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.
ED. NOTE: My apologies for not getting out the May edition of On The Line last month. I was in the Middle East during the weeks I usually prepare and post this feature, and I simply didn’t have the time to pull it together in addition to my responsibilities on the Pax Christi International delegation. Thanks for your understanding!
PAX CHRISTI USA MOURNS THE LOSS OF SR ESTHER PINEDA, CSJ: Pax Christi USA was saddened to learn that Sr. Esther Pineda, CSJ, a member of the Pax Christi USA National Council, has died following a short illness. “Sr. Esther was a woman of great faith and was passionate when it came to issues concerning peace and justice. Her steady and gentle manner was a major contribution to Pax Christi USA,” stated Pax Christi USA Executive Director Sr. Patricia Chappell, SNDdeN. “I thank our good God for Sr. Esther and our world is a better place because of the compassion and tenderness which she shared with everyone whose lives she touched.” Read more at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/05/08/obituary-pax-christi-usa-saddened-by-the-death-of-sr-esther-pineda-csj-national-council-member/
PAX CHRISTI METRO NY HONORS PEACEMAKERS: On Sunday, June 7th, PC Metro NY hosted our Peacemaker Award Reception honoring Sr. Joan Dawber, SC, Director of LifeWay Network; Maureen Blaine, Principal of St. Leo’s Elementary School, Corona, Queens; and Joe Dirr and Jill Frasier, Financial Advisors. We will also be honoring our Maloof Family Young Peacebuilder recipients: Mariah Espada, Marymount School of New York; Joseph Grasso, John S. Burke Catholic High School; and Juan Moreno, Cristo Rey New York High School. To read more about this year’s recipients, read the PC Metro NY newsletter at http://www.nypaxchristi.org/KeruxLive.html
PAX CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL CO-PRESIDENT ADDRESSES WORLDWIDE FRANCISCANS: On 25 May, Pax Christi International Co-President Marie Dennis addressed the 2015 General Chapter of the Ordo Fratrum Minorum (Franciscans), in Assisi. In a challenging lecture, she spoke about the urgency of working towards human and economic relationships based on the Christian and Franciscan principles of peace and of universal sister- and brotherhood. She asked the assembly to consider which of the challenges she presented are most urgent. Her questions led to a reflection, first in the various Chapter groups, then later in the prayerful atmosphere which characterized the final session of the day – a contemplative reading of the Word of God. See the video at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/06/03/pax-christi-international-pax-christi-co-president-marie-dennis-addresses-franciscans-2015-general-chapter-in-assisi/
PC FLORIDA LEADER TO PRESENT AT WILD GOOSE FESTIVAL: Joseph “Pat” Mahon of Pax Christi Florida will be presenting a workshop entitled “Photography, Spirituality, and Peacemaking” at this year’s Wild Goose Festival in North Carolina, July 9-12. The description includes, “Contemplative photography (Zen Photography), connects us intimately with the screed which surrounds us. Connecting with creation and creating icons awakes us to the fact that, as Thomas Merton says, ‘We are already one.’ This awakened awareness is the foundation for peacemaking.” Read more at http://wildgoosefestival.org/festival-2015/speakers-2015/joseph-patrick-mahon/
BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFICUL: A REFLECTION FROM PC-MA ON THE MARATHON BOMBING TRIAL: (by Pat Ferrone, PC-MA coordinator) Armed only with banners advocating mercy, and signs decrying the death penalty, nonviolent peacemakers from Agape, Pax Christi, Veterans for Peace and elsewhere, regularly stand vigil in front of the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in Boston. In the early morning, a stream of employees, visitors, victims and lawyers pass before us, some with averted eyes or unreadable expressions, some clearly disdainful, like the man who muttered, “We should fry him – crisp as bacon.” Others, perhaps reflecting the general distaste for the death penalty in Massachusetts, pause to read the banners, or quietly voice appreciation and thanks for our witness. Reporters from the major news outlets are strategically stationed in view of the entryway, eager to capture the highlights of the day; on several occasions, interviews of vigil participants takes place, the reflections broadcast beyond our small witness… Read more at http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/05/21/reflection-blessed-are-the-merciful/
