AKl ..llrr UllMY THE NOV 38 CATHOLIC Subscription: Vol. Lill, No. 6 September, 1986 254 Per Year Price le The Goss-Mayrs Messengers ofNonviolence

By ROBERT ELLSBERG For over thirty years Jean and Hilde­ between your work, especially in Latin gard Goss-Mayr have traveled the troub- · America, and liberation theology? led parts of the globe, spreading the HILDEGARD GOSS.MA YR: We lived message of Christian nonviolence, and in Latin America when liberation theol­ leaving in their wake a trail of resistance ogy was first evolving, and I believe that and hope. on several points it has an essential mes­ As observers at Vatican II they were sage. One is that you have to bring to­ largely responsible for the inclusion of gether your faith and the situation in passages in Gaudium et Spes recogniz­ which you live. You have to know your ing the rights of conscientious objectors situation - know it well - and then you and commending nonviolence. In the must ask yourself how the word of God, Sixties and Seventies, they were based in bow the Bible, helps you to find an an· Latin America where they worked with swer in this situation. So the old dilemma labor unions, base communities, and pas­ of the separation between faith and life is toral agents on promoting nonviolent ac­ overcome. It is a matter of reincarnating tion for the vindication of ·justice and Christian faith and love in the historical human rights. In 1974, they helped situation of a continent. From this per­ organize a continental network of non­ spective, it became very clear that the violent groups, "Servicio Paz y.Justicia." Church had to stand on the side of _the In the last ten years, they have carried poor. their work to Southern Africa, Lebanon, But as for the question of violence, we Israel, Eastern Europe, and most recent­ have known many people who went into ly to the Philippines. Currently they the guerrilla because they saw no other serve as Vice Presidents of the Interna· way. Nobody bad taught them another tional Fellowship of Reconciliation. way. And we have to be very honest and This interview-took place last April in saythat this reflects a failing in Catholic Boston, where the Goss-Mayrs were theology, because we have not properly leading a retreat. taught the radical message of nonvio­ ROBERT ELLSBERG: Many critics of lence. As for liberation theology .. . it liberation theology tend to associate it made the very important step of seeing · with violence. What has the relation been (Continued on page 4) A Conspiracy of Love By TIM LAMBERT It is just a short walk from the street supplies. Destroy homes. Scatter fami­ to the Riverside Research Institute lies. Contaminate water. Imprison dis­ CMeinrad Craighead (RRI). Once inside the old McGraw-Hill senters. Inflict wounds, burns. Kill the building on West 42nd Street in midtown living." The other side listed the works of Manhattan, one continues through the mercy: "Feed the hungry. Clothe the na­ The Only Ans~er art decoJobby, not turning to take the el­ ked. Give drink to the thirsty. Visit the evators to the left or right, but rather imprisoned. Care for the sick. Bury the By DOROTHY DAY beading straight to a double set of locked dead." Between the two we placed a glass doors at the end of the ball. RRI is a smaller sign which asked: "Which work (Reprinted excerpt from The Catholic good in them, all the Christ in them. God Pentagon-funded research facility which shall we choose?" Worker, April, 1948.) sees Christ, His Son, in us and loves us. works on the star wars weapons and oth­ Then, seated up against the doors, non­ Whenever I groan within myself and And so we should see Christ in others, er weapons meant to help fight (or pre­ violently blocking the entrance of incom­ think how hard it is to keep writing about and nothing else, and love them. There vent, we Me told) a nuclear war. It is just ing workers, we said morning prayer, love in these times of tension and strife can never be enough of it. There can one more tenant in this office building, sang, and read aloud voices which spoke which may, at any moment, become for never be enough thinking about it. St. though, an accepted companion to insur­ to us of peace: Pope John XXIII, Die­ us all a time of terror, I thil)k to myself: John of the Cross said that where there ance companies, filmmakers, couriers, trich Bonhoeffer, Isaiah, Jesus and Paul, What else is the world interested in? was no love, put love and you would draw and others. Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, Pope What else do we all want, each one of us, love out. The principle certainly works. But in that short walk, one necessarily John Paul II. except to love and be loved, in our fami­ I've seen my friend Sister Peter Claver, crosses a great distance. Just outside, on Still, so many voices were missing. lies, in our work, in all our relationships? with that warm friendliness of hers the streets, are homeless men and wom­ They were the voices of the poor, who God is Love. Love casts out fear. Even which is partly natural, but which is in­ en coming from the Port Authority bus continue to be absent from such actions, the most ardent revolutionist, seeking to tensified and made enduring by grace, terminal next door, where they have been but in whose name we try, awkwardly, to change the world, to overturn the tables come into a place which is cold with ten­ routed by police. Homeless mothers and speak. We come because we hear that of the money changers, is trying to make sion and conflict, and warm the house their children pass, on their way from the voice of the poor calling us, both into a world where it is easier for people to with her love. Holland Hotel across the street, to which their lives, and to spesk, saying what is love, to stand in that relationship to each And this is not easy. Everyone will try the city ships homeless families. -Other already so plain: that things are narrow­ other. We want, with all our hearts, to to kill that love in you, even your nearest poor and homeless people are also seen, ing to this choice - either the weapons or love, to be loved. And not just in the fam· and dearest; at least, they will try to on the move. the poor. The universe cannot allow us to ily, but to look upon all as our mothers, prune it. "Don't you know this, that and Six of us from the Catholic Worker act­ choose both. In our mad rush for securi­ sisters, brothers, children. It is when we the other thing about this person? He or ed on August 25th to try to close the di­ ty, the weapons are now being taken up, love the most intensely and most human­ she did this. If you don't want to hear it, vide that separates these two worlds. offering violence, eliminating trust, ly that we can recognize how tepid is our you mµst hear. It is for your good to hear Under the neat lettering above the glass eclipsing love. The poor continue to grow love for others. The keenness and intensi­ it. It is my duty to tell you, and it is your doors of RRI we attached our own sign, in numbers, and are left behind, forgot­ ty of love brings with it suffering, of duty to take recognition of it. You must with words taken from the Second Vati­ ten. No money, trust,'or love remains for course, but joy too because it is a fore­ stop loving, modify your loving, show can Council: "The arms race is an utterly them now, as we are surrounded by so taste of heaven. I often think in relation your disapproval. You cannot possibly treacherous trap for humanity, · one many weapons. to my love for little Becky, Susie, and love - if you pretend you do, you are a which injures the poor to an intolerable To contradict, to stand against, to now Eric: "That is the way I must love hypocrite and the truth is not in you. You degree." (Gaudium et Spes, #81) In front choose instead the poor becomes a costly every child and want to serve, cherish, are contributing to the delinquency of of the planters to either side we propped operation. It is a choice to live without and protect them ...." that person by your sentimental blind- placards. One enumerated the works of weapons, allowing ourselves to tie dis- When you love people, you see all ~be (Continued on page 6) war: "Destroy crops and »utd. Seize food (Continued on page 2) THE CATHOLIC'WORKER September, 1986 September, 1986 MARYHOUSE By EILEEN LAWTER WORKER Shortly before I left Boston for New land, and Fr. Dennis Leder, who is back CATHOLIC~ York some four months ago, I had a for this month after a year in Central Published eight times a year. January-February, March-April, May, June-July, dream. In it, I was with Catholic Worker America. It always feels good to have August, September, October-November, December friends from both cities. We piled into people come home. cars and went to a gathering somewhere. We've had visits and new members to .ORGAN OF THE CATHOLIC WORKER MOVEMENT Once there, we each had to "do some­ our house as well. Passing through with -DOROTHY DAY, PETER MAURIN, Founders thing," and when it came my turn, I jug­ a helping hand was Bernie from the Des (1897-1980) c1an-1949) gled. Folks told me that I was very good Moines CW, Sr. Joan - a peach of a Sister Managing Editor: TIM LAMBERT. Editors: GARY DONATELLI, FRANK DONOVAN, at it. I try to remember that now :when­ of St. Mary of Namur, Rejean and Lucy JANE SAMMON, KATHARINE TEMPLE. ever I feel as though I'm dropping a ball. from Montreal, who were a wonderful Contributing Editors: BILL ANTALICS, BERNARD CONNAUGHTON, RITA CORBIN, EILEEN EGAN, I took the dream as a positive sign. help and a bright presence. From Ger­ ARTHUR J. LACEY, MATIHEW LEE, DEANE MOWRER, ROBERT PETERS, PAM QUATSE. Having been in and around the Worker many were Roelle and Wolfgang, visiting Circulation: HARVEY HEATH, PRESTON LEWIS, JEANNETIE NOEL, MARION SPINELLI, for the last three or four years, I've come Paul, and returning to Germany after PAUL TROYANO, SUE TROYANO. to see life here as juggling. The balls are several months with us was Britta Lund­ Editorial communications, new subscriptions and changes of address: many and colorful. There's social justice, loff. 36 East First Street, New York, N.Y. 10003 which includes the hospitality we do as We had one other foreign visitor who Telephone (212) 254-1640 well as our ongoing witness at Riverside comes to my mind, a young Swiss stu­ Research Institute, and a number of dem­ dent named Josef who was with us for THE CATHOLIC WORKER (ISSN 0008-84631 is published eight times a year: subscription onstrations for human rights. There's also two weeks. Joan Hyme is visiting and rates: United States, 25e yearly, Foreign 30e yearly, by The Catholic Worker. 