The original incarnation of this little book, or large pamphlet, whose full title is New Heaven, New Earth: Practical Essays on the Catholic Worker Program, was as a series of articles commenting on a traditional text known as the Catholic Worker Positions, which can be found in the Introduction of New Heaven, New Earth. The commentary is primarily an expansion and clarification of this basic position paper, based (as were the original Positions) on the social encyclicals of the Roman Catholic Church, and more anciently on the teaching of the Fathers [sic] of the Church. The articles appeared in late 1981 and early 1982 in the bimonthly newsletter of the Des Moines Catholic Worker Community, via pacis, of which I was editor at the time. They proved sufficiently popular that in 1993, Rose Hill Books, a small desk-top publishing concern founded by two other members of the Catholic Worker movement, Beth Preheim and Michael Sprong, decided to put the essays in book form. The book is now out of print and Rose Hill Books no longer exists--though both Beth and Michael are going strong!--so it seemed like a good idea to put the full text online for wider circulation. You will find it chapter by chapter below.

Note that the George Bush mentioned in the Afterword is the first president of that name, though much of what is said about the times back then could still be said today! (And note also that the "triumph of the free market" referred to in that same section is even more hollow today, given the devastation wrought on not only the poor but even ordinary middle-class folks by the depredations of the "greed is good" crowd. Now more than ever....