Catholic Worker Movement Essay

Throughout the modern world, the Catholic Church’s Models of Servant and Community have been lived out through Church-affiliated organizations and their stewardship toward others. In particular, the Catholic Worker Movement, the RSCJs, and the Father McKenna Center have lived out these Models globally and locally. The Catholic Worker Movement, a periodical and an organization that serves the poor, RSCJs, who strive for education, and the Father McKenna Center, a nonprofit that aids the poor, all contribute to the Church’s essential mission to serve and unite the world. The Catholic Worker Movement has lived out the Church’s models of Servant and Community through their exceptional work with the underprivileged and working for social justice.

Rev. Horace B. McKenna, SJ, who was born in New York City, was in active civil rights and known as a “priest of the poor.” He participated in Vietnam-era anti-war protests and the Poor People’s campaigns. Also, Rev. McKenna co-founded SOME and Martha’s Table. From 1953 to 1958, Rev. McKenna served at At. Aloysius. Then, he spent six years as assistant pastor at the Church of the Gesu in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1964, he returned to St. Aloysius, where he remained until his death in 1982. The Father McKenna Center was founded in Washington DC in 1983, in honor of Rev. McKenna’s social justice work. The Father McKenna Center is a nonprofit social service agency in the Jesuit tradition that serves the poor and homeless of Washington DC. The Center serves the underprivileged people of Washington DC in many ways, but more specifically, by having a Food Pantry program that serves two hundred families per month, a homeless day shelter for men, and a hypothermia program. The Father McKenna Center lives out the Church’s Models of Servant and Community by allowing less fortunate people to have food and shelter, and by serving them with respect and