36 EalJt First St., our community and prayer life, and, for has decided to stay on! She is an artist NY, NY 10003. Second class postage paid at NY, NY. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Catholic Worker, 36 East First St., NY, NY 10003. myself, artwork. The juggling is a daily and has come here from upstate New reality; any one day can include a variety York. Also joining our household is Chris f ~ C701 of things to keep in motion. Marckx from Seattle. Chris had visited twice before and everyone who'd met him Daily Chores was thrilled to hear that he decided to Saturday mornings are a great exam­ come. Welcome! ple. There is breakfast to make and serve Sharron Clemons, who has been at A Conspiracy o{Love for the house and women from outside, Maryhouse for nearly three years just tending to folk's needs for showers, cloth· moved to the Bronx, where she plans to (Continued from page 1) several hours of subway turnstile jump· ing, et.c., and getting ready for lunch, find a teaching job in the Fall. Good luck armed by the.p<>Qr, as they reveal to us ers and other petty "offenders" before our which happens as soon as cleaning up and God bless.you Sharron! again our humanity, so distorted now by case is called, which will either be dis­ from breakfast is over. Somewhere in the There have been various summer do­ the prevailing economics of violence. missed, be given a small fine (which most midst of this we may get deliveries of ings, including movie going, a reading of Outside of this surrender to the poor, our of us would refuse to pay), or a few days several kinds. Our ever important supply Night of the Iguana, the odd cookout or protest against the weapons has trouble in jail. In New York City, the wheels of of laundry and dish soap and toilet paper two, a great trip up the Hudson by boat, taking root, simply because, without a justic;e are so large and ponderous that is one, and often friends and neighbors but my favorite was our trip to Central choice for the poor, little will have civil disobients can mostly be ignored, come with donations of clothing or food. Park for a picnic and performance of changed, and the weapons will continue which, in the strange logic of it all, helps Fr. Paul and group-come from New Jer­ Shakespeare's TweHth Night. Our dear to be all too necessary. maintain the calm and good "order" of sey, often bringing bread and pastries, as friends Fred and Mimi inspired the ad­ All of this is at issue at Riverside Re­ our present disorder. well as other goodies for which we are venture and provided us with a feast of a search, particularly for us. If we go there The frightful cboices between death very grateful. Once, upon being asked picnic. About two dozen of us braved the without the poor, we also go without any and life move closer as the days -go by; where several travelwom pastries had threat of rain and very much enjoyed the ·good news to deliver, and without good both the ranks of the poor and the come from, I spun a tale of the New Jer­ play, which included four interpreters for news, both the listener and the messen· .shelves of weapons bulge heavy with sey Bakery Riots, imagining warring un­ the deaf. Shakespeare, having been a ger are in for difficult times. The news is new entries. The contradictions -of it all ion factions pelting one another with man of his times, w.as not above writing there, though, and waiting for messen­ pound the conscience. With this passage croissants, coffee rings and bagels, cry· some chauvanistic dialogue. It. was fun gers. It is news of the reign of God close of time, more short walks may be re­ ing "Let them eat cake!" to hear the modem audience hiss at a few at hand, seen, heard and touched in the quired of us, to share with others our It's so hard to believe that summer is sexist lines. Fortunately it was a come­ broken, humbled and wounded bodies on struggle to recover the meaning of work, winding down. We've had our first cool dy, so the mood was jovial. To make this the street, which cry out to us of a new or­ particularly the redemptive work of God days (I've worn socks twice already), and a complete NY experience, we all waited der, an order of love and trust and aban­ made known through the poor, and I've even seen a tree changing color. Real­ a good long while for our subway home. donment of self, into this body of Christ ly! We have had many of what I call When a train finally did come, it crawled made visible before us. "cake occasions." There have been birth­ to a stop, paused a moment, then took off While praying morning office, with our days galore - for Blanche, Annie, Jean­ without owning the doors, leaving most backs to the front doors of RRI, we re­ ette and Kassie, Jennie, Frank and of the people inside who were waiting to membered especially Larry Morlan, Ken Deane (Deane was treated to a grand cel­ get off looking puzzled or upset. One lady Rippetoe, Darla Bradley, John Volpe, ebration at Peter Maurin Farm), Geoff, just smiled and waved goodbye to us. and Jean Gump, who had all just been Paul, Pauline, Jane, Robert and George. Paul's friend Roelle (mind you - on her sentenced to eight years in prison, with I'm happy to say we've quite the band of first visit to the U.S.) laughed in stunned the exception of John who received seven bakers here. Janet, Arturo, Paul, Mar­ disbelief and said, "This is just like a years, plus five years probation and res­ Susan MacMurdy garet and I all get our hands in, so no one Woody Allen movie." Sometimes I agree. titution. Darla, John and Larry are Cath­ through their calling of us into their com­ gets "baked out." olic Workers from Davenport, Iowa, and pany, so that, together, we can conspire a One of the best of these occasions was Responsibility and Community Ken is from the Rock Island, Illinois CW. bit more love and a bit more hope. the recent visit by Martha Miller and One of the attractions of the NYC They were found guilty of destruction of . * * * Robbie Gamble, our beloved alumni. Worker for me, besides simply my love of government property and conspiracy by Every Friday morning we continue to Now living in Toronto, they were married the people here, has been the style of per­ a jury in Kansas City, Missouri following go to the Riverside Research Institute to at the beginning of August. Peggy, Pam sonal responsibility which lends itself in their Silo Plowshare action last Good Fri­ pray and then distribute leaflets to in· Q. and I got to make the trip up, and had ,. practice to allowing for a great indepen­ day. At 6:30 in the morning they entered coming workers. We invite others tci join a great time being hosted by the Angelus dence for us workers, while still bringing two Minuteman II missile sites in us at 330 West 42nd Street beginning at Toronto CW house. After traveling sev­ us together into a community. We pay a Holden, Missouri and there hammered 8 a.m., and continuing for about an hour. eral weeks, Martha and Robbie made price for it though. There is no communi­ the concrete silo covers and the tracks Our civilly disobedient witness there on their way to New York where we celebrat­ ty without communication and clarity of they slide off on, poured their own blood August 25th was done in conjunction ed with Mass, a community-prepared purpose. Towards that end, and because in the pattern of a cross and displayed with a "Year of Resistance," organized to feast, and a CW community reading of the need for better communication has signs, and spray-painted messages. encourage different groups or individu­ Our Town, spearheaded by St. Joseph shown itself, we are in the process of a se­ They then sat in prayer until the police als to come to RRI to engage in nonvio­ House's Bill Antalics, starring (much to ries of house meetings (oh - a terrifying were on the scene. lent actions for peace. It began on Au· their surprise) Martha and Robbie. We word "meeting"!). Maryhouse, St. Joseph During their trial, John Volpe stated, gust 6th, the anniversary of the atomic had a ball with all of it, including the dec­ House and the farm met at the beginning "We entered a conspiracy of love and bombing of Hiroshima, and will continue orations of balloons and pencils left over of September and we look forward to a hope. We chose Good Friday to act be­ for twelve months. The Kairos Commu· from the wedding, thanks to Robbie's day of recollection, and more clarities of cause the Crucifixion is a symbol of sacri­ nity, 225 Lafayette, Suite 207, New York, dad Walter. mind and hearts to come. ficial love overcoming fear and death." NY 10012, (212) 226-4151 can be contact· The summer has brought the usual Someone put up a passage - now very So much, indeed, is to be overcome, as ed for more information. get-away weekends or weeks by various yellowed - from Hebrews 3 on a wall at we see all these good people, co-workers As we go to press, our friends from the . members of our family: Kassie and St. Joseph House that has been going in Christ, being sent to prison, while the Silo Plowshares are about to turn them­ Deane for a weekend, Janet for two through my heart and mind these past terrible war crimes being conspired by selves in to federal prison. A support weeks, Pauline to Atlantic City, Arturo days. "Every day, as long as this 'today' the engines of science, industry and the group has been established to help con­ to the farm to help out, Paul on retreat, lasts, keep encouraging one another so military remain, endorsed and protected tinue education in their behalf, and to and, perhaps quite notably, Tim for a that none of you is hardened by the lure by these very same courts. cover expenses, espEicially to provide for thirty-day retreat! We've welcomed back of sin, because