The Cause of social justice pioneer Dorothy Day has taken a step forward after a decision by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, to open a canonical inquiry into her life. The Archdiocese of New York is sponsoring her Cause which will first seek to investigate if the founder of the Catholic Worker movement lived a life of "heroic virtue." The evidence gathered will be presented to the Congregation for the Saints and Pope Francis. The congregation and Pope Francis will then decide whether she should be elevated from “Servant of God,” to “Venerable,” and become eligible for beatification and potentially canonisation. Mgr Gregory Mustaciuolo is postulator for Day's Cause and told the Aleteia website: “Beginning next week, we will begin interviewing eyewitnesses — people who had firsthand experience of Dorothy Day — in all about 50. Together, their memories stretch all the way back to the 1940s.” George Horton, liaison for the Dorothy Day Guild, said the project would be a "team effort." He said: “Dorothy Day created or inspired dozens of houses of hospitality throughout the English-speaking world, but she was also a journalist who published The Catholic Worker newspaper. Her articles in that paper alone total over 3,000 pages. Add her books and other publications will probably surpass 8,000 pages of manuscripts.” Dorothy Day converted to Catholicism in 1927 and founded the Catholic Worker Movement with Peter Maurin in 1933 in New York. She is renowned for her work with the poor and pieces of writing promoting peace in order to address social and economic concerns.