Dorothy Day (1897-1980)
Dorothy Day grew up in Chicago in the early years of this century. Her father and her brother both wrote for newspapers. So writing and reading were ‘in her blood' as she had a great love for books even from an early age.
When she was about fourteen Dorothy paid a visit that was to have an influence on the rest of her life. She walked around the streets of the West Side of Chicago. This was the slum area of the city and the poverty and misery of its inhabitants made a deep impression on young Dorothy. She had the feeling that in some way God wanted her to devote her life to the service of poor working people. After studying at the university of Illinois, Dorothy moved to New York where she too became a newspaper reporter. By now she was getting involved in demonstrations for workers' rights which led to her being arrested and imprisoned. Although she wrote in support of the workers and worked as a volunteer in a hospital for the poor, Dorothy felt that she wanted to do more.
For some years she had had little to do with religion or God but now she turned again to prayer. Dorothy became a Catholic and one night in 1933 she knelt in the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC and prayed that God would show her some way to use her talents to help the poor. On her return to New York she found the Catholic thinker, Peter Maurin, waiting for her. He persuaded her to start a newspaper for workers. She did, and this paper, ‘The Catholic Worker', continues to the present. In it Dorothy, Peter Maurin, and others put forward their ideas on building a better society based on Catholic principles. They also started a Catholic Worker Movement and opened Houses of Hospitality across the USA where poor people could come for free meals, clothes and accommodation. Dorothy lived in one of these houses for the rest of her life.
And what a busy and eventful life it was. Apart from editing the paper and helping organise the Catholic Worker Movement, Dorothy travelled widely speaking about her ideas and taking part in strikes and protests. Her opinions, especially her anti-war views, were often very unpopular, even among some members of her own Church. Dorothy did not find this opposition and her occasional spells in prison easy. Neither was her life of voluntary poverty an easy choice as she loved the opera, nice food and beautiful things. Her strong faith helped her cope with these difficulties. Dorothy Day believed that Christians are called to follow Christ in his concern for the poor and downtrodden. She believed that we should try to make the message of the Gospel real in our everyday lives. Each day she devoted at least an hour to prayer and reading the Bible and from this drew strength to follow the promptings of the Spirit that dwelt within her - and in all of us.
Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968)
Martin Luther King Jr was a Baptist minister as his father and grandfather had been before him. He lived in the Southern part of the USA where a system of racial discrimination known as segregation was in force. This meant that the descendants of the slaves who had been brought from Africa and freed in 1861 were still treated as second-class citizens. They had to use `Coloured' facilities separate from those used by `Whites' - schools, restaurants, swimming pools, transport etc.
Challenge to segregation
The challenge that began the eventual overthrow of segregation began in 1955 when a black woman, Rosa Parks, refused to move to the coloured section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama and was arrested. Martin Luther King was the pastor of a local Baptist Church and he found himself pushed into the leadership of the boycott of the Bus Company that resulted. This boycott went on for months and eventually forced the desegregation of the bus service. The campaign received great publicity and then Martin Luther King found himself internationally famous as the leader of what came to be called the Civil Rights Movement which aimed to gain justice for black people throughout the USA.
Non-violence
King was an inspiring speaker and his leadership and his method of non-violent campaigning, which was based on the teachings of Jesus (love your enemies), and M K Gandhi (non-violent protest) gained him many followers, black and white. It succeeded in gaining more advances for black people in ten years than had been achieved in the previous three hundred years.
Martin Luther King was arrested and imprisoned many times in the course of marches, sit-ins and picket lines, and his house was bombed. But his Christian faith kept him faithful to his dream of a society where all were treated with justice and each person's dignity as a child of God received proper recognition.
Presence of God
One night, after a threatening phone call, he wrote:
I hung up, but could not sleep. It seemed that all my fears had come down on me at once. I had reached saturation point.
I got out of bed and began to walk the floor. Finally, I went to the kitchen and heated a pot of coffee. I was ready to give up.
With my cup of coffee sitting untouched before me I tried to think of a way to move out of the picture without appearing a coward.
In this state of exhaustion, when my courage had all but gone, I decided to take my problem to God. With my head in my hands, I bowed over the kitchen table and prayed aloud. The words I spoke to God that midnight are still vivid in my memory.