we shall remain co-heirs On September 22nd, Deane, Robert, family visits. The support group can be Frs. Bill and Martin, who were away for a with Christ only if we keep a grasp on our Carl, Roger O'Neil, Felton Davis and I contacted c/o Dottie Moss, 5219 Lydia bit - Martin for vacation and to recover first confidence right to the end." We ask will also appear to answer to our charge Street, Kansas City, MO 64110, (816) from a tom tendon. We've also welcomed all of you for your encouragement and of trespass. We will likely wait through 361-3318. back Meg Hyre, returning from Eng- prayers. You all have ours as well. . September, 1986 THE CATHOLIC WORKER _ Page Three Come, Listen, arid Receive Bread Broken on Oty Streets , ByANNIEQ. Outside Marble Collegiate Church, an­ elude their Lenten Witness by gathering alone, not including maifuigs to "If you want peace, work for justice." other one of the Lenten Witness sites, in the Easter doorway of St. Patrick's churches. The quote from Pope Paul VI is an apt the homeless gathered for several weeks, Cathedral where we had slept for many Yet what is consistently clear is that, slogan for various issues, found now on battered by wind and cold but buckled of the nights of Lent. Bread gathered with a very few exceptions, those who buttons and full color posters. But the by a fierce commitment to justice, just from trash cans was broken anQ shared. speak and teach on liberation theology words have a somber and disconcerting yards away from the entrance to New The witness rose up, perhaps motley and urban ministries in this area do not ring when laid bare on city streets. York Seminary. Not a single faculty · and raw, evolving and growing, groping choose to be present; the advocates for For most New York City peace and jus­ member, to our knowledge, stopped to and struggling in too unslick a way, too the homeless do not choose to be present; tice groups, these words have meant op­ speak with us. No doubt liberation theol­ small to be a "people's movement," too the religious groups advocating or work­ position to nuclear armaments and to ogy and the poor are discussed, advo­ harsh in the climatic elements to be feasi­ ing with homeless do not choose to be multiple oppressions which are fostered cated and written about there. But the ble to join for most, too touchy political­ present; the churches of New York City by the United States in many parts of non-academic reality of the New York ly, in terms of the Church, to be comfort­ do not choose to be present,and the peace the world, notably in Latin America and City homeless groping about their own able, too centered on daily survival of the groups, asserting "there is no peace with­ South Africa. In these places, injustice liberation outside these doors, did not poor to be viable in the context of the out justice," who pour out to be present and oppression are stark, raw, relentless­ provoke much interest. struggle for permanent solutions, too un­ on behalf of the oppressed in other coun-. ly visible and violent. There, too, the Yes, the streets rumble and crack un- known to entice interest. tries, do not choose to be present here. struggle has risen up from the oppressed There is no peace without justice. themselves. Aware and concerned people Bread Broken in this country have lent support, to 'l'o join the struggle as it smolders in demonstrate and be vocal on behalf of the hearts and minds of the homeless you the oppressed and the issue of justice. must - at least for a bit - leave the "net­ The place of entry to these struggles working, conferencing and convening" of for most in the U.S. is sometime after the religious organizers, and the "re­ years of arduous work by the oppressed search, litigation and advocacy" of the to bring their cause to the fore. Then, professional organizers; 'the "screening sudden attention and press coverage. and shipping" that churches make use of But, of course, this does not tell the to process the homeless who bed down at whole story. Participation can also be de­ night on cots in their basements, and termined by certain issues becoming po­ yes, even the bread and soup kitchens ex­ litically in vogue. Then there are rallies, tended in record numbers, computerized demonstrations here, and some even tak­ and reported for annual accounting and ing part in ci~ disobedience. FEMA funding. You will have to come, poor and unknowing, devoid of agendas, Our Own Poor expertise, clinical references, and, God Outside the meeting plac;es which host knows, devoid of those stereotypes and peace and justice programs in this city, fears which still cling so close to the sur­ our own poor are found, sleeping on con­ face. You will have to come and listen and crete, and rifling through garbage bins. receive somewhat stale, broken bread. In one instance, outside the walls in No apologies or romanticism. You will which Christians encircled themselves Robert Hodgell have to sit with that bread a long time. with words of solidarity with the poor, a der the weight of the irony, under the lec­ Over the past couple of years, home­ The wait for bread and justice (the ac­ body was happened upon by a homeless tures, the teaching, the pictures in the less, who take upon themselves the advo­ tive struggling wait, not idle loiterlngt is sister: frozen, pneumonia-wracked, cov­ papers of advocates discussing the trage­ cacy and justice work that both the pro- ' a long wait for the poor. But the non-poor ered in yellow plastic with stenciled Po­ dy of homelessness and congratulating fessional advocates and religious per· have an even longer wait in store for lice precinct numbers, removed in the their volunteers. But they are nowhere to sons in their distance choose not to them. holding that bread . . . and listen­ dark before the gathering ended and the be found or heard from as the homeless touch, have also come together to wit­ ing. participants made their way from those sow bitter seeds of liberation, often ness at various times and places with (Annie Q. is a homeless woman in New confines back through the cleared city fought against and resisted by churches some non-homeless. Through the kind­ York City. For information about current streets. and advocates. Not resisted by evil de­ ness of a Dobbs Ferry church, extensive organizing by the homeless here, includ­ These are· images that flash so starkly, sign, but rather by a design that turns mailings and phone calls have been pos­ ing plans for the observance of this up­ so contradictorily, so ironically. Rheto­ from solidarity. sible. People do know about the events. coming Lent, contact Tim Lambert, ric, learning, training and enthusiasm for The appeal of "the other," the distant This Lent, 150 letters were sent out to Catholic Worker, 36East1st Street, New justice circling around the body-strewn neighbor, the struggling peasant is not peace, justice and homeless advocates York, NY 10003. Eds. Note.) streets of this city. They are images lost. They are empowering themselves in which speak uncomfortably and loudly a way which begs support, wielding of some terrible skewing of ·the issues, harsh realities with the Word of God. Th~ Dignity of Labor and of human life. And we, on the New York City streets? By GUY WALSER' • Outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral last Well, we weary the Church and its chari­ When Labor Day was established by hors with His hands. So, because He was Good Friday, hundreds of music enthusi­ ty, as we do government bureaucracy, by an act of Congress, it was decreed that weary, He rested and was refreshed, thus asts, along with a rock band, sang the being hungry and cold every day, and this day should be set aside to "contem- He ordained the Sabbath rest for all who "Hands Across America" song for the growing in numbers and need. We weary plate the dignity of labor." Ever since labor: the manager, the laborer, the schol- homeless. Simultaneously, homeless them with our other images: sometimes that date the working man and woman ar, the housewife, all are equal in the from New York City and a few non-home­ unsightly, sometimes drunk or copping have rejoiced that their collective sight of God. These passages of Scrip· less supporters were in the final days of a drugs, wrapped in ennui of spirit, content strength induced the government to give ture can be comprehended as primitive, forty-day, twenty-four-hour-a-day wit­ to crush aluminum can after aluminum them this. The workers indeed had the anthropomorphic concepts handed down ness. Together we kept Lenten vigil by can into those wonders of environmental dignity, for they had strength and they from oral tradition. Or they can be ac: day, and by night slept in front of three technology - redemption machines - looked with unblinking eyes across the knowledged as revealing the true nature churches in the city, appealing for our that spit out nickel after nickel, for each bargaining table; they were the equals of of God HimseH, foreshadowing the day ~eeds, asking Christians to reflect and can deposited. any person. when God became human and chose to recommit themselves to do justice and Soup kitchens are filled with the rich Now, each new contract is a defeat live with carpenters and fishermen, not lift oppression for the poor of this city. handing bread to the poor. When is it with concessions, give-backs, and two- princes and rulers of this world. We too happened to be at St. Patrick's on broken'l Where are they when it is brok­ tier wage scales. We watch our jobs go· When God came to dwell among us in Good Friday. But we were missed by the en? Where are the hands of the rich when ing to other States and to other coun- Jesus Christ, He came to share our sor- television crews that day, having previ­ the poor, the homeless, break bread and tries, and we live in fear and resentment. rows and our joys, our labor and the fruit ously been swept off the sidewalk in extend it to them? We feel the mocking laughter of those of labor, in bread and wine and clothes front of the Cathedral by the police, to They are not to be found. who nod their heads in solemn approval. and tables' made of wood. H~ w~s raised the opposite side of the street, to be out This past Holy Thursday night, again Where is the dignity of our labor now? in the home of workers and He Himselfbe- of the way. · the homeless, as last year, helped to con- A God Who Labors · came a carpenter, Who earned His living FRIDAY NIGHT MEETINGS Our dignity comes from God, Who la· off the sweat of His f.ace. T~ereby all hu- In keeping with Peter Maurin's recognition of the need for ongoing clarification of bored Himself and thereby gives His dig- man labor became umted with the etern~ thought, we invite you to join us for our weekly Friday night meetings. The nity to our labor. God is the architect ~or~ of ~od; and wh~n He washed. His meetings are held at eitlier Maryhouse - 55 East Third St., (212) 777-9617, or St. Who drew up the blueprints of the uni- ~sc1ples feet, the lowliest task was gi':en Joseph House - 36 East First St., (212) 254-1640. As much as we can see ahead, verse, He is the manager Who spoke the digruty, t~at all s~o~ld r~spect the srm· those we will hold at First St. will be marked with an asterisk (•). Both houses are word to create everything that exists; plest serv_ice, the ~~1est JOb. ? between First and Second Avenues (2nd Ave. stop on the F train). but He is more than that for He labored Where is the digruty of labor now. It Octoher 3 - Ron Musto: Franciscan Poverty & Conscientious Objection to Vio- with His own hands. "H~ formed man of lies in God the Creator Who labored in lence -Then and Now.