Tag Archives: Pax Christi St. Louis

ON THE LINE: July edition features remembering PC-Burlington co-founder Marmete Hayes; Jim Gower, PC’s first peace ambassador; and more

Posted on July 11, 2012 | 1 Comment

Compiled by Johnny Zokovitch

Each month, “On The Line” features news items and announcements from around the nation featuring Pax Christi members, local groups, regions and partners. These are gleaned from articles in local newspapers, websites, magazines, and elsewhere.

PAX CHRISTI BURLINGTON CO-FOUNDER – PRESENTE! Marguerite Corliss Hayes, better known as Marmete, one of the founding members of Pax Christi Burlington in Vermont, passed away on June 17 after a courageous 3-year battle with cancer. Sr. Miriam Ward, her close friend and care-giver was at her side. Marmete taught religious education and spoke at parishes across Vermont about religious customs in the home. She was inspired by Dorothy Day, the Catholic Worker and the Berrigan brothers, and had a lifelong journey working for peace and justice. In 1981, she cofounded a new chapter of Pax Christi in Burlington, promoting peace and justice and addressing issues such as violence, nuclear weapons, oppression in Central America, the U.S.-led wars in Iraq, and the School of the Americas. You can read more about Marmete from her obituary and the eulogy given at her funeral: http://paxchristiusa.org/2012/07/10/obituary-marmete-hayes-co-founder-of-pax-christi-burlington-vermont/

Marmete Hayes, co-founder of Pax Christi Burlington (VT)

PAX CHRISTI METRO DC-BALTIMORE CHAIR’S REFLECTION FOR TORTURE SURVIVORS WEEK: “Hello, my name is Bob More, and I’m the Chairperson of Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore, which is the regional affiliate of Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace movement. (‘Pax Christi’ is Latin for ‘the peace of Christ.’) We are honored to be partners with TASSC in the vital work of abolishing torture and holding accountable those who authorize it. We bring greetings of peace and solidarity to TASSC members and supporters as you conclude your annual Torture Survivors Week with this vigil in Lafayette Park. Two weeks ago, Catholic Christians around the world celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi, which is Latin for ‘the body of Christ.’ Corpus Christi holds great significance for us as Christians, on three main levels…” To read the entire reflection, click here: http://www.paxchristimetrodc.org/2012/06/27/reflection-for-tassc-survivor-week-vigil/

Justice for Janitors campaign in Houston

Pax Christi Houston has been very supportive of the Justice for Janitors campaign for a livable wage in Houston.

PAX CHRISTI MEMPHIS LOSES LONG-TIME MEMBER FR. JOHN VALENTINE ATKINSON: “We are sad to report the death of longtime Pax Christi Memphis member Fr. John Atkinson, on the morning of June 7, 2012. Fr. John passed peacefully after an extended illness. He has been visited by many of his loving friends in the past few days. He will be fondly remembered by his Pax Christi friends and by all those whom he served as priest,” stated the PC-Memphis website.

PAX CHRISTI’S FIRST PEACE AMBASSADOR, REV. JIM GOWER: “Jim Gower—the Rev. James Manley Gower—should be remembered by Pax Christi USA before he is altogether gone from us. Jim, 90, now resides in a nursing home, suffering dementia. Jim, a direct descendant of the ‘noble Gower,’ the medieval poet celebrated by Shakespeare, World War II Navy veteran, and long-time Portland, ME, diocesan priest, should be remembered as an exemplary witness, in Maine and nationwide, to the nonviolent Jesus and to the priest in service to his community. Remembered throughout the country because his recognition of the centrality of peace in the Gospel and alarm at the madness of mutually assured nuclear destruction occasioned him becoming, after Dorothy Day–the perpetual peace journeyer, the first PCUSA peace ambassador. Shortly after his discovery of Pax in England and Pax Christi’s foundation here, in the early 80s, Jim met a need of the fledgling PCUSA movement. He took a two-year leave of absence and visited any parish, school, or seminary anywhere that would give him a hearing about Pax Christi as an instrument of peacemaking. He made two coast to coast to coast circuits, clocking 25,000 miles, living hand to mouth, asking only gas money to the next stop. Years after, early Pax Christi members would ask anyone from Maine if they knew Jim…” Read the entire article at http://paxchristiusa.org/2012/06/27/news-rev-jim-gower-the-first-ambassador-of-peace-for-pax-christi-usa/

