This (I)NTERVIEW is from March 28th, 2011
Mark Colville is a founding member of the Amistad Catholic Worker House in New Haven, CT. Based on a philosophy of “personalism” (“If you want to help the person in the street, go the person in the street,” Mark explains), the house is open to members of the community seeking sustenance and companionship. Mark and his wife, four children, and a nephew share their home with five to 20 people at any given time.
The Amistad Catholic Worker House in located on Rosette Street, within“The Hill” neighborhood in the southwest corner of New Haven and populated by mostly working class and minority residents. Activities at the Amistad Catholic Worker include daily breakfast and lunch, medical screenings, furniture and clothing “give and takes,”anti-war vigils, and a mass held in Mark’s living room followed by a shared meal. The house, one of 200+ affiliated with the movement, is open to any and all individuals who need a place to stay for any length of time and has been in operation since 1994. Neither a soup kitchen nor a church, the Amistad Catholic Worker House prides itself on being an “extended family” that blurs the distinction between the people who are serving and those being served.
The Catholic Worker Movement was initiated by social justice activists Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933, amid the Great Depression. Mark clarified that while many workers are not Catholics themselves, the movement adheres to several Catholic values, which include non-violence, voluntary poverty, daily reflection, and hospitality for those in need.
Mark studied peace and religion in college and attended seminary for three years. He is fluent in Spanish and has traveled to many countries in Latin and South America with his wife to continue their missionary work, particularly in Guatemala and Brazil. Throughout the years, Mark has taken a stance on issues of both local and global significance, protesting torture, arms manufacture, corporate tax cheats, and in 2009, attempted to bring medical supplies with five other peace activists to Gaza.