• · dust from the ground;" "He planted a gar- creation, it. li~s ~ J l;!SUs of Naz~~th the den in Eden." (Genesis 2:7 & 8) "When I carpenter, it lies m the Holy Spint, Who October 10-Michael Harrington: Prospects for the Democratic Left. look at the heavens, the work of Thy fin- lives. in each ~hristian, \'.Vho is a co-work- October 17-Sr. Anne Montgomery R.S.I.J.: Swords into Plowshares. gers" (Psalm 8:3) "In six days the Lord er with God m the ongomg work of feed· October 24-Arturo Rodriguez: The UFW Wrath of Grapes Boycott, a film and mad~ heaven and earth and on the sev- ing, clothing and redeeming the world. talk.• enth day He rested and was refreshed." (Guy Walser is an Episcop~ priest who October 31-Tom Sullivan: Peter Maurin, Catholic Worker Founder. (Exodµs 31:17) Our God is not a philo- works at a General Motors plant on the MEETINGS BEGIN AT 7:30 P.M. sophical concept; He is a person Who la- assembly line. Eds. note) Page Four THE CATHOLIC WORKER SeptelJlber, 1986

. arrest"all the opposition. So they wanted . to be prepared. And all this time they dis­ Goss-Mayrs: Messengers.of No~violence tributed texts from Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi that would help the peo­ (Continued from page 1) participate in the running of society." was called AKKAPKA, which stands for ple to learn more about nonviolence. that you have to identify with those who JGM: Dictatorship.is possible under on­ nonviolent action. In the following year, The third thing that they did was to suffer. But then some· of these theo­ ly one condition: that we submit to it. AKKAPKA organized forty seminars. have prayer tents, tent cities. • they called logians stopped there. In the question of This is true, whether it be in the East or Everyone who had participated in a sem­ them, where people would fast and pray. means they remained with the old Just in the West. We allow ourselves to be pur­ inar was committed to help organize an­ Every morning there would be training War theology, which is still, we must say, chased for power, for privileges, for mon­ other one. In this way, working night and in nonviolence, and at noon there would alive and well in the West. ey. If this corruption starts at the top it day, they had organized seminars in thir· be a Eucharist. speaking the truth in a I think this is where the work of the descends rapidly to the bottom. This is ty provinces by the time the election very prophetic way about what was hap­ nonviolent movement in Latin America why, from the very beginning, it is impor­ process began. pening, inviting the people to pray for begins .. .. It says we should ... try to find tant to struggle against this corruption Now, in preparing for the elections, those committed, but also for (

such martyrs, but rejoice that someone is going right to the end, because this Going to the Roots Messengers sacrifice will be the seed of resurrection. (Continued from page 4) Of course you do weep, you must, but mitment had an impact on the situation. you also know that if we don't have peo­ Initially, not all the bishops were com­ ple who are willing to give their lives, no To Transform Society mitted; it was a minority. But I think new renewal can come. And so from Ni­ when they saw how the people had the noy's gift of his life sprang the strength BY JACQUES MARITAIN courage to defend their ideals even with of a popular movement of resistance. the gift of their lives, and when they saw (Selected and translated by Peter a kind of brotherhood Cory, who was this very authentic per­ RE: How ·did you come to this vision Maurin. Edited reprint from The Catho­ imposing on their members son, who didn't want power, but who re­ yourselves? lic Worker, January, 1935. Eds. note.) a rigorous discipline. sponded to the demand of the people by They tried in this way JGM: I had to work since I was eleven Going to the Roots to renew the basis assuming this very difficult responsibili­ years old, and I discovered that the only . In trying to bring ty, it was then that the Church said, we of the moral life way to defend yourself as a worker is to the spirit of the Gospel, of the people. must support her, because she is really join a union. In Europe, the labor unions and the spirit of integral humanism living out the faith. And so, finally, the Appealing Appeal are one of the first schools of nonvio­ into the cultural What impresses us most bishops' conference as a whole came out lence, where you learn to struggle and temporal order, with their document calling for resis­ in the Russian Revolution against injustice and exploitation with­ people fail to realize is not the appeal to pride and tance against the fraudulent elections. I out arms. You don't enter into a union the absolute necessity think without this support it would have · violence. with a machine gun. You try to obtain . of going to the roots. It is the appeal been very difficult to mount a successful your rights through human means, The Two Orders campaign against the dictatorship. to poverty and suffering through negotiation and dialogue. It is not a question willingly accepted So the suffering of the people, as well But when I was twenty-five, the Sec­ as their conviction that truth and justice for the sake of an ideal. ond \Yorld War began. I listened to the are a strength, had brought_the people Christian Heroism mass media; they said Hitler was the together. And Cory was the pole around But the greatest heroism devil-if we killed Hitler then everything which this strength organized itself. So, is the heroism of love. • ct would be OK. So I joined the French army The heroism of the Cross in the end, when you had a million and a to kill Hitler. And I killed day and night ·half people singing the Our Father, it was must be expressed for many weeks - but I never killed Hit­ really impressive - nol; just because their in the social field ler. I kil.led so well that I received medals. songs are so beautiful, but because of beside the heroism I was a war hero, but within myself I be­ their conviction that· it was God Who of Bolshevism and Fascism. came more and more destroyed because I But Christian heroism would deliver them from evil. You saw saw that I was killing peasants and of changing the system; that, for them, the Our Father was not must remain Christian heroism workers, sons of families like my own, it is a question even when expressed something empty. It was the faith that the people whom I had wanted to defend. of changing the person God will deliver us from evil if we believe in the social field. And it was in this desperate situation who makes up the system. From the Heart of God · in Him and if we are willing to give our­ that one night I received everything. I It is not the temporal Christian heroism selves for a just cause. discovered what it is to be human, what that creates the spiritual, must be exercised RE: The death of Ninoy Aquino seems to is true and just, the love of Christ. And it is the spiritual not only in private ·life have been a turning point for the resis­ everything began with this, because for that creates the temporal envi­ but also in social life . .tance. Why was that event so critical? me Christ is the really nonviolent one. ronment. Christian heroism There is only one who is really nonvio-. True Radicalism comes from the heart HGM: I think that from this one man's lent, and that is God. And to try to be There is no social revolution of a God made human, death the.people learned a lesson in the nonviolent is to try to be like God: To without a spiritual revolution. scorned by humans spirit of self-sacrifice. Ninoy was in pris­ love to the point of giving your life for The trouble with radicals crucified by humans. on fo.r seven years and during that time the one who does evil, attacking his con­ is not that they are too radical, Transforming Society · he undel'Went a conversion. After two science but not his body; to open the con­ but not radical enough. As during the Middle Ages years in exile in the United States he de­ science of the other with the strength of External radicalism Christians must again cided to return to help the people in their justice and love. is not radical enough transform society. struggle for democracy. He knew that When I returned to France I tried to because it is external. But the strength and greatness the death sentence against hini had not find someone who believed the same Inner radicalism - of this transformation been rescinded; he knew: fully well what things, but everyone told me I was a her­ is true radicalism. must spring from elsewhere. might happen. So I think his death was etic. It was then that I met Henri Roser No Complete Failure Great social undertakings