I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right. But now I am afraid. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I've come to the point where I can't face it alone.
At that moment, I experienced the presence of the Divine as I have never experienced him before.
(Stride Towards Freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr)
Assassination
In 1964 Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. In 1968 he was shot dead by an assassin at the age of 39. His example and his dream still serve as an inspiration to many.
The gift of the Spirit is not limited to Christians; it is given to all people of good will in whose hearts grace is active invisibly.
- Vatican II (Gaudium et spes 22)
Mahmatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
Mohandis Karamchand Gandhi is generally better known by people all over the world by the title given to him by the people of India – ‘Mahatma' or ‘Great Soul'. Although Gandhi was a Hindu, many of his ideals and values reflected those of Jesus, and he is widely regarded by people of all religions as a saintly person.
Early life
M K Gandhi was born in 1869 in Western India which at that time was part of the British Empire. He studied law in London. Apart from his legal studies Gandhi read widely in the Hindu scriptures, the New Testament, and other religious and philosophical works which were to have a big influence on his later ideas.
South Africa
In 1893, after a short return to India, he moved to South Africa to join an Indian law firm. He proved to be a successful lawyer but became increasingly disturbed by the racial discrimination to which the Indian and `Coloured' communities were subjected. He began to devote more and more time to leading a campaign against the injustices. It was then that he developed his famous non-violent tactics of civil disobedience which were to become so influential.
Non-violence
Gandhi believed that evil and injustice could be truly overcome only by truth and love and not by hatred and violence. For Gandhi, non-violence was a way of life which he called ‘Satyagraha' or ‘holding fast to the truth'. It involved striving for `ahimsa'. He said, "Ahimsa means the largest love, the greatest charity. If I am a follower of ahimsa I must love my enemy. I must apply the same rules to the wrongdoer who is my enemy or a stranger to me, as I would to my wrong- doing father or son. Non- violence is a power which can be wielded equally by all provided they have a living faith in the God of love and have therefore equal love for all mankind."
Return to India
M K Gandhi returned to India in 1915. He became more and more aware of the injustices of British rule in India and soon began to work for Independence for India from British control. He organised and participated in many campaigns against the British, using non-violent means and was arrested and imprisoned many times. One of his most famous techniques was the hunger strike.
National hero
Gandhi became a national hero in India, because of his commitment to social reforms. He tried to improve the conditions of low-paid factory workers and made great efforts on behalf of those at the bottom of the Hindu Caste system, the `Untouchables' to whom Gandhi gave a new name, ‘harijans' or `children of God'. He also worked tirelessly for good relationships between the Hindu majority and the Moslem minority community.
Simple life
Gandhi believed that India's future lay not in adopting a Western industrialised life style, but in building on the spiritual values of the Indian people. He began to lead a much simpler life and dressed in the “dhoti" and shawl worn by the peasants.
Although India gained Independence from Britain in 1947 not all of Gandhi's dreams were realised. He was deeply disturbed when Hindus and Moslems began fighting which led to the division of India and the creation of a new Moslem state, Pakistan. In 1948 Gandhi was assassinated by a fanatical Hindu who blamed him for the partition of India.
Not only Indians, but people of all lands mourned the passing of the `great soul'.
Pope John XXIII (1958-1963)
Sense of humour
“How many people work in the Vatican, Holy Father?” a visitor once asked Pope John XXIII. “About half”, was the Pope's reply.
A sense of humour was just one of the human qualities that made ‘Good Pope John' the best-loved Pope of recent times, both inside and outside the Catholic Church. Tales of his warmth, humour, compassion and his ability to mix easily with all sorts of people are many.
He was particularly open to contact with other Christian leaders whom he addressed sincerely as brothers and sisters. This may seem a small thing, but in view of the mutual hostility and suspicion between the Catholic and other Churches since the Reformation, or from the 11th century in the case of the Orthodox, it was a great step forward by the Pope, and was recognised as such by those he welcomed.
