Reporting For and From the Margins
Renée Roden on Catholic Worker traditions of journalism and an audience with Pope Leo XIV; Scarlett Rose Ford on the organizing work of Escucha Mi Voz in Iowa City; Martha Hennessy to speak in Paris
Peace, Dialogue, Listening
On May 15, the Catholic Worker movement commemorated the 76th anniversary of Peter Maurin’s death. As a Catholic Worker at Maryhouse eight years ago, Peter Maurin—despite being listed as the founder of the Catholic Worker movement in its titular newspaper for nearly fifty years— often got “short shrift” in their Catholic Worker community.
But, one year, on May 15, she wrote, “We got a donation of pies and it gave us the idea of honoring the date with a reading of an Easy Essay entitled, “Pie in the Sky.” It seemed like a fitting way to celebrate a man who never missed an opportunity to offer a bit of “indoctrination”.
Peter Maurin died on the feast day of Saint Jean Baptiste de La Salle, the founder of the French Christian Brothers order. Peter Maurin was taught by Christian Brothers and was himself a Christian Brother for a brief time, so that coincidence seems particularly touching.
I was reminded of the double meaning of the day when Pope Leo XIV met with representatives of the Christian Brothers on May 15. The pope encouraged them to model their founder and respond to new educational challenges that come from teaching children in a more violent, lonely and louder society. He highlighted in particular, “the prevalence of rhythms and lifestyles in which there is not enough room for listening, reflection and dialogue, at school, in the family, and sometimes among peers themselves, with consequent loneliness.
If that weren’t enough happy coincidences, May 15 is also the day in 1891 that Rerum Novarum, the Catholic Social Teaching encyclical that inspired Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day’s movement, was published.
Pope Leo XIV has been invoking his predecessor several times over the course of the past ten days of his papacy, offering a deeper insight into why he chose him as a namesake. In a recent address to a conference in Rome, he said:
“Pope Leo XIII, who lived in an age of momentous and disruptive change, sought to promote peace by encouraging social dialogue between capital and labour, technology and human intelligence, and different political cultures and nations.”
Peace, dialogue, listening. These are words that, as I reflected on in Thursday’s CW Reads (linked below), ground not only Catholic Workers’ lives in communities but are the foundation of the movement’s tradition of clarification of thought and its journalism.
On Friday, we shared an example of that Catholic Worker tradition of reporting in solidarity with and from the margins with Scarlett Rose Ford’s deeper look into a Catholic Worker community in Iowa making headlines in 2025 (also linked below).
Finally, Peter and Leo weren’t the only anniversaries celebrated this week: we extend a Happy 55th Anniversary to the Los Angeles Catholic Worker community. Check out a video of their celebrations below. And may our LA friends carry on the peacework, dialogue and listening to those who go unheard for 55 more years to come.
peace,
Renée
FEATURED
CW READS: Pope Leo XIV Asks Journalists to be Peacemakers
Renée Roden attended Pope Leo XIV’s first audience with journalists and representatives of the media in Vatican City on Monday. His words reminded her of a familiar Easy Essay by Peter Maurin on “the thinking journalist.” Check out her story from Thursday’s CW Reads.
CW READS: Iowa City Catholic Worker Stands With Immigrants
Iowa City Catholic Worker and their sister organization of Escucha Mi Voz have been making headlines across the Midwest over the past few months for their witnesses of accompaniment and solidarity in the face of ICE’s increasing pressure on their migrant neighbors. They recently delivered a petition with 800 signatures to the Iowa State Patrol asking the state to rescind its agreement with ICE. Scarlett Rose Ford spoke with organizers in Iowa City to learn more about the community’s work.
Read her story in Friday’s CW Reads.
COMMUNITY NEWS & NEWSLETTERS
Dixon Returns Stateside as Freedom Flotilla Mission Carries On
Cassandra Dixon is stateside again following a drone attack earlier this month that disabled the Conscience, the Freedom Flotilla ship that she had been scheduled to sail with on its mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. Meanwhile, Freedom Flotilla issued a statement announcing it would continue its mission using a smaller ship, the Madleen.
Dixon, a Catholic Worker based in Wisconsin, said she was disappointed not to have the opportunity to sail with the mission. The Madleen is a smaller vessel than the Conscience, she said. “This is day 71 that not one bottle of water or bag of flour has entered Gaza— really I just could never have imagined that humanity could allow this,” she said in a text to Roundtable.
See our previous coverage in CW Reads.
Ninety-Second Edition of The Catholic Worker in Mailboxes
The May Edition of the Catholic Worker featured an essay by Jeff Dietrich, book reviews of Dorothy Day: Spiritual Writings, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, and Bill Offenlach’s journey to Palestine.
San Antonio CW Looks for Input on Plans for Gathering
The San Antonio Catholic Worker is soliciting feedback from potential participants in the gathering it is planning for October 2-5 of this year. In particular, the community is exploring the possibility of hosting part of the gathering at a camp in the Texas hill country rather than at the community’s location in San Antonio. You can complete the questionnaire here; the community is requesting responses by June 1 to facilitate planning. Find tentative event details at CatholicWorker.org.