really like in the early Church, the gift of of the French Fellowship of Reconcilia­ This radical change must not be the monopoly the just person who gives his life for the tion. He said, "Don't listen to what the will not be a perfect change. of Fascists and Bolshevists. people. And it was understood by the others say, you are right." He didn't have While it will not be a perfect change, Believing before Seeing ear~y Church tl~at we should not weep for to tell me what I already knew. it will be a change Resurrection will come in the right direction. but after three days. RE: What about you, Hildegard? You While it may fail Asking for miracles grew up on the other side, so to speak. it will not Pe on such occasions Of Christ HGM: Ye_s, when I was born in 1930, Hit­ a complete failure, is to reverse (Continued from page 4) ler was already growing in Germany, and for it will be a precedent the order of things. the parents of twins, Myiam and when he moved into Austria in 1938, my for future generations. One cannot see Etienne. father was arrested because of his work Betraying Christianity before believing The Goss-Mayrs work as a team, but, with the FOR. We lived through a great To be detached but one must believe on occasion, each one carries out a special deal of violence, the bombing and the ex­ from visible success before one can see. project. Early in 1985, Jean helped ini­ perience of war. When it was all over I makes a life of action Christian Transformation tiate an ongoing fast of repentance felt that I could not go on living in a a crucified life. Will a Christian transformation among young people in France. They world where "man is a wolf to man." But to be engaged in Christian recon- of the social order : wanted to expose the scandal of the arms There were many young people in the struction come to realization race and its consequences. Hildegard same situation; many of them committed and not to do it in this century? went to Nicaragua to take part in the suicide at the time because they had no in a Christian manner A Christian transformation fou~ding of SERPAJ-Nicaragua and to faith in life. We had seen so much de­ would misrepresent it cannot come about- engage in dialogue with peace groups in struction and we did not believe we could for the sake in the same way Guatemala and El Salvador. Following live in such a world. of making it prevail. that other transformations that, she led an ecumenical seminar, with I think it was at fhis time, when I was To misrepresent it come about. Richard Deats, at Maryknoll, New York, 19 or 20, that I said, "Well, if I continue to would be A Christian transformation for eighty Third-World workers and mis­ live, I must give my life to the work of the most treacherous way will be the product sionaries. On August 17, 1986, Hildegard trying to diminish just a little the vio­ to betray Christianity. of Christian ·heroism. and Jean were awarded the Pope Paul VI lence that exists in the world." It was Pure Means "reacher of Peace" awatd by Pax Christi then that I rediscovered the Gospel and People trying to bring about MOVING? at its National Assembly at Emmanuel found the strength to continue. I decided A Christian reconstruction to give my life to this witness. So Jean of the social order When notifying us of changes of ad­ College, Boston. dress, it is important that readers Justice and liberation from oppression and I arrived at this place from different must be made aware directions. We met in 1953, and we began of the great temptation send us both their old and new ad- achieved "in the manner of Christ," as . dresses (please print legibly!), includ­ Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila put it, have to organize Catholics in Europe who to use unchristian means. wanted to build a more nonviolent world. Social revolutions ing both zip codes. Because of the na­ constituted the life work of this Catholic ture of our computerized label sys­ couple. Year-in and year-out, Hildegard cease to be revolutions when they tem, we cannot delete y~ur previous and Jean sowed seeds of peace in a world He comforts us in all our afflictions cease to use pure means. As Emile Zola says: address without all of this informa­ bristling with armaments, vengefulness and thus enables us to comfort those 'tion, and we will continue sending the ' and hatreds. Their quiet, patient work who are in trouble, with the same conso­ "The pure means are the strongest means." paper to the old address, as well as the · was hardly known to many. The Philip­ lation we have received from Him. As we new, at great expense. Thus it is im­ Rigorous Discipline pine drama showed how the seeds of have shared much in the suffering of perative that you include your old ad­ Russian Bolshevists peace they helped to sow can bear fruit. Christ, so through Christ, do we share dress with zip code for us to make any saw it clearly. There is a mighty lesson here for the abundantly in His consolation. change. Church - and for the world. - 2 Corinthians 1:4-5 They made of their Party Page Six -THE CATHOLIC WORKER September, 1986

JOHN MARGARET HAMPTON BOOTH

By ROBERT PETERS By LINDA BUNCE Teach me to live according to Your and MARY MULDOON truth, for You are my God, Who saves If you crossed the threshhold of Mary­ me. I always trust in You. house anytime during the late '70s, Mar­ -Psalm 25 garet Booth was probably the first per­ My first encounter with Mr. Hampton son to greet you. There, on the front (I never knew him as John, he was al­ stoop or on the landing just inside the ways Mr. Hampton, or, on less auspi­ doors, with her friend Helen Shreck, cious occasions, simply "Hampton') that's where you'd find her. Together came one blizzardly, cold, January day they were the unofficial doorkeepers, when I first arrived at St. Joseph House. talking to all the people who came by. Upon entering our kitchen I witnessed a "Hullo, kid!" with a friendly squint, team of paramedics frantically attending and an inquiry into your plans for the to this tall, elderly, black man who was day was the usual greeting. Anybody laid out on one of our benches, preparing who felt lonely could go find Margaret to take him to the hospital, apparently and be assured of some company and a for frostbite. Mr. Hampton, as I soon pleasant, if rambling, story. Her second was to find out, had been drinking heavi­ favorite place seemed to be the bench in ly, had been unable to shelter his body front of the 2nd Ave. Deli, where she from the cold, and had, literally, frozen would sit with a carton of milk and a stiff as a board. The astonisltjng thing snack, ~d she had just as many friends about this situation occurred the follow­ at that site as well. ing day, as I answered a knock at our front door, and in walked Mr. Hampton! A Good Neighbor His "resurrection," as it were, told me Rita Corbin Margaret should have gotten some much about the ravages and potency of Mr. Hampton, makes me hope even more sort of good neighbor award, except that alcoholism, especially as it was made in­ that his death, for me, and for all of us, sort of thing wasn't done in the "circles" carnate in our own neighborhood. - and was not without real meaning. Why did I The Answer _ of the Lower East Side. But she was a also about the indefeatabilty of this one never take Mr. Hampton in to live in our (Continued from page 1) great neighbor. For anyone asking, like particular man. ' house? Yet it seems that each and every ness. It is such people as you who add to the lawyer in the Scriptures, just who my person on our soupline and at our door the sum total of confusion and wicked­ neighbor is in this city of highrise dwell­ My Chosen Christ needs a fullness of compa8sion, concern ness and soft appeasement and compro­ ers, you'd learn from Margaret that the I suppose that first meeting endeared and material assistance - and I'm just mise and the policy of expediency in this answer is still the same -you are to be me to Mr. Hampton in some way. I guess able to cope with a fraction of·the de­ world. You are to blame for communism, neighbor to anybody and everybody who that each of us here at the Worker have mands, which are not demands but oc­ for industrial capitalism and, finally, for comes your way. Her steady good temper people to whom we owe some sort of casions on my own part to love, to be hell on earth!" left most of us in the dust. Above all, it blind concern and extra love. Regularly, broken open into being more Christ-like. The antagonism often rises to a. cres­ now seems that Margaret's gifts were I would answer our door to find him Yes, we fail, fail miserably - and still cendo of vituperation, an intensification faithfulness and humility, and that these · standing there, a greeting of "Hey Slim" must love again and again, continuing to of opposition on all sides. You are quite gifts were always present, but not al­ growled with a deep, deep voice and a - reach out and touch and move beyond . borne down by it.. And the only Christian ways obvious to the Busy and Impor­ sense of urgency. And even if I were at our weaknesses and failures, putting answer is love, to the very end, to the lay­ tant. Her death brings to mind a great the end of my rope from a frantic day of more and more faith and.trust in Goel.as ing down of your life. wonder about all the disguised treasures non-stop activity, I would somehow we do so. To see only the good, the Christ in in this world. ·paus_e at the sight of him. For many, I The Burial others! Perhaps if we thought of how She seemed to thrive at Maryhouse, so suppose, Mr. Hampton filled quite well Karl Marx was called "Papa Marx" by all it was a sad day when we found out that the caricature of "Bowery bum" (I dis­ It was a hot, humid July morning that the children on the street, if we knew and Margaret needed more care than we dain the phrase) - a life of panhandling an undertaker, Jane, and I put Mr. remembered how he told fairy stories to could give her. She fought against dia­ between drinks, a dirty, smelly eyesore, a Hampton to rest. He died while in a co­ his children, how he suffered hunger and betes in a silent way, by never complain­ social problem. For others