Flag or Cross? Following the Nonviolent Jesus in a Time of War
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jack McHale, President, Pax Christi Metro DC Board
jmchale@cox.net
Flag or Cross? Emmanuel Charles McCarthy Keynotes May 10 Pax Christi Forum
WASHINGTON, DC – March 23, 2008
Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, Catholic priest, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, former U.S. Marine, and founding director of the Center for Christian Nonviolence, will provide the keynote address for a day of prayer, reflection, learning, and inquiry at Trinity University Washington DC, adjacent to the Catholic University/National Shrine campus, on May 10. Sponsored by Pax Christi Metro DC Baltimore, the day-long event, Flag or Cross? Following the Nonviolent Jesus in a Time of War, will begin with registration and a light breakfast at 9 and end with a Mass celebrated by Msgr. Ray East at 4 pm. Msgr. East is Executive Director, Office of Black Catholics, and Vicar for Evangelization, Archdiocese of Washington.The day’s presentations feature speakers who describe the impact of the Iraq war, now starting its sixth year, from a range of personal, professional, and theological perspectives. Katy Scott of Military Families Speak Out is the mother of an injured Iraq veteran. Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, is a journalist specializing in Middle East and United Nations issues. The two will join Andy Shallal, Iraqi American activist and business leader, and Donna Grimes, education specialist on the staff of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, on the morning panel that begins at 11.
During lunch participants will view Conviction, a documentary produced by Sister Carol Gilbert, OP, and Sister Ardeth Platte, OP, chronicling the nonviolent Sacred Space and Earth Plowshares Action for which the two served several months in federal prison. Gilbert and Platte will be panelists for the afternoon presentation, “The American Church: Prophetic Response or Silent Consent?” That panel will also include Bishop Francisco Gonzalez, Auxiliary Bishop of Washington [invited]; Rev. Joe Nangle, OFM, Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace, former executive director of Franciscan Mission Service, and Ministerio Latino at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington; and Anne McCarthy, OSB, past national coordinator of Pax Christi, USA.
Registration for Flag or Cross costs $35 before May 1 and $40 at the door. Scholarships are available for students and others for whom the cost would constitute a hardship. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Paid registrations and scholarship requests can be mailed to Pax Christi Metro DC Baltimore (PC-MDCB), 415 Michigan Avenue NE, Washington, DC, 20017. For additional information, visit the PC-MDCB website at http://www.paxchristimetrodc.org or call Jack McHale, 571.334.2654.
Pax Christi Metro DC Baltimore is a Catholic peace and justice community and a region of the national Catholic peace movement, Pax Christi USA. Its advocacy for peace and justice is grounded in Jesus’ example of prayer, nonviolence, and solidarity with the poor and in Catholic social teaching. Pax Christi USA and Pax Christi International strive to create a world that reflects the Peace of Christ by exploring, articulating, and witnessing to the call of Christian nonviolence.
