Iowa City CW Organizes to Stop Mass Deportations
Plus: U.S. bishops express solidarity with migrants; Martin Scorcese on the Catholic Worker; Brisbane CW Boeing protests; and Dorothy's 1939 Thanksgiving.
Editorial note: We’ll be off next week for Thanksgiving. Expect to see us back in your inbox on Thursday, December 5.
Finding the Feast
Two items in today’s issue really hit home for me. The first is Maryn Hakes’s essay for Loaves and Fishes about the scandal that is our mental health system, especially when it comes to access for lower-income or unhoused people. Over the past two weeks, the refugee resettlement group I work with here in Minnesota has learned firsthand just how grossly overstressed and under-resourced the entire system is.
One of the people we have been helping has been in the throes of a mental health crisis that escalated to the point where it was clear that he and his family members were no longer safe caring for him in their apartment. So, we began looking for a safer place for him to be while receiving professional psychiatric care.
What innocents we were! First, we tried more than a dozen inpatient “acute care” facilities; they all said he was too “unstable” for their setting and suggested we try admitting him to a hospital emergency room. But when we took him to the ER, they said he wasn’t violent enough to be admitted; he needed to be “homicidal or suicidal” before he could find a bed on the psych floor. Eventually, we prevailed on them to take him, and two weeks later, he is still there…and still in the ER.
The other item in today’s issue that caught my eye was the Iowa City Catholic Worker’s johnny-on-the-spot organizing response to the promised mass deportation effort of the new administration. Since the election, the refugee resettlement and sponsorship communities have been in a state of fear and outright panic—not only for so-called “illegal” migrants, but for those with pending asylum cases, Afghan refugees here on humanitarian parole, and Ukrainian refugees here legally on the basis of an easily changed executive order. Fortunately, people are beginning to organize proactive responses, and it is heartening to see the Iowa City CW hosting meetings organizing hundreds of people to stand in solidarity with migrants.
I have to admit that I have been dancing on the edge of a catastrophizing apocalyptic doom-spiral for the past two weeks. It is maybe the easy response.
But, as Dorothy reminds us in her words at the end of this issue, we don’t have to go there. Her preferred response? “More prayer.” And, although she doesn’t say it explicitly, gratitude. At the 1939 Thanksgiving she writes about, they had a few chickens, what sounds like some truly dubious cranberry sauce, and creamed onions and potatoes. And she calls it a feast! Of course she does.
Let us pray, then, for hearts that are not afraid, but grateful enough to see the feast laid out before us. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
—Jerry
THE ROUNDUP
Featured
Iowa City Catholic Worker Plans to Protect Immigrants. The Iowa City Catholic Worker hosted a Mass and meeting on November 15, gathering about 70 people to address concerns over mass deportation plans proposed by President-elect Donald Trump. According to an article in The Catholic Messenger, newspaper of the Diocese of Davenport, the group discussed strategies to safeguard refugee children and immigrant families. Iowa City CW co-founder David Goodner outlined plans to reactivate a Rapid Response network, expand Legal Aid services, and train parish teams to recruit members and leaders. Additional measures include hosting trainings on Know Your Rights, Protective Accompaniment, and how to have one-on-one conversations. The community also plans to coordinate with national partners for a May 1, 2025 Day Without an Immigrant action. “The best safety plan is to be a part of a democratic, membership-based organization,” Goodner said. Read the full article at The Catholic Messenger. The Iowa City CW reports that more than 160 people have joined three Stop Mass Deportations meetings, where participants “learned how to plug into the growing movement to protect and defend hardworking immigrant families.” Follow their organizing efforts at the Iowa City Catholic Worker Facebook page.