he represent­ ma, sustained from being hit by a car, poverty and pain, how he sat by the body ing and pretending that she was much ed the failure of our "just society" to an­ probably panhandling his next bottle of of his dead child and had no money for better than she really felt. She loved swer the needs of the chronic alcoholic, to alcohol. Alcoholism, life and death, and coffin or funeral, perhaps such thoughts Maryhouse. It was home, and the provide a place, to find a solution. For our call to love - what does any of this as these would make us love him and his thought of leaving home-devastated her. me, Mr. Hampton was a person, a myste­ change? A burial of a poor man. What followers. Dear God, for the memory of Eventually, though, she had to go on in­ ry, and simply- yet not so simply- an­ does dignity in death mean? The casket, that dead child, or that faithful wife, sulin injections, and then her condition other Christ, in fact, my chosen Christ. a particle board box upon which the fu­ grant his stonny spirit "a place of refresh­ complicated an infected foot so badly Was it the fact. of his old age, his rapidly neral director had graciously nailed an ment, light, and peace." that a partial amputation was necessary. greying hair and worn dark skin, convey­ old crucifix. We arrived at the cemetery And then there was Lenin. He hun­ At that point, we had to admit our ama­ ing a life of loneliness and pain, which late, which meant a search for the grave­ gered and thirsted and, at times, he had teur nursing skills couldn't be enough. moved me? I don't know, but, whatever it diggers. Mr. Hampton's body was lifted no fixed income. Mme. Krupskaya, his As Dorothy Day would often quote, was, I was able, almost all of the time, to and carried by two poles, and put into his widow, said that he loved to go into the •"Love in action is a harsh and dreadful take that "one step more" which faith deep and narrow grave. A few simple peace of the pine woods and hunt mush­ thing ...", and it was harsh and dreadful calls us to, whenever I encountered Mr. prayers uttered, a song sung, the smell of rooms like old Mrs. Dew down at Easton for all of us when Margaret left: Hampton. To be honest, this usually fresh cut grass and the Manhattan sky­ did, and we with her one October. He She moved to a nursing home up in the meant a trip downstairs to look for a hat line were the finishing touches to his vir­ lived one time in the slums of Paris and Bronx. It was quite a trip for people from or a piece of rag (to clean windshields) ' tually forgotten life. Name: Hampton, ate horsemeat. He started schools for the Maryhouse to make, (involving a long when the last thing I wanted to do was to John, Date of Birth: Unknown, Next of poor and workers. "He went about doing train ride to tlie end of the subway line go look for clothing. But Mr. Hampton Kin: Unknown, Date and Place of Death: good." Is this blasphemy? How many and a death-defying nin across eight also made it possible for me to sit down July 18, 1986 - Bellevue Hospital, NYC. people are dying and going to God their lanes of highway), but several folks kept next to him on the steps of Nativity A day or two later as I was walking Father and saying sadly, "We have not so up the visits over the years. It was Church, where he usually slept, and to towards Maryhouse, I had to look twice, much as he.ard that there is a Holy always worth the hours it took to get talk and relate in a very special, very as another person was now sleeping on Spirit." And how-will they hear if none there, because Margaret would be full of blessed way. Our topics were usually the steps of the church. I didn't .stop to preaches to them? And what kind of new stories and much gratitude and a how·he was feeling, if he was hungry, or chat, but simply began to pray; What shepherds have many of them had? collection of dainties to take back to "the perhaps just some of his life experience Cloes all this mean? What does all this Ezekiel said in his day, "Woe to the shep­ girls" at home. She missed Maryhouse, which he wanted to pass on to me. Each change? And as I continue to journey, I herds that feed themselves and not their but had lots of new neighbors and and every encounter left me both sad and hope a lot has and will continue to change sheep!" wanted us all to meet and get to know yet filled with-hope. as we all respond to the love of God And if there have been preachers, has each other. However, I must also ask what it was shown to us in each other. there been love? If people will not listen, This past year, her condition got which stopped or held me back from go­ The soul is sustained by the regard for one can still love, one can still find Christ worse, with cataracts, some falls getting ing "two steps more" to alleviate in a that which transcends all immediate pur­ in them to love, and love is stronger than out of her wheel-chair, and eventually cir­ much mi;>re personal and concrete way poses. The sense of the transcendent is ·death. Dear God, may Lenin too find a rhosis of the liver. At the end, she was the pain and suffering of Mr. Hampton. the heart of culture, the very essence of place of refreshment, light and.peace. Or .pretty bad off, but her courage prevailed The mystery of my own failure to love humanity. A civilization that is devoted don't we believe in retroactive prayers? in that painful death also. fully (what if he were my own father - exclusively to the utilitarian is at bottom There is no time with God. Rest in peace, Margaret. May we learn wouldn't I have done much, much not different from barbarism. The world * * * from you to be half the good neighbor more?), to risk and to embrace the hurt is sustained by unworldliness. It is always a terrible thing to come you were to so many. And lucky St. Peter and alienation of each child of God, of -Abraham }leschel (Continued on page 7) to have your company now. f September, 1986 THE CATHOLIC WORKER . PageSeven

that we must resist evil rather than ig­ nore it if we're to maintain our own In the Shadow ·Of Death-Learning Faith humanity. If we ignore the poor, the land­ By AARON FIELD delena, who was abducted by the dreaded the guerrilla, knowing that if the military less, the displaced and the disappeared, Ever since we moved here to rural Hon­ Treasury Police because of her work with found out, they would kill him and his worrying only about our security, we duras, four years ago, people have told us displaced farmers seeking to return to family for being collaborators. He said at give in to the spirit of fear. Fear de­ we are crazy for living so far away from to their land in conflictive areas. As they that moment he thought of the story of humanizes us. On the other hand, perfect town and not owning a gun or at least a went from lawyers' offices to human love casts out all fear. It seems that God watchdog. But we have tried to put. our rights offices seeking her release, they gives us a mysterious strength to love trust in God, praying that He would keep knew she was being tortured in an at­ others when we depend upon Him. us safe rather than putting our security tempt to get information from her to im­ Carmen, a Honduran friend, told me in other things. After a robbery and a fire plicate herself and others. Again the that, when she was in Guatemala. a and knowing that a band of heavily­ question of God's protection came up.for friend of hers, Dora, asked her to accom­ armed thief/assassins are roaming the me during' our conversations with sev­ pany her at the funeral of Dora's two mountains in our area, I started wonder­ eral of the sisters and brothers at the sons who had been murdered by the ing about God. church. "How can you believe that God death squads. Since the boys had been During this period of heavy question­ has really conquered the power of sin and considered subversives, the people at­ ing, we took a trip to El Salvador, where I death when you constantly witness the tending the funeral had to go secretly. At was able to put my fears in perspective. disappearance, torture and murder of the funeral, Carmen was overcome with We arrived on a Sunday, the day before those who work to help the widows, or­ fear and grief and was sobbing uncon­ we were to begin working for a week with phans, displaced and other oppressed trollably. To her amazement, Dora began a Baptist church that is involved with people? And, seeing this, where do you to console her, telling her not to despair. agriculture and health work throughout find the courage to actlvely take stands "How do you think Dora had hope enough the country. After settling in, we were in­ against injustice, knowing that you, too, to share it with you?" I asked. "It's in­ vited to spend the afternoon with a . could very well be martyred? How can credible, a real paradox," Carmen said. young couple from the church. On our you possibly have hope here and now?" People like Dora hope in God because way to lunch, Ana and Manuel (not their Maria, one of the women we talked He's all they have. Often times, eve­ real-names) took us to the Devils Door, with, said that it's hard to keep believing rything else has been lost to the war - an impressive rock formation in a park in God under these circumstances. She their home, land, health care possibili­ overlooking San Salvador. Ana told us · told us how a close friend, who had ties, jobs, even their loved ones. Maybe how, up until recently, that place was always been spiritually strong, con­ .such people know God in a big way be­ used regularly by the death squads for fessed serious doubts about God's exis­ cause they need Him in a big way. Unlike the dumping of tortured bodies. She tence after suffering the repeated the wealthy, people like Dora do not en­ went on to say that one night the mili­ trauma of having several family mem­ Mary Mullins joy the security of knowing there is · tary surrounded their neighborhood and bers "disappear." Yet God seems to be the Good Samaritan, and knew that, as a always food in the refrigerator, or the took 65 young people, including 2 of her giving Christians in El Salvador the Christian, he must not be overcome by security and prestige of a good