Dorothy Day: November 29, 1980

25 years ago, Dorothy Day died.

The founder of the Catholic Worker movement has been promoted by some for sainthood.

Certainly those of a progressive ilk – myself included – think she qualifies.

Her work among the poor alone is an inspiration.

Her writings, her activism, her conversion despite what it cost her in the eyes of the world, also inspire.

There are some who look at her politics and early life and raise doubts.

She opposed war – even World War II.

She protested the arms race.

She spent time in jail even in her 60s.

She had an abortion as a young woman (something she deeply regretted).

She lived with a man and had a child out of wedlock (and lost him because she converted).

She hung out with communists and radicals.

She supported anti-war protesters in the 1960s.

She herself rejected suggestions that she was a saint. She said she didn’t want to be dismissed so easily.

For me, those are all plusses.

So whether or not the Church officially proclaims her a saint, I hearken back to an old tradition of people being named saints by popular acclaim.

Pray for us St. Dorothy.