Preparation for the 75th anniversary of Catholic Relief Services
calls to mind a truly remarkable woman whose work has informed the Catholic
social tradition, particularly in the United States during the last century.
In my own case, I owe her a special debt. Though she is not
well-known beyond the peace movement circles, her legacy probably has touched
Catholics everywhere.
I refer to the inimitable Eileen Egan who in 1943 was the first
woman and first lay representative to go overseas for War Relief Services
(eventually renamed Catholic Relief Services), newly formed by the bishops of
the United States.
Before there was any operating procedure and established protocol
for such work, Egan ministered to refugees from World War II, victims of the
Holocaust and displaced people in Gaza, Pakistan, Hong Kong, India and
elsewhere.
Concomitant with her CRS assignments, Egan became a force in the
Catholic Worker movement, which led to a profound friendship with Dorothy Day.
She served as associate editor of The
Catholic Worker, wrote and led numerous external communications,
organized Day's tours and events, and was at her side during Day's last protest
and arrest. As a biographer, Egan's books and essays have served as primary
sources of materials on Day’s life and
ministry.
Perhaps holy women naturally flock to each other. Circa India
1955: Egan came upon the tiny nun of Kolkata and her residences that sheltered
the most marginalized folks. Their suffering and appearances initially
intimidated Egan. She learned from Mother Teresa how to engage these
individuals by seeing Christ in them.
Egan then brought Mother Teresa on her first trip to the United
States to address the 1960 National Council of Catholic Women Conference in Las
Vegas. A full-blown national tour followed and included a meeting between
Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day.
Egan's commitment to justice and peace also located her at the
historical march in Selma with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and in correspondence
with Father Thomas Merton.
Egan abhorred war. Born in 1911 to an Irish family in Wales, she
experienced the effects of World War I. From her CRS work with victims, she saw
war as the negation of the incarnation of Christ in every person and the
reversal of every corporal work of mercy.
She could not accommodate war for any reason and was concerned particularly
about the just-war theory and the tolerance for nuclear weapons.
Her efforts at advocacy, including a lead editorial of a special
issue of The Catholic Worker titled "We are
all under judgment," influenced the church's thinking at the Second
Vatican Council. The resulting pastoral constitution "Gaudium
et Spes" denounced attacks on population centers with weapons of
mass destruction and the arms race, while supporting the rights of Catholics as
conscientious objectors.
Egan continued to push the United Nations on this last issue,
making the point that an institution devoted to peacemaking must allow for the
rights of an individual acting on his conscience to not kill. It was an effort
that spanned at least two decades. The resolution was placed on the U.N. agenda
in 1971 and approved in 1987.
She was also the co-founder of Pax Christi USA with the mission
to call on the church to recover our own rich traditions from the Gospel of
nonviolence and to recognize in the teachings of Christ that justice and the
works of mercy are the only acceptable alternatives to war.
Egan was a person who, having seen the horrors of wars, did not
just attend to their victims but spent the rest of her life seeking the only
solution that aligns with the Gospel.
To do so, she wrote, marched, critically assessed cultural
values, stereotypes and assumptions, organized movements and challenged the
church she loved to accept nothing less than what Christ stands for.
Woo is distinguished president's fellow for global
development at Purdue University and served as the CEO and president of
Catholic Relief Services from 2012 to 2016.