job, or younger brothers, ages 15 and 18. A week strength to speak the truth, and work to fear but love his neighbor in faith. Even adequate health care. i believe these are later, all 65 turned up at Devil's Door and defend the victims of oppression. though it was a full mo~m night, he de­ the poor Jesus talks about when He says: a nearby park, severely mutilated from While in the countryside visiting an cided to carry the man over his shoulder "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours torture. I was amazed at Ana's courage agricultural cooperative, I talked with through town and into the mountains is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you to not let this stop her from teaching Arturo, a middle-aged campesino. One where he would be safe. There's a good who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. skills to poor, displaced women, some­ night, a wounded guerilla came to his chance that he had seen fellow Christians Blessed are you who weep now, for you thing consid~red by the Salvadoran mili­ house asking for aspirin. He had been. ~ed for doing similar things. And yet will laugh. Blessed are you when men tary as subversive activity. shot in the stomach by the army in a con­ he was more concerned about obeying hate you, when they exclude you and in­ That same week, I accompanied the frontation minutes before and was bare­ God than he was about his own security. sult you and reject your name as evil be­ husband and parents of 25-year old Mag- ly able to walk. Arturo was afraid to help The church people I talked with agreed cause of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets." (Lk.6) A Very Valuable Piece of Paper I still struggle with the question of God's protection. How can we believe By MARK ZWICK have a home besides Casa Juan Diego. cle wasn't discovered. that God cares for us when we see that (Casa Juan Diego is a Catholic Worker The greatest joy here remains the The following morning, we took Luisa He does not keep thieves from robbing house in Houston, Texas which offers same after six years: assisting refugees to Casa de Amigos because she had been us, enemies from harassing us, and even hospitality for refugees and their fami­ in finding family or friends and succeed­ beaten up in Kingsville by some law en­ death ·squads from torturing and mur­ lies from Central America and Mexico. ing. forcement agents and was worried about dering us? The Psalmist says that "even The following is reprinted from their bi­ This has occurred hundreds of times. losing her baby. Casa de Amigos works though I walk through the valley of the ., lingual newspaper,. the Houston Catholic It is the least heralded piece of our refu­ with our clinic around serious medical shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Worker, P.O. Box 70113, Houston, TX gee work, but one of the most important. problems (thanks to Dave Buck, clinic You are with me ..." Maybe this is all the 77270. Eds. note.) Last night, Luisa, a pregnant woman coordinator). assurance we need. Emmanuel, God is from El Salvador, arrived. She said she After she called to say that she was fin­ with us. This is hard to understand intel· Alfredo is seventeen. He possesses had an uncle in Houston. That's all, no ished, I drove by to pick her up, but when lectually. God's presence with us is a gift nothing except the clothes on his back. A address or phone. Nothing. But there I arrived - I was late in arriving - she that passes all understanding. It seems very shy lad from El Salvador, he has no was a relative of her uncle in Costa Rica, was not there. The person who went with that we are able to receive this gift only Vera Cruz, Mexico, who could be reached her to be treated at Casa de Amigos said when we are completely poor, in a po­ if you call a teacher she knew who knew that she left with some strange man in a sition of absolute need. In moments someone who worked at a store who car. when we recognize our need, God comes knew a neighbor of the relative who I was upset for obvious reasons. She to us and consoles us. The beauty of this could visit her and try to find one of the wasn't there as she said she would be, consolation is that, when we receive it, old letters the uncle had written to a cer­ and, secondly, we know what happens to we are then strengthened to give comfort taiii person and whose return address young women who are forced into cars of to others. might be on one of the old envelopes. strange men in a strange city like Hous­ At times, I don't know if I want to be You wouldn't believe the process that ton. _ poor. It's easier to believe in a God I tai­ evening. We were like Houston Rocket I returned both saddened and angry -:­ lor to make me feel secure, a God that fans cheering like mad every step of the knowing that we might be getting a des­ keeps me from being vulnerable to evil way, at each minor success in making perate call sometime during the day, and forces. Pray with me for faith, that, in contact. praying that nothing would happen. spite of what so often appears to be true, Something did happen! Christ has overcome the power of sin and Rita Corbin A Home for Alfredo At about 5 p.m., a small pickup drove death. one in the United States except a distant We usually don't think of Bellaire as a up, and in it was Luisa, smiling away, (Aaron Field works in an agricultural cousin in South Carolina. Fortunately, Hispanic city. But, in our recent visit, to waving her arms, and bouncing up and development project in Honduras. Eds. the cousin has the address of someone find the friend of Alfredo, we found no down. The person driving the pickup was Note.) who lives in Bellaire [near Houston] and, one who spoke English. not a man, but a woman. It was her aunt. after a series of long distance calls, the We had an easy time in Bellaire since it How in God's name did she find her aunt correct address is pieced iogether. was evening and many people were among 2,000,000 people? Now Alfredo possesses something - standing around. We didn't have to find Miracles happen to those who believe The Answer something very precious - a piece of the apartment number, sometimes a feat in them at Casa Juan Diego. crumpled-up paper with someone's name in itself, since the people there knew Recently a young man, Abel, came up (Continued from page 6) and address and apartment number on about Alfredo's friend, and, interesting­ with a piece of paper- all that it had on it back to Mott Street. To come back in a it, but a very valuable piece of paper, so ly, knew about Casa Juan Diego also. was "Main Street, Houston." To find a rel­ driving rain to men crouched on the valuable that we insist that he make cop­ "Yes, Arturo lives here," they said, "but ative on Main Street without a number is stairs, huddled in doorways, without ies of it in case it is lost. Alfredo, who was he's at church, he is evangelico," as if to a tall order, but nothing is impossible for overcoats because they sold them, per­ poor, now is rich - he has friends. say that's where the good men are to­ those who believe. haps the week before when it was warm, Crumpled-up pieces of paper are the night. They accepted Alfredo. We shook The following Sunday we took a group to satisfy hunger or thirst, who knows. most valued thing at Casa Juan Diego, hands. As I left, they expressed much to the Spanish Mass at St. Anne's, a real Those without love would say, "It serves and we go to any lengths to pursue the in­ gratitude for Casa Juan Diego. cultural experience. them right, drinking up their clothes." formation on them as it usually means Although we made several contacts in There Abel found his sister. It pays to God help us if we got just what we that "the stranger in a foreign land" will Mexico for Luisa, the address of her un- go to Mass. deserved! Page Eight THE CATHOLIC WORKER September, 1986 BOOK REVIEWS THE MADONNA OF 115TH STREET: role of the woman in the life of Italian THE WHALE AND THE REACTOR: often hidden or obfuscated by those who FAITH AND COMMUNITY IN Harlem. Like the Madonna, the woman A SEARCH FOR LIMITS IN AN speak about "values" or "risk." To put it . ITALIAN HARLEM, 1880-1950. By had a central position in that commu· AGE OF HIGH TECHNOLOGY. By simply, we have ceased to be able to . Robert Anthony Orsi. Yale Univer· nity; publicly the man might have pre­ Langdon Winner. University of think meaningfully about technology be­ sity Press, 1986, 287 pp., $29.95. Re· sented himself as the power, but, in fact, Chicago Press, 1986. $17.50. Reviewed cause the very language we use has lost viewed by Geoffrey Gneuhs. quietly and privately it was the mother by David Hawkin. its vitality. The category "values," for ex· in the domus who gave order and sta· ample, "acts like a lawn·mower that cuts Two years before the Statue of Liberty bility to the life of the family. Rispetto Written with passion and ironic wit, flat whole fields of meaning and leaves was erected, the Church of Our Lady of was to be shown to all people, and espe­ this book makes truly absorbing reading. them characterless. Where previously we Mount Carmel on 115th Street was com· cially to the woman, to the mother of the Langdon Winner seeks to examine the might have talked about what was good, pleted in 1884 and, with its completion, family. Rispetto was the Italian sense of wider issues of what technology is and worthy, virtuous, or .desirable, we are commenced the "official" history of the the holy. how it expresses what we are. Much of now reduced to speculation about values. devotion to the Madonna del Carmine what is written abou_t technology fails to in the United States. But, in fact, with do this. In fact, says Winner, we are Sources of His Thought the great influx of immigrants from guilty of "technological somnambulism" The Whale and the Reactor is not a southern Italy beginning in the early - we "willingly sleepwalk through the deeply original book. Those who have. 1880's and continuing for the next process of reconstituting the conditions read Peter Berger, George Grant and several decades, the devotion had its of human existence." Most of the book is Jacques Ellul will find, for example, the origins here with those first immigrants well reasoned and cogent, but its high argument that technology embodies from the town of Polla, in the province of point comes in a personal memoir in "forms of life," and that artifacts have Salemo, who, upon arrival in New York, which he recounts how he felt when he re­ politics, has. a familiar ring to it, even if formed· a mutual aid society named turned to his home town. There he found the terminology is different. The chapter after the Madonna. Such societies for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant , on computers does not improve at all on the immigrant offered a conn0!!tion in its final stages of completion, and, be· George Grant's philosophical article with their past and support in the un· yond it on th&.hori.zon, a whale in the sea. which argues that computers do impose certainty and strangeness of their This juxtaposition of the whale and the a·certain way of looking at the world, and I ( present. reactor was a poignant symbol for Win· that more computers will not give us The annual festa takes place on July ner of the mistaken direction that tech· more freedom - in fact, quite the oppo­ 16, but for several days beforehand there nology is taking us. 