From: "Jim Devine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> (and it would be truly
> groovy if the CATHOLIC WORKER leader Dorothy Day became a saint, almost
> making up for the on-going move to make Fr. Junipero Serra one)
Vatican to Weigh Sainthood For Reformer Dorothy Day
By Hanna Rosin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 17, 2000; Page A03
Catholic Worker newspaper, but famously said, "Don't trivialize me by trying
to make me a saint." The Vatican yesterday agreed to consider whether to
grant sainthood to Dorothy Day, heroine of the Catholic left, journalist,
anarchist and pacifist, ignoring objections from church traditionalists and
possibly Day's own wishes.
<snip>
Many traditionalists think Day's radical past makes her an unsuitable role
model. But many of her activist friends resist it for the opposite reason.
To them, canonization will whitewash her life and turn it into a tidy
inspirational story.
"I want to let you know how sick your canonization moves are," her
granddaughter Maggie Hennessy wrote to the Catholic magazine that first
proposed it in 1987. "You have completely missed her beliefs and what she
lived for if you are trying to stick her on a pedestal."
Yesterday, a fellow activist, Daniel Berrigan, seemed resigned. "I guess
it's a fait accompli," he said. "The dead don't ever own the dead."
Day herself resisted the honor. Nervous about having her life examined, she
burned all copies of her novel "Eleventh Hour," a fictionalized account of
her early life, including her abortion and sexual adventures.
When asked about sainthood directly, she famously quipped: "Don't trivialize
me by trying to make me a saint."
<snip>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/2000-03/17/098l-031700-idx.html
