Date of Award
5-1971
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Theology
Abstract
It is the premise of this study, that Dorothy Day was charismatic and that her charism expressed itself in a prophetic attempt to call the Church to its responsibility to and involvement in the world, and offered the Scriptural and Christological foundations for that involvement. This judgment is not meant to be exclusive. It ls not the intent of this study to compare Dorothy Day to other individuals of her period, or to the official theological teaching of the time. Charism is not obtained by comparison, but rather is recognized because of its theological foundation. Nor does the fact of an official teaching, even one which is itself totally adequate to the times, preclude prophetic activity. There is no direct relation between theological teaching and the conception of that teaching in the person taught. The concern of this study is the theological foundation which Dorothy Day presented in her writing and her work. The question is simply this: given the historical importance of the Catholic Worker movement and of the individual who has lead it from its beginning, is anything of theological value to be learned from an examination of that individual?