U.S. Bishops Express Solidarity with Migrants. The Iowa City Catholic Worker also welcomed a statement by Iowa’s four Catholic bishops on Tuesday assuring the state’s migrant community that “your Church stands with you in solidarity.” The letter comes amid rising concerns following President-elect Donald Trump’s reelection and his recent comments on social media about using U.S. military assets to conduct a mass deportation program. “We recognize the immense challenges you face as migrants, and we want to assure you that you are not alone,” the bishops wrote, pledging advocacy for just treatment and dignity within the framework of the law. Read the full letter at Diocese of Des Moines. Separately, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB, Bishop Mark J. Seitz, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, and Bishop Jaime Soto, chairman of the board for Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., issued a statement pledging that they “stand in firm solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters.” Read their letter at the website of the U.S. Catholic bishops.
Karl Meyer Reflects on 67 Years in the Catholic Worker Movement. At the Catholic Worker National Gathering in October, Karl Meyer, a veteran live-in volunteer at St. Francis Catholic Worker, shared highlights from his 67 years in the movement during a Saturday morning plenary session. Despite exceeding his planned 10-minute time limit, Meyer received loud and sustained applause for his reflections. Born in 1937 in northern Wisconsin, Meyer first attempted to open a Catholic Worker house at age 19 and later joined protests alongside Dorothy Day and Ammon Hennacy. Over the years, he has been arrested numerous times for nonviolent actions and is known for his Peace House van, which he used for peace education across the country. Meyer currently resides at Nashville Greenlands, a Catholic Worker community pursuing Peter Maurin’s Green Revolution. We published a lightly edited transcript of his remarks in CW Reads, the Thursday edition of Roundtable. Read it here.
Unhoused People Deserve Mental Health Care, Too. In an essay in the latest Loaves and Fishes newsletter (Loeaves and Fishes CW, Duluth, Minnesota), Maryn Hakes uses Catholic social teaching on human dignity to examine systemic barriers to mental health care for the unhoused population. Hakes credits a supportive community, secure housing, and access to health care with saving their life from a suicide attempt. “All people deserve the community and care I received last summer,” Hakes writes. The essay appeared in a bonus issue of CW Reads. Read it here.
You can add CW Reads to your Roundtable subscription by managing your subscription here.
CW Community News & Newsletters
Brisbane Catholic Workers Protest Boeing's Role in Gaza War. Catholic Workers in Brisbane, Australia, have held weekly vigils outside Boeing’s Brisbane offices since January, protesting the company’s role in the war in Gaza, according to Jim Dowling of the Peter Maurin Farm Catholic Worker. In January, 12 people, including six Catholic Workers, were arrested for occupying the offices, he said; most pleaded guilty after charges were reduced. Two Catholic Workers, Margaret Pestorius and Dave Sprigg, contested the charges and recently underwent four-day trials, with the magistrate reserving her decision until Dec. 6. Dowling goes on trial for the same charges on Dec. 9. Following the arrests, the Anti-Terrorism Squad raided four homes, including the Catholic Worker house at Greenslopes. Officers entered the house early in the morning, herded all 10 occupants—among them asylum seekers—into the lounge room, searched the premises, confiscated phones and a laptop, and arrested one individual who had participated in both the Boeing and Ferra factory actions. The Ferra factory in Brisbane, which produces weapons components for Boeing, was the site of property damage a week before the Boeing action. Ferra manufactures mechanisms for releasing bombs from F-35 fighter planes and JDAM components. The Anti-Terrorism Squad has since taken over the investigation and prosecution of the arrested activists. See a video of one of the protests on YouTube.
Morris and Dietrich Sentenced for Protest at Vandenberg. Longtime Los Angeles Catholic Workers Catherine Morris (90) and Jeff Dietrich (78) were sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation for their August 10 trespass arrest at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The couple marked their 50th wedding anniversary with this act of civil disobedience on Hiroshima Day, protesting nuclear weapons and the war on Gaza. Jeff’s pre-sentencing statement highlighted their 55 years of service to Los Angeles’ Skid Row, their work creating Skid Row as a hub for homeless services, and their enduring commitment to peace. “Your honor, I stand before you charged with trespassing onto Vandenberg Space Force Base, to which I proudly plead guilty of crossing the line in protest of nuclear weapons, and the war on the people of Gaza,” Dietrich said. Read his full statement at lacatholicworker.org.
