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@RobertEllsberg
@RobertEllsberg
Peter Maurin, co-founder of the #CatholicWorker movement was born in France on May 9 1877. After sailing to N. America in 1909 he spent many years tramping about, living in poverty, engaging in hard manual labor, while devising his "synthesis" in Catholic social philosophy.
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@RobertEllsberg
@RobertEllsberg
He believed society had become separated from the gospel, and thus lost any sense of the transcendent purpose of human activity. Social life was organized around production and the quest for profits. There was "dynamite" in the gospels but the church kept it under lock and key.
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@RobertEllsberg
@RobertEllsberg
He was more successful at formulating principles than translating them into actions. That changed in 1932 when he met #DorothyDay, a convert with a radical past. He showed her how to combine her faith with her commitment to the poor and oppressed. The CW was launched May 1 1933.
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@RobertEllsberg
@RobertEllsberg
Maurin's program was a "personalist revolution." He spoke of creating a society "where it is easier for people to be good." "The future will be different if we make the present different." He died on May 15 1949, his last years in silence, disabled by a stroke.
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