Evening with Martha Hennessy Granddaughter of Dorothy Day-U.S. Radical & Founder of Catholic Worker

by Dave Donnellan Mon Nov 17, 2008 10:10

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A song to start ...

Cieron O'Reilly

Iain Attack

Martha Hennessey

Martha

by Dave Donnellan Mon Nov 17, 2008 10:13

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Colm Roddy

by Vidlink Mon Nov 17, 2008 15:23

VIDLINK - Martha Hennesey opens 75th. Anniversary Gathering Worcester, Mass. USA

http://www.pieandcoffee.org/2008/11/15/snow-ghost-commu...22043

by Report Thu Nov 20, 2008 07:18

N16 08 - Approx 50 folks gathered at Dublin's Teachers Club for a Sunday evening of reflection on the Catholic Worker movement.

The audience was primarily made up of folks who had accompanied the Pitstop Ploughshares through their 03 action at Shannon and three trials, as well as some folks with experience of the movement in the U.S.
Initial contribution from peace studies academic Ian Atack reflected on the Catholic Workers ploughshares action at Shannon Airport in 03 www.peaceontrial.com and its contribution and relation to the broader anti-war movement in Ireland.

Ciaron O'Reilly shared reflections on the Catholic Worker movement in England and Ireland over the past decade. The Liverpool Catholic Worker that sprung up in the wake of organising work around the 1996 Seeds of Hope Ploughsares (£2.5 million damage to a British Aerospace Hawk fighter bound for Inonesia's war on East Timor) trial and had a focus on long term hospitality to East Timorese refugees, a short term hospitality to families of Irish prisoners incarcerated in HMP Walton Liverpool and surrounding jails.

The Liverpool CW community kept a steady rhythym of resistance to Brisith Aerospace and its arms exports to Indonesia and solidarity with the occupied people of East Timor. BAe hit back with high court injunctions and the community was infiltrated by BAe agents. The Liverpool CW concluded around the time the Indonesian military left East Timor.

The Oxford Catholic Worker started in the early-90's and initially came out of Clive's experience volunteering with the CW in New York City. Oxford CW shifted its outreach from street homeless to facilitating assylim seekers release form nearby CamPsfield Detention Centre by providing a bail address. Sr. Susan Clarkson is now based at the Oxford house after living and working for several years with CW communities in the U.S.

A Catholic Worker support/reflection/action group that formed around the Jubilee Ploughshares 2000 action gave rise to CW communites in Oxford, Hackney and a Catholic Worker farm north of Watford. Maria from the CW farm community was at Sunday's meeting in Dublin. Like other Catholic Worker communities in Europe (Amsterdam, Hamburg, Gents) the hospitality is focussed primarily on refugees with a strong anti-war resistance focus. The Hackney community also runs a cheap cafe three days a week for marginalised folks and a free soup kitchen for info on farm and Hacney CW's see www.londoncatholicworker.org

The Catholic Worker in Dublin is not presently robust. It came together in 02 in response to Irish involvement in the war and closed its house following the acquittal and dispersal of the Pitstop Ploughshares www.peaceontrial.com Catholic Workers maintain a weekly anti-war vigil at the GPO and the past year has been mostly focused around anti-war events archiving the ploughshares action.

There have been several unsuccessful attempts to get a rhythym of liturgy and reflection going, but activity remains sporadic. Participants are involved in homeless shelter, child rearin', teaching, peace and justice work etc There remains a broad network of folks from various backgrounds who respect and feel comfortable with CW style of activity and have built up a high level of trust from the 02-06 years of DCW activism. These folks tend to lose orbit of each other in the absence of DCW organising, reflection and action.

The Catholic Worker is a radical tradition that may be unearthed and explored by anybody at anytime.The Catholic Worker is a movement of radical discipleship open to all regardless of faith or nonfaith backgrounds attempting to practise the acts of mercy, nonviolent resistance & solidarity and realise/build community. One can undertake these activities where ever one finds oneself located (ghetto, suburbia, prison, campus, etc.) The Catholic Worker is also specific projects often quite tentative experiments in truth...hospitality houses, soup runs, resistance communities etc. Check the community directory section of www.catholicworker.org

Martha spoke movingly about her grandmother Dorothy Day, her mother Tamar who passed away this year and the legacy of the Catholic Worker these women left. Here is some film footage of Martha opening the 75th. Anniversary of the Catholic Worker Conference in Worcester, USA this year.....
http://www.pieandcoffee.org/2008/11/15/snow-ghost-commu...ring/