Catholic Workers on 75th anniversary: “We call on our church and nation to join us in repenting our affronts to God”

Editor’s note: The following statement was “affirmed in assembly” by some of those attending the recent Catholic Worker national gathering. Though it wasn’t created by any formal process, I think most of those at the gathering would agree with it.

We are Catholic Workers from communities throughout the U.S. and Europe who have come to Worcester, Massachusetts to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Catholic Worker. At this critical point in history, as we face unending war, including U.S. plans to attack Iran, ecological destruction and economic collapse, we call on our church and nation to join us in repenting our affronts to God.
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“The curious case of the protest permit”

This week’s Worcester Magazine does a great job explaining the latest pre-trial motions and letters in our “rosary trial”:

Usually, says Schaeffer-Duffy, giving advance notification of a protest means you’ll be arrested as soon as you show up. So the fact that the marshals and police waited for the group to finish almost made them feel like they were getting off with no trouble. The wait, says Schaeffer-Duffy, is “unprecedented” in his experience.

As for Bell’s claims that the group was given a card to contact the building manager, Schaeffer-Duffy says no one remembers that happening.

“Should it be true that such a permit exists, and we can obtain one … we will be scheduling regular protests [at the courthouse]. It’s a win-win. We’re going to take it at face value and pursue it.”

Thanks for attending the Catholic Worker national gathering!

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Bishop Robert McManus today said mass at Mt. Carmel for the 75th anniversary of the Catholic Worker movement. It was a wonderful way to close the Catholic Worker national gathering.

Father Bernie Gilgun, a long-time Catholic Worker, was the homilist. Also at the altar were Fr. Bafaro of Mt. Carmel, Fr. Robert Johnson, Msgr. Sullivan, Fr. Jim Houston, and Deacon Walter Doyle. Donna Domiziano of the Mustard Seed Catholic Worker read the first reading.

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DC Catholic Worker Art Laffin greets Bishop McManus

Carl Paulson
Carl Paulson of Upton, MA, is the oldest living Catholic Worker.

Donna also masterminded the food for the gathering. There were lots of vegan options, all of them terrific.

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Me amidst the group photo.

I asked Rich Bishop for the story of how, exactly, the 75th anniversary gathering ended up in Worcester. It’s a long story, but I think the short answer is: It was Mike Boover’s idea.

Thanks to all 400-500 of you who attended for making this a great event!

508 #43: Art, gardening, comics

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Jacob Berendes and Mike Leslie talk about public art in Elm Park. Sarah Loy talks about the Arboretum Community Garden. Aiden Duffy delivers Anger-Man #2. And Mike Benedetti reads the InCity Times.

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Park Fences

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Peter Maurin speaks

According to Tom Cornell, the only recording of Peter Maurin’s voice was taken from a wire recording made circa 1946-47. Several copies of this were pressed to 78rpm and sent to supporters of the Catholic Worker. He’s reading his easy essay “Makers of Europe,” or “When the Irish were Irish.” (The Catholic Worker archives lists this as c. 1939.)

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508 #42: Car and Catholic conventions

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Brendan Melican and Jeff Barnard.

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After a short attempt to remain a parks commissioner, Bruce Wahle has stepped down. The auto event called the Summer Nationals is in Worcester this weekend; lots of blogging by Jeff, and a great interview with the founder in Worcester Magazine.

Tom Lewis’s retrospective art show has opened. The head of AIDS Project Worcester wrote a strong rebuttal to a letter by Barbara Haller and Billy Breault. The T&G had a nice photo of the fireworks; many more on Flickr. The whole Charter/NebuAd/customer betrayal thing is unravelling; kudos to WoMag for covering it, and fie on the T&G for ignoring it. Security Now has a two part podcast explaining the technology and issues involved in this sort of thing.

Mike talks about the Catholic Worker gathering and rosary trial update, already blogged here. Central Street is still not named after MLK. A local was busted for buying fake drugs. People like real drugs. (We talk about drug legalization in Massachusetts at length.) Mike reads some Jordan Levy headlines.

The City Council will discuss street vendors again on Tuesday, and likely vote on whether to restrict their activities. If you support vendors, it’s not a waste of time to contact your councilor, because they’re still divided on the issue.

The Union Station garage isn’t open; some of the vacancies there will be filled. There is cool art in Elm Park.

Piedmont Street: A campaign office focusing on registered Dominican voters living in Worcester?
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Public events in Worcester federal building: talk to manager?

A few weeks back, Ken Hannaford-Ricardi went into the Worcester federal building to see about getting a permit to hold a political/religious event there. After being sent to various offices, and waiting several days for people to check around about a permit, he was told that nobody knew about such a permit. He wrote to the judge in our civil disobedience case, letting him know that getting a permit was not so straightforward as the US Attorney made it out to be.

Now the Government has written a letter in reply, saying that the Building Manager is the person to approach, as per Code of Federal Regulations 41 S. 102-74.460 through S. 102-74.555.

When we’ve had a chance to approach the Building Manager, I’ll post the results here.