Los Angeles Catholic Worker Celebrates 55 Years
The Los Angeles Catholic Worker held a celebration on April 26 for the 55th anniversary of its founding; you can watch a three-minute video of the celebration on YouTube.
CW IN THE MEDIA
The Nation: Don’t Oversimplify Pope Leo’s Name Choice
Yes, Pope Leo XIV’s choice of name points back to Pope Leo XIII and, in particular, Rerum Novarum, the encyclical that kicked off the modern Catholic social teaching tradition, and which served as an inspiration to Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day, Jack Hanson writes in a piece for The Nation.
But understanding the implications of that choice requires a correct interpretation of Rerum Novarum, Hanson writes:
The point of interpreting Leo XIV’s choice of name and what it means for his papacy, then, is not to locate precedent that will be replicated to the letter, but to look for signs, indications of direction, currents that may still flow in our own time, however wide or deep.
Read his full analysis in The Nation.
Catholic Worker Calls on Pope Leo XIV to Visit Gaza
Kathy Boylan has been calling on Pope Francis to visit Gaza since 2024, one year after the Israeli military began its bombardment of Gaza. She is now calling on Pope Leo XIV to visit Gaza. A recent Instagram video showed Boylan and several others standing vigil outside the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C., holding signs asking Leo XIV to “Go to Gaza, for God’s sake.” Boylan told Scot Harris, the host of “Counterpoint,” on WPKN radio in Bridgeport, Connecticut:
“I don’t want [the pope] to visit. I want him to stay there, because if he stayed and brought the presence of the leader of a billion Catholics into Gaza, I believe the bombing would stop, and food would be allowed in.”
You can listen to the 25-minute interview at the Counterpoint website.
Rosette Neighborhood Village Enters Its Third Year
Rosette Neighborhood Village, a tiny-home village in the backyard of Amistad Catholic Worker, is entering a third year in its embattled existence, still housing dozens of residents, despite continued battles over zoning with the city of New Haven. “It’s the basic model of a refugee camp,” Mark Colville, who runs the Rosette Neighborhood Village Collective, said to Yale Daily News. “If there was a disaster in New Haven and hundreds of families had to leave their homes, where would they go? They’d go to a refugee camp where you have a central facility surrounded by satellite units of housing. That’s what we’ve been doing here.”
Catholic Worker Inspired Eucharistic Pilgrim
Last summer’s popular National Eucharistic Pilgrimages, which started at four different points across the country and ended in Indianapolis during the National Eucharistic Congress, are getting a reboot this summer. One pilgrim, who is taking the “Katherine Drexel” route, starting in Indianapolis and walking out to California, spoke about the impact that the Catholic Worker community in Minneapolis (Maurin House) has had on her understanding of solidarity, faith, and encounter with others. Read the interview with Eucharistic pilgrim Frances Webber at OSV News.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Martha Hennessy to Speak in Paris at Le Dorothy Café
Martha Hennessy, peace activist and granddaughter of Dorothy Day, will speak at Le Dorothy in Paris on Thursday, June 26, at 8 p.m. The event is part of a month-long celebration surrounding the art exhibition Dorothy Day: Changer l’Ordre Social by François Rieux. Le Dorothy is a Catholic Worker-inspired café and folk school known for its hospitality, free cultural programming, and welcoming space for neighbors and immigrants alike. Hennessy’s talk will be moderated by Carmen Bouley de Santiago and Le Dorothy co-founder Foucauld Giuliani. To learn more, visit ledorothy.fr.
Register Now for July Dorothy Day Retreat in the Adirondacks
Registration is open for the upcoming Dorothy Day Retreat at Pyramid Life Center in the Adirondack Mountains, taking place July 21–23. This summer retreat will be co-led by Catholic Workers Martha Hennessy and Fred Boehrer and will offer participants a time of rest, prayer, and reflection rooted in the spiritual legacy of Dorothy Day. To register or learn more, visit pyramidlife.org.
WORDS FROM THE ELDERS
“Go to the Poor”
by Dorothy Day, from the May 1, 1942 issue of The Catholic Worker
This is an editorial for “little ones,” for the poor, the meek, the suffering. I am writing it as I sit in St. Bibiana’s Cathedral in Los Angeles, a place of joy and beauty, set in the slums of a great city.
How wonderful that it should be here, surrounded by the poor–yes not only by the poor, but the degraded and the lost ones of this world. Christ chose a stable as a place to be born in. So how He must love to be here.
Outside, on Second and Main streets in Los Angeles, there are pawnshops, saloons, burlesque shows, flophouses. It is the “Skid road” of the city, like our Bowery in New York. Inside, there is beauty and quiet and many bowed in prayer at early Mass.
Pope Leo XIII said the workers were lost to the Church.
Pope Pius XI said to his priests: “Go to the poor.”
Our Lord walked the highways and byways, dusty and tired, to teach His brothers whom “God so loved.” The closer we are to the poor, the closer to Christ’s love.
About us. Roundtable is a publication of catholicworker.org that covers the Catholic Worker Movement.
Roundtable is independent of the New York Catholic Worker or The Catholic Worker newspaper. This week’s Roundtable was produced by Renée Roden and Jerry Windley-Daoust. Send inquiries to roundtable@catholicworker.org.
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