PAX CHRISTI STATEN ISLAND (NY) LEADS DOROTHY DAY PILGRIMAGE: “The 20th Annual Pax Christi Dorothy Day Pilgrimage was held June 16 in Pleasant Plains. Participants started at the office of Resurrection Cemetery in Pleasant Plains, where Ms. Day is buried, and proceeded to the former Spanish Camp, where Ms. Day’s cottage once stood, walking on the beach as she did. The final stop was at Our Lady Help of Christians R.C. Church in Tottenville, where Ms. Day and her daughter were baptized…” Read the article announcing the pilgrimage here: http://www.silive.com/worship/2012/06/remembering_dorothy_day.html

PC Palm Beach members participated in a solidarity prayer vigil & procession outside the Cathedral of the Diocese of Palm Beach in Palm Beach Gardens in May.

PAX CHRISTI USA HIRES NEW DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS: Pax Christi USA announced that Sr. Anne-Louise Nadeau, SNDdeN has joined the national staff as the Director of Programs. Sr. Nadeau’s responsibilities will include developing, implementing and overseeing the programs of Pax Christi USA related to its primary initiative areas of the spirituality of non-violence and peacemaking; disarmament, demilitarization and reconciliation with justice; economic and interracial justice in the United States; and human rights and global restoration.“Pax Christi USA is delighted to welcome Sr. Anne-Louise Nadeau, SNDdeN, to our national staff. As Director of Programs, Sister brings her talents and skills to assist PCUSA in the implementation of national programs based on its priority initiatives,” stated Sr. Patricia Chappell, SNDdeN, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA. Read the entire announcement here: http://paxchristiusa.org/2012/07/05/news-sister-of-notre-dame-de-namur-joins-pax-christi-usa-as-director-of-programs/

Upcoming Events:

July 1-August 9 – Forty Day Fast for the Truth of Gospel Nonviolence, http://lifeofanunorsister.blogspot.com/2012/07/forty-day-fast-for-truth-of-gospel.html
July 18-21 – National Black Catholic Congress in Indianapolis, visit http://www.nbccongress.org/congress-xi/default.asp
July 28 – Regional dialogue with PCUSA national leadership, local groups and members in St. Louis: http://paxchristiusa.org/programs/regional-dialogues-2012-13/
August 4-6 – Pax Christi New Mexico with other groups invites you to participate in Nuke Free Now, a weekend event Aug. 4-6^th in Santa Fe and Los Alamos , N.M. Please see www.nukefreenow.org for complete information.
August 5-9 – Faith and Resistance Retreat in Washington, D.C., commemorating the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; contact Art Laffin at artlaffin@hotmail.com for more information

Quicklinks:

Pax Christi Central Seattle will be starting the Just Peacemaking module from PCUSA and JustFaith Ministries in August. Contact pc.centralseattle@gmail.com for more information … Pax Christi Indianapolis member Fran Quigley will be speaking on “What is a Peaceful Society?” on August 4 at Veterans for Peace meeting. Contact VFPindianapolis@gmail.com for more info … Pax Christi New Orleans member Kevin Cahalan spoke on July 14 at the Gillespie Memorial Community Breakfast … Beth Begley of Pax Christi Metro New York and the Pax Christi rep to the UN sent us this video on the Arms Trade Treaty … Pax Christi Long Island started this petition in support of the LCWR … Welcome to the new Pax Christi local group started in Prescott, AZ … Art Laffin of the Dorothy Day CW in DC did an excellent prayer service on ending the use of drones … Pax Christi Reno (NV) hosted a Labyrinth Walk and Candlelight Vigil on June 24^th to commemorate the 15th Annual United Nations International Day in Support of Torture Victims and Survivors … See more local and regional updates in the summer edition of The Peace Current …

Send your news items, announcements, photos and links to stories about Pax Christi groups or members to johnnypcusa@yahoo.com.