Early life
Angelo Roncalli was a member of a large peasant family in Northern Italy. The call to serve as a priest came to him early and he entered the seminary at Bergamo at the age of twelve. During the First World War he served in the army, first as a sergeant in the medical corps, and later as a lieutenant in the chaplains' corps. After the war he was sent to Rome to serve as national organiser for a missionary society and then he spent 25 years out of Italy as a Papal diplomat in Bulgaria, Turkey and France. In 1952 he was made a Cardinal and the next year appointed Patriarch of Venice. In 1958 when Pope Pius XII died, the conclave of Cardinals chose as his successor the, 77 year-old Patriarch of Venice, who took as his name John XXIII.
Need for reform
He considered that the Church was in need of reform because it had in many ways got out of touch with what was happening in the modern world, and that this had reduced its effectiveness in doing what it existed for - to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to all. He once said of the Church, "We are not here on earth to guard a museum, but to cultivate a garden." He spoke of “throwing open the windows” of the Church to the world.
Second Vatican Council
The means chosen by the Pope to bring about this renewal surprised everyone. Entirely on his own initiative he announced, in January 1959, that he was calling a General Council. Meeting in four sessions from 1962 to 1965, the Second Vatican Council was attended by over 2,500 Bishops from many parts of the world with observers from the Orthodox and major Protestant Churches. John XXIII did not live to see the opening of the second session but he had set the Council clearly on its way. He called for it to be positive in its outlook, and to concentrate on laying down pastoral guidelines rather than on defending doctrines and condemning errors as previous Councils had tended to do. As Popes had always done, John stressed the importance of preserving and sharing well, the teachings handed down from the past, and he also stressed the importance, as Jesus had done, of being able to read `the signs of the times'. The ultimate goal of the Council's work of renewal, he told the Bishops at the opening ceremony, was to be the unity of all Christians and indeed of all people.
Work of the Second Vatican Council
Vatican II, as the Council is generally referred to, eventually produced 16 documents covering most aspects of the life of the Church. Putting their reconm~endations into practice has meant important changes in the Church, some dramatic and some more gradual. Among the more significant were: a revision of all sacraments, including such things as changing the language of the Mass from Latin, new forms of Reconciliation (Confession), the re-introduction of Adult Catechumenate; a much greater emphasis on working towards Christian unity (ecumenism), a renewed interest in Scripture; a greater stress on the importance of social justice, and a new vision of the role of lay people in the Church.
Social teaching
In 1891 Pope Leo XIII wrote a document called `Rerum Novarum' in which he said, among other things, that workers were entitled to a just wage. Other Popes followed Leo's lead, building up a collection of what are usually called Social Encyclicals. (An encyclical is an important letter addressed to the whole Church and sometimes to the world. Pope John wrote two of these Social Encyclicals.
Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher) in 1961, laid down principles for Catholics in many areas of social justice and in particular on the duties of the rich nations towards the poorer.
Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) 1963, also based its teaching on the right of each individual to be treated with the respect due to a person with God-given dignity. It dealt with such topics as the equality of rights for men and women, of racism and respect for the rights of minorities. As the title suggests however, its main emphasis was on international peace. In a section on disarmament the Pope wrote, "Justice, right reason and humanity, therefore urgently demand that the arms race should cease; that the stockpiles which exist in various countries should be reduced; that nuclear weapons should be banned; and that a general agreement should eventually be reached about progressive disarmament and an effective method of control."
Pope for all
One interesting feature of Peace on Earth was that it was addressed not only to Catholics, as was the custom, but also to ‘all men of goodwill'. This is in line with John X)(III's attitude to those outside the Catholic Church. He was always willing to recognise when they too might be working for truth, peace and justice and to urge co- operation with them when they were doing so.
‘Good Pope John’ was not only broad-minded, he was big- hearted. His heart was big enough to encompass not just those within his own Church, but people of all kinds everywhere.
It is part of Pope John's greatness that he not only had this vision of service to humanity himself, but that he was able to lead a Church, which had for a long time tended to be inward- looking, to take up the same challenge.
Pope John started the "aggiornamento" - i.e. renewal of the Church. It is not yet finished.
Therese of Lisieux(1873-1897)
Early life
Thérèse was born in Alençon, France on January 2, 1873, the youngest of the nine children of Louis and Zelie Martin.