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[[File:Dorothy Day 1916|thumb|Dorothy Day in 1916]] Because Dorothy Day’s faith was integral to the movement’s foundation, we will consider it here. Dorothy Day was baptized as an Episcopalian, but did not have any strong religious affiliation or influence in her youth. As she entered into early adulthood she became increasingly vexed by the country’s social ills, particularly the looming effects of industrialization and the trend that free market societies had to abuse their workers. Moreover, she was extremely outspoken about her anti-war commitments and socialist leanings in her writing as a journalist and her political activism.She joined the socialist party, declaring herself an atheist dedicated to the common good. Though Dorothy was very involved politically, she felt a calling and pull to Catholicism; socialist politics was not substantial enough--it did not have enough heart. In other words, Day found a lot of talk among her Bohemian communities about advocacy for the poor, but not as much action. Even though political protests were active in some sense, activists rarely met with, listened to, or lived with the poor. They advocated for them, but didn’t love them. This lead to a long courtship with Catholicism, but her common law husband, a staunch anti-theist, was not keen on her intrigue with religion. After giving birth to her daughter and separating from her common law husband, Day made the choice to convert to the Catholic Church, which gave new resolve and purpose to her mission of social transformation. Day’s conversion to Catholicism helps explain her search for something more than socialist politics that eventually resulted in the birth of the Catholic Worker.

[[File:Peter Maurin|thumb|Peter Maurin]] The creation of the Catholic Worker, of course, cannot leave out it’s co-founder, Peter Maurin. According to Egan Eileen, Maurin was, “bursting with ideas on how to remake society and purge it of its evils through living according to the Gospel and Christian tradition, and would share them with anyone who would listen.” <ref>EILEEN, EGAN. "THE FINAL WORD IS LOVE: Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement." Crosscurrents no. 4 (1980): 377-384</ref> George Schuster, a mutual friend of Maurin and Day, recommended that the two meet and discuss their common interests. Shortly after Schuster made the suggestion, Maurin showed up on the doorstep of Day’s home and five months later the Catholic Worker was born. It was Maurin’s ideas and Day’s ability to see them through and conceive of practical applications for the implementation that enabled the Catholic Worker to become a reality. Both Maurin and Day were brought together by their restless interest in lifting society up, creating communities that made it just a little better to be good. So, putting all of this together, the Catholic worker was a response to the poverty produced during the Great Depression--a product of Dorothy Day’s political activism, her conversion to Catholicism, and Peter Maurin’s passion for conforming society to Christ’s vision in the Gospel. It’s ideological roots can be described as radically Christian.