On May 1 1933, Feast of St Joseph the Worker, Dorothy Day and a small troupe of followers distributed the first issue of The Catholic Worker at a Communist rally in Union Square. In an editorial, she described the purpose of the paper, which was written on her kitchen table:

May 1, 2020 · 12:34 AM UTC

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"For those who are sitting on park benches in the warm spring sunlight. For those who are huddling in shelters trying to escape the rain. For those who are walking the streets in the all but futile search for work. For those who think that there is no hope for the future...
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...no recognition of their plight—this little paper is addressed. It is printed to call their attention to the fact that the Catholic church has a social program—to let them know that there are men of God working not only for their spiritual but for their material welfare."
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Today the CW is 87 years old. As Dorothy wrote, "We were just sitting there talking when Peter Maurin came in. We were just sitting there talking when lines of people began to form saying 'We need bread.'...It all happened while we sat there talking, and it is still going on."
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