Manhattan College announces establishment of new center, names it after Dorothy Day

The Dorothy Day Center for Study and Promotion of Social Catholicism will soon call Manhattan College its new home. (Photo by Grant Ritchie on Unsplash)

According to the college's announcement, the Dorothy Day Center for Study and Promotion of Social Catholicism will soon call Manhattan College its new home.

The New Center

According to the article from Manhattan College, the new center will be established in Kelly Commons, and the grand opening ceremony is scheduled to take place at the beginning of 2023.

It will be used to house a collection of historical materials and archives relating to Day, who was known as the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and an unrelenting campaigner for labor justice, nonviolence, and nuclear disarmament.

The building is currently under construction, as reported.

The center will serve as a resource for the campus, the local community, and the international Lasallian network on themes relevant to Day and the larger Catholic social justice tradition.

The Dorothy Day Center is the official body tasked with pushing her cause for sainthood with the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

It will reportedly assist the offices of the center.

The well-known activist is also affiliated with Manhattan College in several different ways.

Before the announcement, Day had made multiple trips to the school. Since 2015, Manhattan College has been the site of an annual Dorothy Day Lecture given by renowned academics and historians in religious studies.

Kevin Ahern, who holds a Ph.D. and is now an associate professor of religious studies and a co-chair of the Dorothy Day Guild Advisory Committee, has agreed to take on the role of head of the new center.

According to Ahern, the center will contain several personal relics belonging to Day.

In Honor of Dorothy Day

Martha Hennessy, Day's granddaughter, will provide those artifacts.

In addition, there will also be historical images of Day, an interactive chronology of her life and faith, and materials to assist students in being involved in the movement to promote peace and justice.

As mentioned, Day was recently recognized for its contributions to the transportation industry by the New York City Department of Transportation and Mayor Eric Adams.

The well-known Catholic activist who was a resident of Staten Island for many years and a frequent user of the ferry service has been honored with the naming of a brand new Staten Island Ferry vessel just commissioned by the city.

Accordingly, the center is a resource on the Catholic social tradition that serves the university, local community, and the worldwide Lasallian network.

It is named after Dorothy Day, an advocate for social justice.

The Lasallian mission of Manhattan College, which prioritizes social justice, faith in the presence of God, and concern for those less fortunate, is embodied in these ideals, as reported.

The center also continues the school's history of working to ensure that workers are treated fairly.

Moreover, Dorothy Day served as the driving force behind the Catholic Worker movement, which was established in 1933.

Catholic workers fight injustice while living in fundamental solidarity with poor people.

Day is now being considered for canonization as a candidate for sainthood by the Archdiocese of New York and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.