Inspiring Catholics: Joe Kruse

Minneapolis, MN

Joe Kruse, a member of the keynote panel at Call To Action’s Conference in Albuquerque, is one of the founding members of the Minneapolis Catholic Worker community in south Minneapolis. His passion for the movement came from an early age, as he grew up surrounded by Catholic Workers at the Place of Grace Catholic Worker, a community that his parents helped found in La Crosse, WI.

These days, Joe spends most of his time working at the Rye House, one of the Minneapolis Catholic Worker hospitality houses. He invests time and energy into environmental justice issues like anti-frac sand organizing, as well as leading discussions and workshops about structural racism and white privilege, and economic justice in Minneapolis.

Joe recently represented Call To Action at the 2016 Asian Theological Forum/Asian Youth Academy conference in Thailand (check out his blog: Lessons in Humility at AYA/ATF 2016.)

“I am so thankful to Call To Action for sending me to the conference. It was an honor to be around such a loving and diverse group of Catholics. It gave me so much hope for the future of the Church,” Joe said.

At the conference, Joe presented on the Catholic Worker movement and his community’s recent racial justice work in conjunction with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis. The following is a brief synopsis of Joe’s presentation:

In the summer of 2011 three friends and I traveled across the country visiting intentional communities and Catholic Workers. It was on this trip we decided to found the Minneapolis Catholic Worker/Rye House Community (for more info visit theryehouse.org.) The Minneapolis Catholic Worker is an intentional community and hospitality house inspired the Catholic Worker Movement.

The Catholic Worker, started by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in the 1930s, is a global network of autonomous communities dedicated to living out the Works of Mercy and resisting racism, militarism, and materialism. Currently, Minneapolis Catholic Worker programming includes a weekly neighborhood meal, keeping two rooms open for people who are in transition or homeless, gardening, preserving food, and working with the Lake City Catholic Worker Farm. Also, over the past year one of the community’s primary focuses has become racial justice education, organizing, and activism.

Join Joe, Kaya Oaks, and many other passionate Catholics at this year’s Call To Action Conference!