Martha Hennessy’s revolution of the heart

The highly anticipated visit to Scotland of the granddaughters of Dorothy Day, the lifelong non-violent social activist and co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement took place from 14th to 21st March 2024. During their stay, hosted by the Glasgow Catholic Worker, peace activist Martha Hennessy, accompanied by her sister, the artist and writer Kate Hennessy, gave numerous talks to groups of students at the University of Glasgow, and to Catholic and Scottish Episcopal parishes in Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Hennessys had a private audience with Archbishop Nolan, took part in a meeting at the Scottish Parliament hosted by Bill Kidd MSP, and paid a visit to Faslane to pray at Clyde Naval Base, home to Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons.

In different ways, both sisters continue the work of their ‘granny’, embracing sacramental Catholicism and Catholic social teaching and making Christ visible in the world by taking on the corporal works of mercy: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, and burying the dead.

In the following text, derived from her talks at the University of Glasgow, Martha Hennessy discusses Dorothy Day, her canonisation cause, and how her grandmother’s example led her to a life of voluntary poverty and radical social and anarchic political activism.

Picture -Dorothy Day with her grand daughter Martha Hennessy