June 2025 — Pax Christi USA is pleased to announce the launch of the Ben Salmon No Just War Registry for Conscientious Objectors. This registry was first conceived by members of Pax Christi New York State out of a deep concern for the possibility of another military draft.
Use this link to watch a 2020 video from DePaul University’s Center for World Catholicism & Intercultural Theology, with Mike Baxter discussing the life and significance of Ben Salmon.
Although many faith traditions hold a conscientious objector registry for congregants, until now, none existed specifically for Catholics who do not wish to participate in war-making. Through conversation and prayer, this project was intentionally and collaboratively crafted by the Pax Christi USA National Council and staff to provide a dedicated framework to equip young Catholics in documenting and affirming their conscientious objection to war.
Conscientious objection was a key focus for Eileen Egan and Gordon Zahn, Pax Christi USA’s founders. It was considered one of the four priorities of Pax Christi USA in the mid-1970s, and it was through the contribution of Pax Christi USA that support of conscientious objection was listed in the 1983 US bishops’ pastoral, “The Challenge of Peace.”
Building on this history, and a long tradition of Catholic war resisters including the Berrigan brothers, Ben Salmon, Franz Jägerstätter, and Dorothy Day, all of whom upheld the Gospel of nonviolence in turbulent times, we invite young Catholics to sign a proclamation document affirming their faith-led belief in Gospel nonviolence. The original testimonies will be held by the signers, with copies sent to the Pax Christi USA office in Washington, DC which will act as the central archive. In the event of a military draft or call to war, these documents will serve as formal statements of conscientious objection.
“As a Catholic Vietnam-era conscientious objector, I applaud Pax Christi USA for establishing the Ben Salmon No Just War Registry for Conscientious Objectors. My own experience of defending my application for conscientious objector status in 1969 to my local draft board, three Catholic World War II veterans who couldn’t understand how a Catholic could be a conscientious objector, even though I had letters of support from one of my parish priests and two of my teachers at the high school and college levels, both well known and highly respected Catholics in their communities, shows how helpful it would have been for me to have such a Registry as a resource. This initiative will ensure that no American Catholic is ever in such a vulnerable position again.” – Mike Moran, Pax Christi Massachusetts
“As a Marine Corps veteran who served in combat and now walks a path of faith and recovery, this project by Pax Christi USA is deeply meaningful. When I was younger and in uniform, I struggled to reconcile my Catholic faith with the realities of war. A resource like this—rooted in peace, justice, and spiritual support—would have offered hope and grounding during some of my darkest moments. For Catholic members of the military today, it can serve as a bridge: between service and conscience, between trauma and healing, between silence and solidarity.” – Cory Will, GySgt, USMC (Ret.)
To bring this resource to fruition, however, we need your help.
- Pray for us as we launch this project, as well as for all victims of war.
- Welcome friends into conversations about peacebuilding and learn more about the history of Catholic civil disobedience.
- Please share the news of this registry widely, with your parish, within your communities, and especially with any young Catholics you know.
Our hope is that this registry will not only be a legal support, but another seed in a growing network of solidarity.
To learn more about Pax Christi USA’s Conscientious Objector Registry Project, or to register as a CO, use this link to download the PDF file which includes background information and the Proclamation Document for signing.
All disciples of Jesus Christ must be conscientious objectors.
As a Catholic who lived through the Vietnam war era and who was and still is an objector to all wars, I applaud your establishment of this registry and support you in my prayers.
Yours in Christ,
Br. William Joseph Marie
We believe that there is a great need to honor the thousands of individuals who follow their conscience and have earned the right to be recognized. Our local Pax Christi Will County Il. group is sponsoring Conscientious Objector Memorial on the campus at Lewis University. It would be wonderful to have your input, have a CO attend the dedication or send a letter that could be read at the ceremony.
Peace,
Bill Ruhaak
billruhaak@hotmail.com
815-729-0086
It is important to know that young men who apply for a driver’s license are automatically registered with Selective Service. “You want a driver’s license, you get registered.”
Many young men, turning 18, do not know they have been registered for the draft. This is important education to promote. It is also important to know that Selective Service “says:” “If you are inducted, you will get a chance to file a CO claim.” This is a terrible disservice. (“Well, John, when did you decide you are a CO?”…”Well, after I got an induction order I started thinking about…”)
The young man who files a CO claim upon registration can answer that same question in this way: “Glad you asked me that. I filed a CO claim 4 years ago when i registered with Selective Service. Here’s a copy of my statement of belief, and here’s the updates I wrote out each year as I grew up and continued to explore my faith and opposition to war in any form.”
A CO claim is a CHOICE of an active classification, if one is drafted. Part of the educational effort can go along this line of good thinking: “If you are registered for the draft, CHOOSE your ACTIVE CLASSIFICATTION (1-A, I-A-O, OR I-O). Don’t wait until you receive an Induction Order. Make a choice and if you are choosing a CO classification, file that with Pax Christi, your diocese, your school, and other important people in your life.
paul frazier
arkport catholic worker homestead
draft counselor trainer with the catholic peace fellowship, 1969 – 1983
Fr. Matthew Hawkins, Pastor of St. Benedict the Moor Parish, Diocese of Pittsburgh,
published on June 29, 2025 “A Pastoral Message: A Catholic Witness to Peace.” He
references The Ben Salmon No Just War Registry for Conscientious objectors.
Read it at
http://www.sbtmparishpgh.com
.
May other pastors throughout the USA replicate the message, using their own
words or those of Fr. Hawkins and taking into account the stance of their bishops
and the strength of the Military in their diocese.
Fr. Bernard Survil, Gospel Nonviolence Working Group
Association of US Catholic Priests bsurvil@gmail and
PaxChristiGreensburgPA@gmail.com
This is great – so glad the Catholic Church is finally supporting this – and we should be established as the Amish, Mennonite, Bruderhoff, Quakers and other religious sects. My grandfather, a Catholic Worker, was in the fight to end the Vietnam war, even though he was a veteran of Korean war.
The significance of the Ben Salmon Registry is that, at the present moment, draft registration is NOW in place: all 18-year-old males are required to register with Selective Service. Deciding on how to serve, if drafted, is the issue, independent of whether or not actual drafting takes place.
If a young man registers (or is registered when he applies for a driver’s license), he needs to decide then how to serve: as a combatant or as a conscientious objector. Do not wait until one is inducted to apply for a conscientious objector status.
The difference is abundantly clear in these two scenarios: two men who have been drafted, and one followed the procedures of selective service and filed a CO claim after getting his induction orders; and the other young man who filed a CO claim with the Ben Salmon Registry when he registered with selective service:
In front of a draft board, whose job is to judge sincerity, one man says, “Well, after I received my induction order, a couple of months ago, I thought about war and killing and my religious beliefs, and decided I was a Conscientious Objector.”
The other young man says: “I’m glad you asked me when I decided I was a conscientious objector. I filed a CO claim with the Ben Salmon Registry when I was 18, 4 years ago. I sent the form to selective service but did not hear back from them; I updated my CO claim each year as I grew up and learned more about my faith. Here’s letter from my bishop. Here’s a list of the ways I practice my faith that is the basis for my CO claim…..”
A simple question to ask young men who are 18 or 19 or 20 is this: Which Active Classification have you chosen? – Conscientious Objection is an Active Classification, identifying HOW one chooses to serve, if inducted.
Don’t wait! Don’t wait until you are inducted to think about a CO claim. If you think you are a CO, file that belief with the Ben Salmon Registry.