Our group has been visited by Fr John Dear, Sister Megan Rice, the late Fr William "Bix" Bischel and Fr Martin Newell, all of whom have been arrested on numerous occasions for protesting against nuclear weapons, but remain clerics nonetheless.
In reality Catholic Workers are a community of everyday Catholics who are simply trying to live out the Catholic faith in the world by reaching out to the marginalised, oppressed, and those seeking sanctuary. We believe the world needs transformation by prayer and action. We practice the works of mercy and we oppose war and the existence of nuclear weapons. We believe every person is a child of God and should be treated with compassion.
The Church has always rejected the powers of mammon, nationalism, injustice, prejudice, and oppression. These powers have always been rejected by the Church because she confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. Equally, there has also always been a place for conscientious objectors and the various degrees of nonviolence within the Church from the earliest times. Indeed, among the great Saints and martyrs of the Church you’ll find many peacemakers and radicals.
Here in Glasgow, Catholic Workers regularly gather to read the gospels, share a simple meal and sit in silent contemplation together. Other times we discuss and reflect together and sometimes we go to Mass and pray the rosary. At all times we seek to be open to the catechism under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. At our meetings or out on street corners we pray that Christ is with us. But in truth, the only time we can say with any certainty that Christ is truly among us is when we are in the presence of the poor and homeless at our weekly Soup Kitchen in Glasgow City Centre. Or at our Place of Welcome for refugees which is also situated in the centre of Glasgow.
Nearly all our refugee friends who come to our Place of Welcome for shelter and a meal are Muslims. Some of whom have been displaced by the violence visited on them as a wider consequence of war. We do not use such situations to proselytise the most vulnerable people in our society. Rather, Catholic Workers tend to see themselves as what Stanley Hauerwas calls "resident aliens" in a foreign land and in this sense we have much in common with Muslim refugees.
Our Muslim brethren also pray at our Place of Welcome, we don’t spend time trying to conform Muslims to the gospel, instead we spend more time trying to conform ourselves to the gospel rather than imposing convictions and values on Muslims and homeless people who don’t share our faith. Instead, when a Muslim friend kneels and turns to Mecca, they are no longer a refugee, they are imbued with peace and dignity as children of God.
Lastly, at other times you’ll find us fasting on the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as an act of penance. Or down at Bellahouston Park with our kids and families flying “Kites Not Drones” in communion with other peace activists in other cities who fly kites to highlight the use of drones being used to drop bombs on children. Children just like the ones who come to our Place of Welcome.