from DePaul University’s Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology
Watch the video below for a great introduction to Ben Salmon by Michael J. Baxter.
On Christmas Day 1917, Ben Salmon, a young Catholic husband and father in Denver, refused the draft into World War I. He was consequently arrested, placed in military prison, and held for three years, despite the war ending a year later. By the time he was set free in November 1920, he was a nationally known voice for peace and conscientious objection to war.
Almost a century to the day later, Michael J. Baxter tells Ben’s story, reviews the manifesto for conscience he wrote while in prison, and reflects on the significance of this remarkable figure who followed Christ at all costs, disturbing church and state authorities alike with his simple, direct declaration: “I am in the Army of Peace.”
Learn more about Ben—and the petition to promote his sainthood within the Catholic Church—at http://www.BenSalmon.org.