'To put the matter site (Grant's article is found in A. Rot· is a novena, concluding with a procession bluntly, in that place, on that beach, stein, [ed.] Beyond Industrial Grewth). through the streets of East Harlem. At against those rocks, mountains, sands Nor does Mr. Winner's attack on the use midnight on July 16, a solemn Mass is and seas, the power plant of Diablo Can· of the language of "values" go beyond celebrated in the church. Many of the yon is simply a hideous mistake." And so, George Grant's (found in Technology and gestures, rituals, and meals throughout Joan Hyme we are to conclude, is society's preoccu· Empire). the duration of the festa reflect the expe­ pation with gigantism and war, and its Langdon Winner's previous book, Au· riences and heritage of the Italians from Today, East Harlem is no longer Ital· failure to recognize appropriate natural tonomous Technology, did not say any· the poor towns and villages of southern ian. New immigrants have come. But the and cultural boundaries. thing that went much beyond Jacques Italy. One disturbing custom, which was festa is still held, and many Italian Ellul's Technological Society, and yet I stopped in the 1920's by the clergy, was families return. The festa is ·especially Reshaping Human Activity found it a rewarding book to read. It was for the members of the family to drag one significant now for the many Haitians Langdon Winner's basic argument is . written in a lighter style than Ellul's of the women down the aisle of the who have immigrated · to New York. that technology is not "neutral," but pro­ work and its many examples and analo­ church to the statue of the Madonna. For sure, someday their story of faith vides a structure for human activity. gies made it clear and enjoyable. The This study shows how deeply ingrained and community will be told. And for Technology does not merely aid human Whale and the Reactor may be read for are certain human peculiarities which those Italians who do remember and are activity, it reshapes it and gives it new the same reasons. It is clear and compel­ color our religious understanding. It also able to return, the festa is a moment meaning. Hence, choices about the direc· ling, and an extremely useful introduc­ points up the fact that too often we focus to recall who they were and who they tion of technology are choices about tion to ideas about how technology di­ on biZarre manifestations without ever might be. what we are to become. But the agenda is rects and shapes our lives. trying to appreciate the long and ardu· ous life experience of people who are not Morton's $1.8 billion revenue in 1985 willing or able to forgo their past for the came from the Pentagon. sake of a neatly ordered, and regulated Ne~s, Notes and N.eeds We urge our readers not to buy Morton religious lif~. (or Acme, A&P, Grand Union, IGA, Red ., 'N White, and Stop 'N Shop brands, Recalled to Communal Values PROPOSITION 64 this initiative is apt to pass, or, if it did, which are all made by Morton) products, In "Homosexuality: Searching for Un· how widely the health officials would be and to let the company know of your rea· For these Italian Americans were born derstanding" (CW, Oct.·Nov. 1985), Peg· required to carry out its conditions. But sons for participating in the boycott: call into centuries of oppression and coloniza· gy Scherer wrote: "Rational fears about neither of these question is the underly· Morton Customer Service (1·800- tion in the mezzogiomo, the southern the disease [A.I.D.S.] and reasonable pre­ ing problem. In the words of Archbishop 828-6702 or 312-807 ·2000), and write Mor· end of the Italian peninsula. For the cautions against it, based on medical re­ Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles, "What is ton Chairman Charles Locke, 110 N. most part, the festa was the creation search, are one thing. Proposals literally more contagious than A.I.D.S: is the big· Wacker, Chicago, IL 60606. For more in­ of the people, not the clergy. 'J'.hey looked to quarantine gay men because they otry and misinformation that surround formation on the boycott, write Nuclear to -the Madonna as head of the domus "might" have or carry the disease is an· it." Proposition 64 is a symptom of the Free America, 325 East 25th St., Balti· of their community in East Harlem. other. It could be easy to dismiss such poisons of fear and hatred, the evil temp­ more, MD 21218. tation to quick control and power, the • They identified with her and the suf· proposals, to think they could never be BOYCOTT GENERAL ELECTRIC fering Christ as real persons very in· carried out. Such thoughts must be tern· · search for scapegoats. timately involved in their day to day pered by the memory of what should be It is seldom that we respond, in this pa· General Electric's media image sug· lives. "On the day of the celebration," Mr. unthinkable crimes, such as the massive per, to pieces of proposed legislation; gests lightbulbs, refrigerators and other Orsi W(ites, "the people were recalled to internment of Japanese people during nevertheless, we do fervently hope that appliances to make life more pleasant. It the communal values by the culturally WWII." Concerns about the very possi· the people of California will tum down says it is the company that "brings good established resonances in their con· bility have proved to be not at all un· this particular one, and that the voices of things to life." In reality, GE is the coun· sciousness and memories between their founded. Just recently (this issue does good sense will prevail. try's third largest producer of primary mothers' houses and the house of their not seem to have excited the media nuclear warfare systems. In this, its mama celeste ... the festa was the annual around here), we have learned about a WE NEED BLANKETS main work, the company is only follow· occasion for returning to their old si>ecific proposal in California - Proposi­ As the weather gets colder, we are ing a policy clearly articulated in 1944 by villages . . . They were able to take their tion 64. again going to try to distribute blankets its president then, Charles Wilson: "The children into this world." For these im· Almost 700,000 signatures have been and hot food directly to people living on revulsion against war not too long hence migrants it was crucial, morally, to recall collected by the Lyndon LaRouche the streets. If you live in the New York will be an almost insuperable obstacle for their connectedness with the sacred, group - more than twice the number re­ metropolitan area and can donate blan· us to overcome. For that reason, I am which was for them very, and terribly, qUired - to ensure that it be on the ballot kets (or even help to collect some for us) convinced that we must begin now to set human. · on November 4. Proposition 64, in rather we could put them to gOod · use this the machinery in motion for a permanent The book describes a kind of family, deliberately unclear language and based winter. They can be left at Maryhouse, war economy." neighborhood, and community which to· on highly suspect medical premises, .in· 55 East Third Street. Thank you. Once more, we ask our readers to sup­ day is sorely lacking. For sure, the idea of deed seeks to quarantine all A.l.D.S. pa· port a boycott of all GE products - to be­ domus was not exclusive to the Italian tients and even those who show a posi· BOYCOTT MORTON SALT come part of the "insuperable obstacle." immigrants (nor I would say to im· tive test result for HTLV-III antibodies. Unknown to most of us, Morton Thio· The current attempt is being sponsored migrants per se). Nevertheless, the The bill would require medical personnel kol, the largest salt producer in the by INFACT , a national grassroots organ· conditions and opportunities today for to report the names of those so infected world, is also one of the top 50 companies izatiOn, dedicated to stop life-threaten· such an integrated life are rare. This and people suspected of being carriers. It involved in the production of nuclear ing abuses by transnational corpora· book gives a rather thorough picture of also lays down a series of exclusions from weapons. It makes rocket motors and tions. Having won the Nestle boycott, the particular way in which these im· . schools, jobs and travel for such people. solid fuel for the Midgetman, Minute­ INFACT is focusing on GE as a prime ex· ' migrants, these Catholics, these Italian Under California law, should the referen· man, MX, Poseidon, and Trident nuclear ample of the nuclear weapons industry. peasants lived out their social and reli· dum be approved, it would automatically missiles. It is also a prime contractor for For further information, please con· gious values. become state law. anti-satellite weapons, Star Wars and tact INFACT, 186 Lincoln St., Rm. 203, Mr. Orsi devo~s many pages to the As we go to press, it is unclear whether the 'military space shuttle_. Almost half of Boston, MA 02111.