America's Largest Catholic Newspaper
To the Editor:
“Do not be afraid” is the constant refrain of Jesus in the Gospels and of all the recent popes. Please, CNY, do not be afraid to tell the whole truth about Dorothy Day and her non-violent love of friend and foe, her resistance to all warfare as opposed to the Gospel, her refusal to pay war taxes, her relegation to the peripheries of the Church by many loyal Catholics even in our own Archdiocese. Giving witness to her holy life provides CNY with an opportunity to divulge the great secret that our Church, thanks to Dorothy, actually praises “those who renounce violence in the vindication of their rights.”
Dorothy Day’s life is a powerful witness to a wisdom and a power that contradicts the wisdom and the power of the world. CNY, don’t be afraid to share the whole truth about that life. We need that truth, our people need it, our country needs it.
Dorothy’s granddaughter, Martha, suggests that, when canonized, Dorothy should bear the title, “Patroness of the Periphery.” How appropriate.
Father George J. Kuhn
Manhattan
Father Kuhn is a retired priest of the archdiocese.
