Monday, September 12, 2005
Vigil for Peace in Iraq
Donna noted this upcoming event in a comment to an earlier post. There's an announcenent of it in this week's bulletin [large PDF, p. 5] at my parish.
While you might expect a prayer service to involve prayer, this prayer service,
Mark Peters, one of the organizers of Catholics for Peace and Justice, has been a reader of this weblog and contacted me about the group. What he had to say is also in his letter in the August 25, 2005 Catholic Herald [not on its web site].
So CPJ will co-ordinate with some existing Catholic pro-life groups? Not as far as I can see.
Which I interpret to mean they hoped to not be just another left-wing peacenik Catholic group.
Prayer with three speakers sounds more like protest to me, a kind of teach-in. Just in case there was any residual appeal beyond the Catholic Left,
They found inspiration in Bishop Sklba's August 11, 2005 Herald of Hope column The sorrow of a war-torn world. As Peters describes it,
On the issue of numbness to suffering, compare Bishop Sklba'a December 30, 1990 Milwaukee Journal op-ed "War in Gulf: US is not justified in light of Augustine's criteria" [PDF].
So what did he think should be the goal?
He was so numb that in the face of brutality, he wanted to promote stability. His compassion seems to have an ideological bent.
Catholics for Peace and Justice, a newly-formed group of laity, religious and clergy, will sponsor a prayer service for peace in Iraq in Cathedral Square ...
While you might expect a prayer service to involve prayer, this prayer service,
will include three speakers: Fr. John Celichowski, a Capuchin with a law degree from Georgetown University, will address the legality and morality of the war; Hamid Alwan, an Iraqi-American business owner in Milwaukee with family still in Iraq, will talk about the impact of the war and occupation there; and Deacon Steve Przedpelski, Director of Franciscan Peacemakers Street Ministry, will address the cost of the war here at home.
Mark Peters, one of the organizers of Catholics for Peace and Justice, has been a reader of this weblog and contacted me about the group. What he had to say is also in his letter in the August 25, 2005 Catholic Herald [not on its web site].
We see this war as a pro-life issue, and want to join with those who believe in the sacred dignity of human life in praying and working for peace.
So CPJ will co-ordinate with some existing Catholic pro-life groups? Not as far as I can see.
In initial meetings, Mr. Peters says,
We agreed that this group would be non-partisan, and our only ideology would be that of Catholic social teaching, which cannot be branded as merely "conservative" or "liberal."
Which I interpret to mean they hoped to not be just another left-wing peacenik Catholic group.
To that end, we began, not with protest or lobbying, but prayer.
Prayer with three speakers sounds more like protest to me, a kind of teach-in. Just in case there was any residual appeal beyond the Catholic Left,
We have also held monthly meetings and formed committees ...
They found inspiration in Bishop Sklba's August 11, 2005 Herald of Hope column The sorrow of a war-torn world. As Peters describes it,
We merely ask, like Bishop Sklba, that we not allow ourselves to become numb to the daily suffering of the Iraqi people, or the unmet needs of "the least among us" here at home.
On the issue of numbness to suffering, compare Bishop Sklba'a December 30, 1990 Milwaukee Journal op-ed "War in Gulf: US is not justified in light of Augustine's criteria" [PDF].
He took note of
...the brutality and violations of basic human rights in Kuwait. This compounds their invasion ...
So what did he think should be the goal?
Thus the response of the world in the form of United Nations sanctions and peace-keeping forces is a needed action to promote stability in a troubled part of the world.
He was so numb that in the face of brutality, he wanted to promote stability. His compassion seems to have an ideological bent.
After discussing CPJ with Mr. Peters, I had to say I couldn't join, though we've corresponded since. CPJ looks to have already failed if it was an attempt to be a different kind of organization. It seems to me that an organization as Mr. Peters originally described his were to exist, it might have a name more like Catholics for Life, Justice and Peace. But I suspect it wouldn't draw many members from CPJ, given the phrase comes from Instrumentum Laboris 73.
Some receive Communion while denying the teachings of the Church or publicly supporting immoral choices in life, such as abortion, without thinking that they are committing an act of grave personal dishonesty and causing scandal. Some Catholics do not understand why it might be a sin to support a political candidate who is openly in favour of abortion or other serious acts against life, justice and peace.¶ 9/12/2005 07:43:00 AM
