St. Martin de Porres CW
St. Martin de Porres is a Catholic Worker community located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The house offers rooms to a few individuals who are seeking housing. Additionally, the community takes on a responsibility to provide labor at the Saint Francis soup kitchen across the street and also for maintaining a community garden. The house accepts donations (socks, underwear, toiletries, housing essentials, etc.) and hands them out to neighbors in need. The Harrisburg CW does not have a publication but does occasionally post articles on this website. There is not a scheduled evening for round-table discussions but the community hopes to begin those soon.
The St. Martin de Porres Catholic Worker has a close relationship with The Joshua Group non-profit across the street. Interested community members would have the opportunity to apply for a part-time position there.
What is the Catholic Worker?
The mission statement, summarized in 140 words:
The Catholic Worker Movement began simply enough on May 1, 1933, when a journalist named Dorothy Day and a philosopher named Peter Maurin teamed up to publish and distribute a newspaper called “The Catholic Worker.” This radical paper promoted the biblical promise of justice and mercy.
Grounded in a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every human person, their movement was committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, and the Works of Mercy as a way of life. It wasn’t long before Dorothy and Peter were putting their beliefs into action, opening a “house of hospitality” where the homeless, the hungry, and the forsaken would always be welcome.
Over many decades the movement has protested injustice, war, and violence of all forms. Today there are some 228 Catholic Worker communities in the United States and in countries around the world.
The Catholic Worker Movement described in 140 words
The Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker Movement
The Catholic Worker Movement advocates for personalism, a decentralized society, and a “green revolution”. Catholic Workers strive to accomplish those aims through the means of nonviolence, the works of mercy, manual labor, and voluntary poverty. For a description of these aims and means please check the Catholic Worker Movement’s website.