Kevin Ahern, a public theologian and professor at Manhattan University, presented “Dorothy Day and the Quest for Holiness and Justice” at Mount Saint Mary College on Wednesday, November 13.
The talk was the inaugural event in a new series at the college, the Saint Martin De Porres Lecture on Social Justice, sponsored by the Catholic and Dominican Institute (CDI) and the Division of Humanities.
Journalist and pacifist Dorothy Day (1897 – 1980) was not afraid to put her words into action, even if that meant arrest for nonviolent civil disobedience. Day is currently being considered for sainthood in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis said in his 2015 address to Congress that Day offers a unique role model for Americans seeking to work for a more just and peaceful world.
Ahern’s talk explored Day’s quest for justice and what it might mean for us today. Simply put, “Dorothy teaches that you don’t have to do everything,” he said. “We don’t have to solve all the world’s problems, but we can do something.”
Day did not think of herself as particularly “holy” or worthy of being idolized. However, she also believed “that holiness was very important,” Ahern said. “She believed that all people, all Christians, were called to be saints.”
Ahern added, “She wanted to be a saint in her own way. But she didn’t want to be called a saint, because she didn’t want to be domesticated or lifted up on a pedestal. Some people deserve that exemplar status, that maybe they can be a role model and inspire people to live a different way.”
Ahern is a public theologian and professor at Manhattan University, where he directs the Dorothy Day Center for the Study and Promotion of Social Catholicism. He is the author and editor of several books and served as president of the International Movement of Catholic Students and MIIC-Pax Romana, a global network of Catholic professionals (2016-2021). Ahern works on the boards of several organizations, including the Conference of Mercy Higher Education and the Mariandale Retreat Center. He presently chairs the Guild for the Canonization of Dorothy Day. He lives with his wife Beth and three small children in Ossining, N.Y.
The Mount’s CDI promotes the Mount’s heritage of St. Dominic, advances the Dominican charism of study and service, provides a forum for discussion of contemporary ethical issues, and enhances Catholic and Jewish dialogue.