I was hoping you could shed some light on the Catholic perception of St. Dismas. I recently went to a Tenebrae service which presented reflections of our Lords Passion from the perspective of those witnessing it. One of the perspectives came from a Zealot named Jonathan, who stated that Dismas was himself a Zealot who was being punished for his crimes against the Roman government. I was wondering what Catholic teaching on this was, as the strongest support I've found for this take, comes from an Astronomy site. Any Catholic sites are very vague on the past of St. Dismas.
Sorry for the delay, I just got back from El Salvador and have been away from all things technical. We do not know anything concrete about the two criminals who scripture says were crucified with Jesus. The NAB translation of Matthew and Mark's account says that they were revolutionaries while Luke's says that they were criminals. John merely says that two others were crucified. The reference to "Dismas" (his real name can't be verified as it comes from a non-canonical tradition) as being a thief is as unbased as the fruit that Adam and Eve ate being an apple( the type of fruit is never mentioned). What we know of crucifixions is that they were reserved for the worst criminals who were non-Roman citizens. For this reason Paul was beheaded rather than crucified. It would be likely that the Romans would make a public spectacle of those who sought to usurp the government and so perhaps "Dismas" was a revolutionary as Matthew and Mark state. He is associated as a thief because at the very end of his life he "stole" heaven in a sincere act of repentance and was subsequently told by Jesus that he would be with Him in paradise. For this reason, "Dismas" can be appealed to for prayers since the Lord assured him that he would be in Heaven with Him. Like all biblical figures, all we really know is what we have from Sacred Scripture.