Catholic Social Teaching and Dorothy Day

By Joe Tevington

02/12/2024 • View profile

Catholic Social Teaching and Dorothy Day

I believe the Vatican's Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church magnificently supports a focus on the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of the transmission of human life (cf, Catholic Stand, 11/13/22). Often, this does not seem clear from secondary sources.

Servant of God Dorothy Day is well known for her piety and the orthodoxy of her faith. While her Catholic Social Teaching promotion of peace and concern for impoverished people are well know, her positions on abortion and contraceptives do not seem to be:

Catholic Worker, 1933: “….Three little pigs are crowded into a too-small cage, the case is brought into court, the judge’s findings in the case being that pigs should not be crowded the way subway riders are. And a family of eight children, mother, and father, are crowded in three rooms and the consensus of opinion is that they’re lucky to have that and why don’t they practice birth control anyway….”
The Family vs Capitalism, 1936: “….in New York…, there is no diocesan provision whatsoever for the poor who are trying to observe the teachings of the Church against birth control and raise families despite their economic circumstances….”
On Pilgrimage, 1963: “….Sex is a profound force, having to do with life, the forces of creation which make man god-like….”
Chastity, 1966: “….the marriage act purged of impurities is the nearest thing to the beatific vision we can know….“
On Pilgrimage, 1972: “….birth control and abortion are genocide….”
On Pilgrimage, 1980: “….When she [my sister] went on to exhort me on another occasion, that I should not urge, as a Catholic, Tamar, my daughter, to have so many children, I got up firmly and walked out of the house….” (Catholic Stand, 1/10/23)

This disconnect does not properly honor Dorothy Day or benefit anyone.

Bravo Dorothy, RIP

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About the Author

Joe Tevington

Joe Tevington is a proudly orthodox Catholic, a husband since 1986, a dad to two adult children, a grandpa to two, and a civil service retiree. He is a sign language fluent certified rehabilitation counselor with graduate degrees in deafness rehabilitation, religious studies/moral theology, & Christian counseling psychology, as well as a catechetical diploma and certificates in benefits planning and Catholic social ministry. He deeply appreciates Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of the transmission of human life, as well as how they are to inform us in our apostolates and ministries.

On much lighter notes, he fancies himself to be the foremost authority on his native Brooklyn, when it comes to architecture, cinema, geography, history, Italian food, stick ball, stoop ball, or wiffle ball.

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