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 MICHIGAN CELEBRATES THE PROPHETIC LEADERSHIP OF WOMEN: (by Joan Tirak, PCM Coordinator) “What a great way to celebrate our hard-working, self-giving, dedicated women!  Some 225 participants enthusiastically gathered on April 20, 2013 for Pax Christi Michigan’s 32nd Annual State Conference in Farmington Hills. They came for many reasons, but the primary draw was the theme ‘Prophetic Leadership of Women: Justice from the Margins’ along with the main speakers, Barbara Reid, OP and Elizabeth Walters, IHM. They also came to support the Leadership Conference of Women Religious whom we honored with our 22nd Annual Purple Ribbon for Peace – a tradition that PCM started in 1991 in response to Pax Christi USA’s National ­­­­­­‘We Shall Not Be Silent’ Campaign… Read more at http://paxchristiusa.org/2013/07/10/regional-news-pax-christi-michigan-celebrates-the-prophetic-leadership-of-women/

pcm conference
Pax Christi Michigan celebrated the “prophetic leadership of women” at their 32nd annual state conference this year.

PAX CHRISTI METRO DC-BALTIMORE LEADS ANTI-DRONE SIGN-ON AD EFFORT: Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore has been leading the effort to have the sign-on letter that the Pax Christi Anti-Drone Grassroots Task Force put together published in August in the National Catholic Reporter.  Bishop Gumbleton, Kathy Kelly and Marie Dennis are the first few “well-known” Catholics who will be signing.  If you have not signed on already, please consider joining them by signing yourself. Signatures will be taken until July 17th. For more information, visit http://paxchristiusa.org/2013/07/03/drones-sign-the-ad-to-be-published-by-pax-christi-metro-dc-baltimore/.

BLUE WATER (MI) PAX CHRISTI LEADER’S COLUMN ON THE 4TH OF JULY IN US CATHOLIC: “In 2007, facing the probability that the Iraq War was unjust, a group of Catholics in my community in Port Huron, Michigan, openly informed IRS that we would redirect hundreds of dollars from our federal taxes, donating this ‘Iraq Peace Bond’ instead to our local library. Our donation was merely a drop in the bucket of the trillions wasted in this war, but a small step in a new direction. Most of the money was eventually recovered by IRS, but the donation still helps the community and serve as an inspiration to find further methods to invest in the works of peace, not war. The spirit of the Fourth of July is one that celebrates our freedom, but it is one that often overlooks the violent revolution it took for us to achieve that independence…” To read the rest of this column by Michael McCarthy of Blue Water PC, go to http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/201307/taking-steps-toward-peace-spirit-fourth-july-27510

MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE: Pax Christi USA received quite a bit of media coverage at the 40th anniversary national conference in Atlanta in mid-June. To read the story posted in the Georgia Bulletin, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, go to http://georgiabulletin.org/news/pax-christi-veterans-extend-baton-to-young/. To read Pat O’Neill’s story for the National Catholic Reporter, go to http://ncronline.org/news/peace-justice/pax-christi-usa-conference-illustrates-need-move-forward-while-keeping-mission. Additionally, in the fall, the Atlanta Interfaith Network plans to broadcast the talks of both Rev. Bryan Massingale and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton. We’ll provide links once they’re available. For more on the conference, visit http://paxchristiusa.org/programs/national-conference-2013/.

REPORT FROM THE PAX CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL MEETING: (by Judy Coode) From June 10-12, several Pax Christi sections gathered in Berlin, Germany for this year’s Pax Christi International (PXI) Annual General Meeting (AGM). Sections represented included Pax Christi UK, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Austria, New Zealand, Flanders, Netherlands (Pax Christi IKV), Peru and USA. Bishop Marc Stenger, bishop president of Pax Christi France, also attended. The meetings were presided over by co-presidents Bishop Kevin Dowling of South Africa and Marie Dennis of Washington, D.C., and PXI Secretary General Jose Henriquez… Read the full report at http://paxchristiusa.org/2013/06/23/pax-christi-international-report-from-the-pxi-annual-general-meeting/.

Adrienne Alexander and Patrick Cashio address participants at the National Conference on June 15.
Pax Christi Young Adults Adrienne Alexander and Patrick Cashio address participants at the National Conference on June 15.

PAX CHRISTI YOUNG ADULT MEMBER WRITES PCUSA MEMBERSHIP ON OUTREACH TO YOUNG ADULTS: (The following is a letter from Patrick Cashio who addressed participants at the National Conference on June 15 alongside former PCUSA National Council member Adrienne Alexander. Patrick is a former Pax Christi USA intern and the current director of young adult ministry at the Romero Center in Camden, New Jersey.) “I want to thank you so much for your welcoming spirit at this past year’s Pax Christi USA National Conference.  I was truly honored to be among you.  Your work over the years has led to countless social changes.  You have been on the frontlines of the “good fight” of peace and justice.  For all the experience and powerful witness that your lives bear, I can hardly do justice. I am writing this letter to give you some other resources for finding and inviting young adults into the incredible work of Pax Christi.  While Adrienne and I gave you some insight into the lives of young adults, we also wanted to follow up with ways that you can find and invite other young adults…” Read the entire letter at http://paxchristiusa.org/2013/06/24/national-conference-a-letter-to-pax-christi-usa-members-from-a-pcusa-young-adult/

Upcoming or Ongoing Events:    

August 4 – Pax Christi New Mexico’s Annual Sack Cloth & Ashes Hiroshima Commemoration Action, at Los Alamos. Contact Bud Ryan at 505-264-2838 or Ellie Voutselas at 505-474-8557 for more information.

August 5-6, 9 – Faith and Resistance Retreat in Washington, D.C. Contact Art Laffin for more info at  artlaffin@hotmail.com

August 17 – Pax Christi Metro New York’s Annual Summer Picnic in Central Park, http://www.nypaxchristi.org/events.html

Quicklinks:

Like Pax Christi Illinois’ new Facebook page … Pax Christi Michigan is looking to hire a part-time coordinator … Sr. Patty Chappell, SNDdeN, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA, was recently featured in the newsletter of the National Black Catholic Congress … Pax Christi Virginia has officially changed their name to the Pax Christi Bishop Sullivan Virginia Region … Pax Christi Metro New York coordinator Rosemarie Pace wrote this moving tribute to Bishop Joseph Sullivan … Pax Christi International Co-President Marie Dennis was featured in this CNS story on President Obama’s nuclear plans … Pax Christi Dallas has a new website … Pax Christi Southwest FL member Dave Montrose blogs here on Pax Christi and youth … Pax Christi USA’s Teacher of Peace for 2013 is Mary Meg McCarthy … Pax Christi International’s June 2013 newsletter is online … See more local and regional updates in the Spring 2013 edition of The Peace Current …

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