Catholic Heroes of Civil and Human Rights

This inspiring work profiles sixteen Catholic men and women--lay and religious, canonized saints and ordinary car mechanics---who defied all odds to advance civil and human rights since the turn of the eighteenth century.

Ranging from the birth of the United States to the current immigration crisis at the United States-Mexico border, this survey features men and women whose faith drove them to courageously defend the dignity of the children of God, especially the most vulnerable. In doing so, they transformed others’ lives and paved the way for a more loving and equitable society.

Supported by official Church documents, each chapter is themed on one of the pillars of the natural law foundations of human rights—freedom, perseverance, hope, justice, and conscience. These short, readable, yet insightful biographies of figures who exemplify each pillar demonstrate how the teachings of Christ, through his Church, can drive ordinary believers to an extraordinary deeds.

Among the sixteen heroes in this book are former slave Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, Austrian farmer and martyr Blessed Franz Jagerstatter, Native American catechist Nicholas Black Elk, Servant of God Dorothy Day, St. Katharine Drexel, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Oscar Romero, former slave and later entrepreneur and philanthropist Venerable Pierre Toussaint and teacher, evangelist, and singer Sister Thea Bowman.