Highlights from the Los Angeles Catholic Worker Community. The December issue of The Catholic Agitator, the newspaper of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, reports on some of the community’s recent activities, including its annual retreat at Tehachapi Mountain Camp, a screening of The Berrigans: Devout and Dangerous that was followed by a Q&A with longtime Catholic Workers Catherine and Jeff Dietrich. The community also celebrated Día de Muertos with an ofrenda honoring loved ones from their 55-year history and an All Souls Day Gregorian chant service. Halloween saw community members dressing as playful characters while serving their guests. At the Nov. 5 evening liturgy, many of the participants’ reflections centered on the results of the national election, Megan Ramsey reports. “Although our community does not trust a president to resolve all of our deeply rooted systemic problems, we were all feeling disheartened that the majority of people aligned themselves with such a heinous character. Claire Lewandowski shared her thoughts that many people voted based on their concerns of their own personal security and economic fears. Loving these neighbors, she prayed for their freedom from these fears, so that we might all live our lives for one another. Rosemary Occiogrosso brought us back to the words of the ‘Canticle of the Turning’ that we sang earlier in the Mass: ‘Could the world be about to turn?’ She challenged us that we might be a part of the turning of this world.” Read more in the December 2024 issue of The Catholic Agitator.
Dorothy Day House of Hospitality in Youngstown Marks 15 Years. The Dorothy Day House of Hospitality in Youngstown, Ohio, celebrated its 15th anniversary on Friday with a Mass and reception at St. Edward Church. Opened in 2009 as a joint venture between the Sisters of the Humility of Mary and the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown, the house was inspired by Dorothy Day’s life and work. It provides meals, showers, hygiene products, and fresh produce to the community, serving homeless and low-income individuals through an all-volunteer effort. Learn more about the community at its website.
Kathy Kelly Reviews Play on War and Conscience at Maryhouse. Kathy Kelly, board president of World BEYOND War and a longtime Catholic Worker, reviewed Reap What You Sow: Don’t Lose Heart!, a two-act play that debuted in mid-November on the Maryhouse stage in New York City. Written by Jack Gilroy, zool Zulkowitz, and Olivia Gilroy, the play features a mother-daughter duo grappling with the morality of war and systemic violence. Major Mom, a drone pilot, confronts accusations from her daughter Ellie, a debate champion who critiques U.S. militarism. Kelly described the production as “living theater” that inspires reflection on nonviolence and empathy, with a dynamic talkback session following each performance. Hosted by the Rising Together Talkback Theater Company, the play is available for free to schools, churches, and peace organizations, with a Summer 2025 tour planned. Read Kelly’s full review at AntiWar Blog.
CW in the News
Martin Scorsese Remembers Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker. In recent articles about his work, acclaimed film director Martin Scorsese highlighted the influence of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement on his vision. Speaking at a Nov. 14 screening of his new Fox Nation docudrama series, The Saints, Scorsese recalled meeting Day during his youth at a Catholic center in downtown New York City: “She was at our little youth center; Father Frank Principe had her come and talk. He pointed to her and said, ‘See that person; she’s really good.’ I grew up way downtown. Now, it’s a very chic area, but when I was there, it was a very down place. The Catholic Worker was the only place that I recall in terms of helping these men, some women that were dying in the streets.” Separately, a retrospective on Scorcese’s 1999 film Bringing Out the Dead also quotes Scorsese on his memories of the Catholic Worker. The film follows a New York City paramedic over the course of three days. "Those city paramedics are heroes — and saints, they're saints. I grew up next to the Bowery, watching the people who worked there, the Salvation Army, Dorothy Day's Catholic Worker movement, all helping the lost souls. They're the same sort of people." Read more at National Catholic Register and RogerEbert.com.
National Catholic Register Highlights Two Books on Dorothy Day. A recent review in the National Catholic Register by Charles Lewis explores two recent books about Dorothy Day: Colin Miller’s We Are Only Saved Together and Dorothy Day: Radical Devotion by Jeff Korgen and Christopher Cardinale. The review calls Radical Devotion “an accessible biography of Dorothy Day and her journey from political radical to deeply religious Catholic.” Of Miller’s book, Lewis writes: “His book can make for uncomfortable reading. Miller demands a much greater adherence to the meaning of the Gospels. It is not enough, Miller believes, to simply be pious and attend Mass regularly.” Read the review at National Catholic Register.
