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Left Catholic was created in the fall of 2021 by two Catholics who met at Union Theological Seminary.
We want to talk about what a Catholic presence looks like and can be in the political left.
Who we are
our goals
We want to build a Catholic church for the people. To do so, we turn to the many traditions of the left and liberation movements. We hope to help make the Catholic left conscious of itself so that it can change the existing Catholic church structure, and so that Catholics can become better partners in the broader anti-capitalist struggle.
This Publication:
Addresses material oppression, ie: how money, labor, and land are used to oppress people
Following traditions of liberation theology, we see Jesus as a poor person living among an oppressed community under the Roman Empire’s occupation. Jesus’ community was exploited to enrich the Empire. The Catholic reform movement, especially in its nonprofit wing, is predominantly wealthy, highly-educated, urban, and white. In other words, it is composed of people who benefit from capitalism, and as such Catholic reform often lacks an underlying critique of capitalism, and specifically racial capitalism. The goal of this publication is to open discussion around the role of Catholics and the Church in combating exploitation.
Strives to be accessible and inclusive
We welcome a range of perspectives and styles from people with a variety of experiences of church, work, education, and political organizing. We particularly encourage broadly accessible language and explanations.
Connects personal experience to systems of oppression
We want Catholics on the margins of the church, broadly defined, to write about their lives in the context of church and state oppression.
Specifically refers to and builds Catholic leftism
We are inspired by liberation movements both historical and contemporary, Catholic and non-Catholic. Our work directly draws on our reading of scripture, the Catholic Worker movement, Latin American liberation theology in the tradition of Ernesto Cardenal and the base communities, labor movements like the United Farm Workers organized by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, and the anti-war resistance of the Berrigan brothers and Plowshares movement. We look to the people-centered work of movements like the Black Panthers, Young Lords, and American Indian Movement. We welcome work informed by many traditions, including police and prison abolition, various anti-capitalist frameworks, Indigenous sovereignty, Black liberation, feminism and womanism, and queer liberation. While we want to build a people’s coalition across experience and identity, we also welcome writing from people who have not found liberation in such work.
Call for submissions
For the second issue of Left Catholic, we’re focusing on labor! Please submit content about labor and its intersections with race, gender, disability, and more. Please answer one of the following questions. If you have other ideas beyond the parameters of these, feel free to email us to chat about it at leftcatholic@gmail.com.
- How have race, gender, or other experiences been used by the ruling classes to divide labor movements?
- What is the role of Catholics in the current wave of labor organizing?
- What is the history of labor and the Catholic Church?
- What are the specific concerns of workers in Catholic organizations and institutions?
Fall/Winter 2022
Length: 1,000 words maximum, shorter pieces encouraged. Visual art is welcomed. Any style welcomed (essays, articles, short stories), with preference for broadly accessible prose that makes a critical analysis.
Submit finished pieces via this form by Friday, December 16th. Email leftcatholic@gmail.com with any questions.
See our Spring/Summer 2022 issue on the Call To Action website
past issues