: James Murphy
: A Radical's Search for Meaning The Story of Dorothy Day
: Orpen Press
: 9781786052339
: 1
: CHF 10.50
:
: Biographien, Autobiographien
: English
: 172
: kein Kopierschutz
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
This is the story of a radical journalist, Dorothy Day, who shocked the conscience of many a patriotic American. She was jailed eight times for marching on picket lines for controversial causes. Now her canonization is in the hands of the Vatican. This is 'a riveting story about an amazing woman, written by an exceptional author with erudition, impartiality and finesse,' say the foreword. The questions it raises are as troubling today as they were in the last century. If anything, more so.

Monsignor James Murphy of the Diocese of Sacramento, California, has served as editor of the diocesan newspaper, 'The Catholic Herald,' diocesan director of communications, pastor of three bilingual parishes, rector to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, and vicar general of the diocese. He hold a master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and is author of 'Saints and Sinners in the Cristero War: Stories of Martyrdom from Mexico' and 'Beauty and Horror in a Concentration Camp: The Story of Etty Hillesum.'
1.
Who Was Dorothy Day?
A Brief Overview of Her Life
On November 9, 1997, an important Mass was celebrated in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, to mark the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Dorothy Day. The celebrant that day was Cardinal John O’Connor, the high-profile head of the New York archdiocese who was also arguably the most knowledgeable American churchman in the U.S. military. Before becoming a bishop, O’Connor had spent twenty-seven years as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy and enjoyed the respect and admiration of the military establishment. By the time he retired from military service, he was the Chief of Navy Chaplains with the rank of rear admiral.
The person he was honoring that day, however, could hardly be described as a lover of the U.S. military. Dorothy Day was a famous anti-war radical who offended many a conservative American with her books and newspaper columns. She had opposed U.S. entry into the First World War and the Second World War, and police arrested her several times for protesting the annual civil defense drills during the Cold War. She marched on picket lines to protest the nuclear arms race and the Vietnam War and expressed horror at clergymen sprinkling holy water on U.S. bombers, and giving them names like “Holy Innocents” and “Our Lady of Mercy”.7 Even those in the top echelons of the federal government took notice. The FBI had a 500-page file on her, and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover recommended three times to the U.S. Attorney General that she be prosecuted for treason.
It must have been a surprise for those not in the loop, then, to see the Archbishop of New York honor this woman with a special Mass, not to mention hearing what he had to say in his sermon that day. He called Dorothy Day “a truly remarkable woman” who had combined a deep faith and love for the Church with a passionate commitment to serving the poor and saving lives.8 It was precisely because she was such a committed person of faith, he said, that she became such a radical Christian. The more he read about her, he said, “the more saintly a woman she seems to be”.9 The real purpose of the Mass at Saint Patrick’s, it turned out, was not to celebrate the anniversary of her birth, but to float an idea. O’Connor was co