Mark Your Calendar
Catholic Workers to Mark Holy Innocents Day at Offutt Air Force Base. On December 28, Catholic Workers and friends will hold a nonviolent, prayerful witness at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska, to mourn the slaughter of innocents past and present. The event, marking Holy Innocents Day, will stand in solidarity with refugees and victims of war and call for an end to the nuclear threat posed by Offutt’s Strategic Command facility. Participants will gather at St. John’s Church Hall on Creighton University’s campus on December 27 for a meal and overnight stay, with Mass at 8 a.m. the following morning before heading to the Bellevue Gate of Offutt at 10 a.m. For more information, contact Brian Terrell at 773-853-1886 or Jim Murphy at 608-617-7379. See full details at CatholicWorker.org.
Cracks in Postmodernity Event Explores Dorothy Day’s Influence. On Friday, December 13, at 8:00 p.m., join Brennan Vickery and Stephen G. Adubato for a discussion on the mission of Cracks in Postmodernity and its connection to Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement. The event will reflect on over three years of articles, podcasts, and zines and explore the inspiration drawn from Dorothy and the frequent gatherings at Maryhouse. Find event details here.
WORDS FROM THE ELDERS
Thanksgiving Dinner and Other Things
by Dorothy Day in The Catholic Worker, December 1939
Today the yard looks like a junk shop. We just cleaned out one of the cellars to store three tons of coal that Frank O’Donnell trucked in from Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. We have burned one ton so far this winter already.
We had to move the furniture we had stored in the cellar out in the yard and for the day we have looked like an evicted family. One old man sat in the rocking chair, sewing canvas together, trying to make himself a pair of shoes for his decrepit feet. Three other men waited for a chance at the shoemaker’s bench to sole and heel their shoes. A few other men were chopping up boxes for firewood and others waited to see if any clothes had come in.
First Day
This year we had a delightful Thanksgiving in spite of the fact that all our friends seemed to have forgotten us and no one sent in any food except Schuyler Warren who brought in two magnificent pumpkin pies. We had enough money, however, to buy some chickens which we cut up and potroasted so that they would go further. With those and cranberry sauce (Sharkey put too much water in and then added gelatin to stiffen it so that it finally looked like red cabbage rather than cranberries), creamed onions and mashed potatoes,–it was a feast indeed. For once on a holiday, not one of the family circle over-indulged. Usually our Italian neighbors are so neighborly that they offer our weaker brethren hospitality in the way of wine and groppa and the result is maudlin sentimentality if not pugnacity on their part and wrath on mine. But this day was indeed a day of cheer. Every one cooperated even to the five cooks in the kitchen. To be exact I should say four, because Shorty is all-around assistant. But Roddy, John Cannon, Sharkey, Katherine Travers, all worked to make the feast a pleasant one. There were white tablecloths, second helpings for those who wished, and enough to feed all our own gang and about fifteen others who came in. About sixty meals were served and it was a leisurely and homelike meal.
Less Eatings
And now Advent is upon us and we must begin to fast. We read (in a Hearst paper!) picked up from a subway seat, that the Holy Father is beginning a week’s vigil for peace, spending the time in prayer and fasting. Rabbis and ministers, of New York City, according to the story, are joining with him in prayer. It gives one a sense of great loyalty and devotion to our Holy Father when we hear of his storming Heaven with his supplications. We want to join him, to add our prayers and sacrifices to his. Last Lent our priest in the Precious Blood Church around on Baxter Street was enjoining us all to fast. “Too much eatings, and too much drinkings!” he told us sternly. And too little prayer.
