have a Staten Island ferry named for her

 

New Staten Island ferry boat named after Catholic social activist Dorothy Day

A new Staten Island ferry boat will be named after Dorothy Day, a long-time resident, social activist and co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday. 

The boat is the third in a trio of new ferries currently scheduled to hit the water in Florida– where they are being constructed–and set to arrive in New York harbor in early 2022. The two other forthcoming ferry boats are named the Staff Sgt Michael H. Ollis, arriving in June, and the Sandy Ground, arriving in December, which will begin transporting passengers in November and early 2022 respectively. 

“Dorothy Day lived a life of tremendous selflessness and service. I can think of no greater way to honor her beloved legacy than by having her name on this new ferry boat connecting Manhattan and Staten Island,” said de Blasio. “Day loved Staten Island, and this naming will allow others to learn of her inspiring work as a brave activist and journalist.”

Day founded the Catholic Worker Movement, whose members are best known for feeding and housing the homeless, during the Great Depression along with French Catholic activist Peter Maurin. The pair first joined forces to start a newspaper, dubbed the Catholic Worker newspaper, to shine a light on Church teachings on social justice. 

“How providential that the ferry from lower Manhattan to Staten Island should be named after a brave, loving woman who cherished both those areas of our city and the people who live there,” said Archbishop of New York  Timothy Cardinal Dolan about Day who could one day be named a saint by the church. “How appropriate that a ferry transporting people would honor a believing apostle of peace, justice, and charity who devoted her life to moving people from war to peace, from emptiness to fullness, from isolation to belonging.”

The three new 4,500 passenger ferries are the first new boats to be added to the city’s fleet since 2006 and were part of a $300 million investment from the mayor’s office in 2014 to upgrade the service and connect lower Manhattan and St. George, Staten Island. 

Jim Reagan, Catholic Worker and associate editor of the Catholic Worker newspaper,  said fellow members were “flattered” by “the great tribute” but wanted to remind the city that the best way to honor Day is to continue her life’s work of taking care of the poor, the homeless and fight for racial justice.