NEW OFFERINGS FROM AUTHORS WITH PAX CHRISTI USA TIES: A number of recent books have been published by authors with ties to Pax Christi USA. We encourage you to check out A Vision of Justice: Engaging Catholic Social Teaching on College Campus, by PCUSA Peace Studies liaison Ron Pagnucco at http://paxchristiusa.3dcartstores.com/VISION-OF-JUSTICE–Engaging-Catholic-Social-Teaching-on-the-College-Campus_p_289.html; and Natural Human Rights: A Theory by PC campus group advisor Michael Boylan, http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/philosophy/ethics/natural-human-rights-theory
Upcoming or Ongoing Events:
June 1-30: Torture Awareness Month, http://www.tortureawareness.org/
June 18: Release of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment
June 21: Father’s Day
June 24-28: Torture Survivors Week, http://www.tassc.org/events-1/2015/6/24/18th-annual-june-survivors-week
June 27: Join PC Metro DC-Baltimore at the Air and Space Museum for a drone protest and action from 10-11:30am
June 29-July 2: Starvin for Justice: Annual Fast and Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty in Washington, D.C. (Pax Christi USA is an endorser); http://www.abolition.org/fastandvigil/
July 4: Independence Day
July 8: Advent 2015 booklets go on sale! Check back on the PCUSA website on that date; http://paxchristiusa.org
July 9-12: Wild Goose Festival in Hot Springs, NC. Several speakers with PCUSA ties will be there including Fr. John Dear, Pat Mahon, and others; http://wildgoosefestival.org/
July 24-26: National Convening of the Movement for Black Lives, Cleveland, OH; http://movementforblacklives.org/
July 31-Aug. 2: National Council Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Aug. 6: PCUSA at the Campaign Nonviolence conference in New Mexico; http://paxchristiusa.org/2015/04/29/event-pax-christi-usa-gathering-at-campaign-nonviolence-conference-august-6/
Aug. 6: Hiroshima Anniversary
Aug. 6-9: Campaign Nonviolence conference in New Mexico; http://paceebene.org/programs/campaign-nonviolence/campaign-nonviolence-national-conference/
Aug. 9: Nagasaki Anniversary
Quicklinks:
Read a number of reflections and articles from various Pax Christi USA members who were on the delegation to Israel-Palestine last month … Authors for the 2015 Advent booklet were announced in April … PC Michigan’s Summer Newsletter is out and includes info on the new PCM Coordinator (congrats Mary Hanna!); Pax Christi at Campaign Nonviolence; our 34th Annual State Conference; Take ACTION for Immigrant Rights; and more … PC Long Island hosted a report on June 9 from an audience with Pope Francis on the climate crisis by Patrick Carolan of the Franciscan Action Network … Members of Pax Christi El Paso protest regularly against the death penalty in Texas … Stephen Oldham, a member of the recent Pax Christi delegation to the Middle East, had a letter published in The Washington Post on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict … PXI Co-President Marie Dennis and PCUSA member Sr. Mary Ann McGivern were quoted in a CNS article on the U.S. lack of political will to abolish nuclear weapons … Observe this year’s Romero and Merton anniversaries with resources from Pax Christi USA … Pax Christi Texas sponsored a screening of “White Like Me” based on the work of acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise; the film explores race and racism in the U.S. through the lens of whiteness and white privilege … Pax Christi at St. Rose of Lima parish in Gaithersburg, MD hosted a gun violence exhibit as part of the Heeding God’s Call campaign … Pax Christi Western New York spoke out against legislation to pre-empt New York State law and permit the concealed carrying of firearms by civilian non-residents … Pax Christi Beverly (MA) members and friends paid tribute to Sr. Julie Kane, SND on May 16 at St. Mary Convent for her spiritual work for peace and justice … Pax Christi International’s June 2015 newsletter is online … See more local and regional updates in the Spring 2015 edition of The Peace Current …
- Send your news items, announcements, photos and links to stories about Pax Christi groups or members to jzokovitch@paxchristiusa.org.