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Posted in Calendar, Local Group News, News, On The Line, Regional Events, Regional News

Tagged Art Laffin, Beth Begley, Bob More, faith and resistance retreat, Fran Quigley, Hiroshima, Jim Gower, John Atkinson, JustFaith Ministries, Justice for Janitors, Kevin Cahalan, LCWR, Marmete Hayes, National Black Catholic Congress, Pax Christi, Pax Christi Burlington, Pax Christi Central Seattle, Pax Christi Houston, Pax Christi Indianapolis, Pax Christi Long Island, Pax Christi Maine, Pax Christi Memphis, Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore, Pax Christi Metro New York, Pax Christi New Mexico, Pax Christi New Orleans, Pax Christi Palm Beach, Pax Christi Reno, Pax Christi St. Louis, Pax Christi Staten Island, PC-Burlington, Sr Anne-Louise Nadeau, TASSC, Torture survivors

ON THE LINE: June edition features PC members, groups in Newsday, NY Times, Washington Post, and more

Posted on June 7, 2012 | 1 Comment

Compiled by Johnny Zokovitch

PAX CHRISTI MICHIGAN COORDINATOR FEATURED IN YOUTUBE VIDEO: Joan Tirak, coordinator for Pax Christi Michigan, was a featured speaker at the 10^th anniversary celebration of the Lansing Peace Community. The event was videotaped and uploaded to YouTube. You can watch Joan’s speech here: http://youtu.be/x7tWykfP8DI?t=6m40s

PC Michigan Conference - Workshop on Racism

Floyd Cook leads a workshop on racism at the PC-Michigan State Conference in April.

PAX CHRISTI LONG ISLAND’S MEMORIAL DAY SERVICE FEATURED IN NEW YORK TIMES BLOG: Nancy Dwyer of PC-Long Island responded to the New York Times request for readers to share their Memorial Day rituals and traditions. Nancy wrote of PC-Long Island’s annual memorial at Jones Beach for the war dead, inviting people “to join us, even if only for a few minutes, for the solemn reading of the names of the war dead.” Nancy also wrote that Memorial Day “shouldn’t be a time to glorify war with an air show and a display of weapons to entice young people to enlist in more wars.” Read the entire letter here: http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/28/readers-memorial-day-rituals/

PAX CHRISTI’S RECOGNITION OF U.S. NUNS FEATURED IN WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE: In an article by Mary Johnson of Religion News Service on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s report on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, she cited Pax Christi USA’s recognition of U.S. women religious at our national conference in 2010. “As Pax Christi noted when honoring the sisters in 2010, the LCWR is composed of ‘strong, prophetic, and compassionate women … always on the front lines where the weak and most vulnerable suffer at the hands of violent and unjust power.’” Read the entire article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/the-nuns-who-once-taught-the-bishops-arent-done-yet/2012/06/04/gJQAe2c4DV_story.html

PAX CHRISTI NEW MEXICO CO-COORDINATOR TO UNDERTAKE HUNGER STRIKE: This year New Mexico Pax Christi invites PCUSA members to join them in participating in Nuke Free Now, a weekend event Aug. 4-6th in Santa Fe and Los Alamos, N.M. We will transform the nuclear narrative in the public consciousness and inspire a life-affirming future. Alaric Balibrera, whose father was the film documentarian for Los Alamos Labs from 1967 to 1982, realized his exposure as a child to nuclear contamination and the terrible consequences of nuclear weapons. He will be hunger striking from July 16th to August 6th to increase the awareness to the mounting nuclear crisis that threatens all nations on this planet. Ellie Voutselas of Pax Christi New Mexico has pledged to join his hunger strike from July 16-22. Others are invited to join in this action. Please see http://www.nukefreenow.org for complete information.