Mohammedan Friend
Last month we visited the Burlington group for the first time and met the landlord of the House of Hospitality there. He is a Mohammedan and announces proudly that he prays five times daily. There is no mosque in Burlington, though there is one in Brooklyn and one in Canada, so he makes a temple of his own heart. And when he fasts, he fasts from four in the morning to five in the evening.
We are weak creatures and cannot go so long without food, but we can eat the soup that is put before us at noon instead of too much eatings and drinkings of coffee and bread, we can organize our lives in more disciplined fashion. . . . We can be more recollected and lift up our hearts more often in prayer.
Travelings
The trip up through New England a few weeks ago was very pleasant. I spoke in Providence at the home of one of our readers and many of the students from Providence College came. In Boston the next day I spoke at Old Town Meeting House on the subject of peace and even the New England leader of the Christian Front said he was in agreement with what I had to say. Like the philosopher who has just been applauded, I wondered what I had said wrong.
At the farm at Upton I had a long talk with Arthur Sheehan on manual labor, and I realized that we have not been writing much about it for the paper. We talked about voluntary poverty and the Works of Mercy as being the basis of our work. Of course manual labor is involved in many of these works of mercy, but we have not gone into detail about it. Ade Bethune has dealt with it in her pamphlet “Work,” so has Eric Gill, and Etienne Borne. Gregg, who wrote “The Power of Non-Violence” a splendid book for our times, deals with the philosophy of labor in a pamphlet for conscientious objectors.
Last Sunday the boys all went to the park at the end of Mulberry Street to play football, and we all go in for walks for exercise. But manual labor carries with it a satisfaction and sense of accomplishment in itself. When I came back from one trip last month, I scrubbed up the office floor as a cure for backache and brain fatigue, and felt most beautifully limbered up. The only trouble was that though it was early in the morning, right after Mass, half a dozen tried to gang up on me and deprive me of my labor. Which shows they have not been sufficiently indoctrinated. The boys get plenty of it scrubbing and cleaning, but another tendency about work is that when one takes a job around the place he does not want to share it. He wants to work alone, or do it all. Sometimes it becomes even more than a friendly competition for jobs.
Worcester
Spoke in Worcester at the Ancient Order of Hibernian’s Hall and someone in the building who preferred to remain anonymous defrayed the expenses of the hall. The CIO organizers of textiles and steel who have offices in the building, came to the meeting and we had a good conversation afterward on the condition of labor and the opposition to organizing. It’s an uphill job and it takes the courage and patience of a saint to keep at it. Stayed at the home of the Brady’s this time who, with the McGinn’s, are the mainstay of the house in Worcester.
Truck Strike
Next up to Burlington where Norman and Donald Langlois run the House of Hospitality down on Battery Street which is just across from the lake front. The truckmen are on strike in Burlington and the boys had turned over half of the headquarters for the men to meet in. They use it as a hangout, day and night, and the night I arrived we had a meeting to discuss the rights and duties of labor from the standpoint of the encyclicals. They were a fine bunch of men, newly organized, and struggling hard for the elementals, a decent wage to maintain a family. They are mostly employed on long hauls and get very small wages. Some of them are forced to live in company houses and the rent is deducted from their pay. When the strike began, the company raised the rent. They have no funds to keep themselves going so it means sacrifice of the most real kind to strike.
About us. Roundtable covers the Catholic Worker Movement. This week’s Roundtable was produced by Jerry Windley-Daoust and Renée Roden. Art by Monica Welch at DovetailInk. Roundtable is an independent publication not associated with the New York Catholic Worker or The Catholic Worker newspaper. Send inquiries to roundtable@catholicworker.org.
Subscription management. Add CW Reads, our long-read edition, by managing your subscription here. Need to unsubscribe? Use the link at the bottom of this email. Need to cancel your paid subscription? Find out how here. Gift subscriptions can be purchased here.
Paid subscriptions. Paid subscriptions are entirely optional; free subscribers receive all the benefits that paid subscribers receive. Paid subscriptions fund our work and cover operating expenses. If you find Substack’s prompts to upgrade to a paid subscription annoying, email roundtable@catholicworker.org and we will manually upgrade you to a comp subscription.