Pax Christi Metro DC

By Alan Smigielski

On this Sunday that our church celebrates the Holy Trinity, I had the great honor of gathering in Catonsville, Maryland with many long distance runners for peace and justice from across our region and country to reflect on our own trinity of fire, rain and repentance. We were there to celebrate and reflect upon the prophetic action of the Catonsville 9, forty years ago during the height of the Vietnam War. On May 17, 1968, nine courageous and faithful Catholics (including the priest brothers Daniel and Phil Berrigan) entered the Selective Service office in Catonsville, removed several hundred A-1 draft records, and burned them outside with homemade napalm. This act of outrageous faithfulness to the nonviolent Jesus touched millions of people of faith and solidified faith-based opposition to the slaughter in Vietnam. All nine were arrested, and after a highly publicized trial, sentenced to jail.

The Catonsville 9 statement of opposition to that war forty years ago still rings prophetic and faithful today, as our nation is mired in yet another horrible war of conquest and occupation:

“Our apologies good friends for the fracture of good order
the burning of paper instead of children;
the angering of the orderlies in the front parlor of the charnel house.
We could not so help us God do otherwise, For we are sick at heart
our hearts give us no rest for thinking of the Land of Burning Children…”

Read More »

The Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation (H.R. 2634) was passed in the House of Representatives on April 16, 2008 by a vote of 285 to 132. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on April 24, which has held hearings. Once the Senate passes S. 2166, the Jubilee Act will become law and for more impoverished nations, relief from crushing debt can become a reality.

In June 2007, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) introduced the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation (H.R. 2634) in the House of Representatives. Senators Robert Casey (D-PA), Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Chris Dodd (D-CT) followed suit in October by introducing an identical Senate companion bill (S. 2166). This legislation calls for more transparent and responsible behavior on the part of creditors, while expanding eligibility for debt cancellation to all 67 countries that need it to meet the United Nations Millenium Development Goals, without imposing harmful economic conditions. Only 40 countries are eligible under current debt relief schemes, and of those 40, only 22 have actually had their debts cancelled. Jubilee USA Network is calling on Members of Congress in the House and Senate to support improved creditor behavior and debt cancellation in impoverished countries by co-sponsoring the Jubilee Act.

Jubliee USA’s website has a plethora of resources on the Jubilee Act, including summaries, legislative history, FAQs, talking points and information on Congressional support. Bipartisan support of the Jubilee Act in the House of Representatives was instrumental its passage. This can happen in the Senate too, with your support, so please visit Jubilee USA’s Jubliee Act resource page at for assistance in contacting your Senator about supporting S. 2166.

Don’t Miss it, This Saturday, May 10!!
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Trinity Washington University
125 Michigan Avenue, NE
Washington, DC

Join us for a day of reflection on “just peace” … Along with the Trinity (Washington) University’s Campus Ministry, we invite all Pax Christi members and friends to gather together to pray, study and plan for action to bring Christ’s peace to the world.

Keynote speaker will be Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, who will speak on the just war theory. A panel on the human cost of war will include Katy Scott, Andy Shallal, and Donna Grimes.

During lunch, Srs. Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte will show the film Conviction, which tells the story of their Plowshares action.

A second panel will be held, entitled “Breaking the Silence of the Church,” with Fr. Joe Nangle, Srs. Anne McCarthy OSB, Carol Gilbert, OP and Ardeth Platte, OP.

The day will end with celebration of the Mass with Monsignor Ray East.

Registration 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 (PCMDC)
415 Michigan Avenue NE
Washington, DC, 20017.

For additional information, call Jack McHale, 571-334-2654.

Pax Christi USA is pleased to announce its participation in and endorsement of The Convention for the Common Good, a partnership of more than 20 Catholic organizations to raise “the common good” up as a defining perspective of this year’s electoral process.

Pax Christi USA Special Pre-Convention Events

Pax Christi USA will be hosting two pre-convention events on Thursday evening (July 10) and Friday morning (July 11) to welcome PCUSA members and the public early for the Convention. Thursday’s program, “The War Abroad, The War at Home: Building a Movement to Reverse Course,” is a chance to gather our national community to celebrate, reflect on and challenge our movement for peace with justice prior to the Convention. Friday morning’s event will be a teach-in on the Iraq War with Iraq veterans, activists, and more. Read More »

“We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever-widening circle will reach around the world,” wrote Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement. On May 1, the Catholic Worker celebrates its 75th birthday, and to mark the occasion, Marquette University Press will publish Dorothy Day’s diaries, The Duty of Delight.

Meanwhile, a beautiful new DVD documentary, Don’t Call Me a Saint, has been released, offering rare interviews and footage of the heroic woman whose reach has indeed embraced the world.

Today there are more than 185 Catholic Worker houses around the world. A new one just opened in Albuquerque, named Trinity House, a name meant to undo Robert Oppenheimer’s larceny. He purloined “Trinity” to name the atomic test site. “Poverty is a strange and elusive thing,” Dorothy wrote. “I have tried to write about it, its joys and its sorrows, for 30 years now. I condemn poverty and I advocate it. Poverty is simple and complex at once; it is a social phenomenon and a personal matter.” (Excerpts from John Dear, NCR, April 15th).