PAX CHRISTI ILLINOIS HOLDS MASS ON THE GRASS PRIOR TO MARCH: On Sunday morning, May 20^th in Chicago, prior to the March for Justice and Reconciliation organized by the Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW), nearly 100 members of Pax Christi USA, the Catholic Worker and 8^thDay Center for Justice gathered in Grant Park for a Eucharistic Liturgy. Presiding at the liturgy was Fr. Bob Bossie, SCJ, a long-time Chicago peace activist. After Mass the group joined the IVAW rally and marched with the thousands from around the country who were saying “no” to NATO’s ever-expanding mission and ever-increasing costs that serve the strategic goals of the 1% while forcing austerity at home and destitution and death around the world. To see photos and read a full report, go here: http://paxchristiusa.org/2012/05/23/regional-event-catholics-gather-for-eucharist-prior-to-nato-summit-march-for-reconciliation-and-justice/

Members of Pax Christi Illinois share in the Eucharist prior to joining the March for Justice and Reconciliation at the NATO Summit in Chicago in May.

PAX CHRISTI METRO NEW YORK HONORS JEWISH PEACEMAKER: The Times Ledger of New York featured an article on Rabbi Michael Weisser, who was honored by Pax Christi Metro New York at an awards reception on June 3. You can read the article here, http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2012/22/weisserhonored_ne_2012_05_31_q.html. Also honored were Bud Courtney for his peacemaking on the lower east side of Manhattan, in Iraq, and at the Arizona/Mexico border; and Carla DeYcaza for her work for human rights, transitional justice, and nonviolent conflict resolution in Africa. Read more at http://paxchristiusa.org/2012/05/25/regional-event-pc-metro-new-york-honors-peacemakers/

PAX CHRISTI HAITI COLLEAGUE HONORED AS ARCHITECT OF THE FUTURE: Daniel Tillias, Program Director of Pax Christi in Haiti and a frequent speaker to Pax Christi local groups in the U.S., was honored recently as an “Architect of the Future.” Daniel was recognized as one of ten outstanding social entrepreneurs from around the world. Read more here: http://architectsofthefuture.net/portfolio/daniel-tillias/

PAX CHRISTI MANASOTA CHAPTER OBSERVES MEMORIAL DAY: On Memorial Day, the Manasota (FL) Chapter of Pax Christi, together with members of the Coalition for Concerned Patriots and the Southwest Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice, gathered around the Peace Pole erected several years back at Island Park—in the Sarasota Bayfront area—to remember in song and prayer all who locally stood for peace and justice and had passed on before us. We remembered fifteen area peace activists, including Les Druckemiller who was responsible for erecting the Peace Pole. About twenty people gathered for the service and a picnic luncheon.

Upcoming Events:

June 16 – Rochester (MN) Pax Christi group with others will host Kathy Kelly on “Afghanistan: The Cost of Perpetual War.” For more information: http://www.paxchristimn.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/KathyKelly2.pdf
July 28 – Regional dialogue with PCUSA national leadership, local groups and members in St. Louis: http://paxchristiusa.org/programs/regional-dialogues-2012-13/
August 4-6 – New Mexico Pax Christi with other groups invites you to participate in Nuke Free Now, a weekend event Aug. 4-6^th in Santa Fe and Los Alamos , N.M. Please see www.nukefreenow.org for complete information.

Quicklinks:

Pax Christi Houston honors U.S. vets by calling for an end to the war in Afghanistan … Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore has posted an excellent prayer service on the use of drones by Art Laffin … Pax Christi Michigan conference inspires hope, action … Pax Christi Long Island board member and Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Keeler writes about his worst nightmare in Newsday … Pax Christi Baltimore’s Chuck Michaels is featured talking about liturgy in this article in the Herald Malaysia Online … Jim O’Callahan of Downtown Brooklyn Pax Christi wrote this review on the film Cite Soleil: Sun, Dust and Hope … Read the thoughts and opinions of Mike McCarthy of Blue Water (MI) on his blog … Pax Christi Maine hosted a state assembly titled “Resisting the Culture of Violence” in May … Pax Christi Long Island’s Memorial Day service was mentioned in a letter to the editor to Newsday … Read Pax Christi International’s June newsletter … JustFaith Ministries in collaboration with Pax Christi USA just released a special 12 session module for small groups on “Just Peacemaking.” There is a special discount for Pax Christi local groups wanting to purchase the module … PCUSA is seeking an Associate Director of Development and a Program Director …