The San Francisco priest who was a major influence on Cesar Chavez died on this day in 2012.
Fr. Donald C. McDonnell was born in 1923, the son of an Oakland, California, police officer and a homemaker.
Throughout his years in the San Francisco Archdiocese, Fr. McDonnell worked with Hispanic migrant workers and fought against abortion.
In 1950, he was assigned to serve the Spanish-speaking people of Santa Clara County, and went to the barrio of Sal Si Puedes ("Escape If You Can") to establish an Hispanic ministry. Chavez and his wife were among his first parishioners, and the two men became friends. Chavez often drove the priest to farm worker camps to say Mass.
Fr. McDonnell introduced Chavez to Catholic social justice teaching, and the writings of St. Francis of Assisi. He also made him aware of Mahatma Gandhi and his non-violent protests and fasting. Chavez later fasted on water on several occasions to draw attention to the plight of the farm workers. His last fast in 1988 was to raise awareness of the danger of pesticides to the workers' health.
Through the efforts and example of Fr. McDonnell (who also served as director of the archdiocesan Catholic Rural Life Conference), Chavez met labor leaders and learned how to organize workers, eventually leading to the creation of the United Farm Workers.
- Little Black Book, Diocese of Saginaw