Recent Events

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This area will document recent Pax Christi events with photos and text.

The United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) Coalition, in which Pax Christi USA and hundreds of other organizations participate, will hold an anti-war march and mobilization against the war in Iraq, from September 24-26, in Washington, D.C. International ANSWER is also participating. Pax Christi USA is urging its members and friends who can travel to Washington to march and participate in the weekend’s events, and particularly, to march with others of Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq (CALC-I), the faith-based coalition of UFPJ members, of which Pax Christi USA was a founding member. A brief schedule of activities follows:

Saturday, September 24, 2005: At 10:00 AM, an all-day peace and justice festival will begin on the Washington Monument Grounds. At 11:30 AM, a brief rally will begin at the Ellipse, followed by a massive march beginning at 12:30 PM. At 3 PM that afternoon, an “Operation Ceasefire” concert will take place, featuring Gold Star Mother Cindy Sheehan and others.

March with Pax Christi !

Sunday, September 25, 2005: Join in the “Interfaith Tent Revival for Peace and Justice !” Join ‘master of ceremonies’ Danny Glover and more at 6:00 PM on the Washington Monument grounds for an historic gathering of religious leaders from around the country, calling for an end to the Iraq war. This event is being organized by Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq (CALC-I). Pax Christi USA has invited both former Bishop President Walter Sullivan and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire to participate; more details on the complete list of participants for the ‘tent revival’ will be available in the upcoming weeks.

Monday, September 26, 2005: Lobby Day and Civil Disobedience. United for Peace and Justice is organizing people from all around the country to meet with legislators and their staffs to urge them to stand up against the war. The goal is to have 600 people meet with 100 Congressional Representatives. As support for the war plummets in the polls, and more and more Americans want the troops out sooner, not later, we have a major opportunity to compel Congress to take action.

UFPJ also invites you to participate in a mass civil resistance action at the White House on September 26. As part of three days of public protest against the war in Iraq, this action will provide a dramatic opportunity to more directly express your opposition to the war makers. Note: More information will be coming in the upcoming days about this civil disobedience action, including efforts to coordinate people of faith to participate as a progressive faith- based contingent. Be sure to continue to check our Rapid Response Network and Web site (www.paxchristiusa.org) for more information. ( Link will open in a separate browser window ).

The action on September 26 will remember and mourn the precious Iraqi and U.S. lives lost in this war, and will take our grief and outrage directly to the President, demanding that he hear our message - Bring the Troops Home Now, no more death and destruction.

For more information on any of these events, please visit www.unitedforpeace.org. And again, for those participating in the rally and march on September 24, please remember to march with Pax Christi ! Let’s stand together as Catholics committed to peace and justice to cry out, “The War in Iraq Remains a Defeat for Humanity!” Be sure to bring your Pax Christi banners and to wear Pax Christi T- shirts, caps, buttons, etc.

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As of August 4, 2005 the United States has lost 2041 Brave Soldiers who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 42,500 soldiers have been wounded. Nearly 1000 Civilian Contractors have been killed. Over 100,000 Iraqi and Afghani Men, Woman, Children, and Babies have been killed or wounded.

Today President Bush stated that “We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq.” We sure hope not.

Numerous Illinois Organizations have banded together to remember the dead, recognize the wounded, pray for peace and call for our Soldiers to be returned to us now. Please join us. The time is right for you to stand up.

On Saturday September 17, 2005 we will set up on a lawn in DuPage County (place to be determined), 2041 American flags (or 1 for every soldier who has died at that time) We will set up display booths to recognize all soldiers who have been in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families who have given so much for their country, and others who have died.

On Sunday September 18, we will have a March, speeches, prayers and services. This is a pro-peace, pro-life event. The flags will remain on site for one week; we will have a service at the end of the week on Saturday, September 24, 2005.

This is an effort to remind the general public of the sacrifices of our soldiers and their families and show the horrors of war and the blessing that peace can bring.

We need your assistance. Please join us by offering your time, your contributions and your prayers. Please contact Richard Schickel 630-469-2605 or email at r.schickel@att.net for more information.

Sponsored by DAWN, Pax Christi, Illinois Progressives, Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans, Do You Care and other organizations and individuals.

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Saint Gertrude Parish invites you to their peace conference:

A Christian Response To War:

Pacifism ... Military Service ...
Conscientious Objection ...

What Options Do People Of Faith Have ?

Free and Open to the Public

Keynote Speakers:

• Fr. Bob Bossie, SCJ, the 8th Day Center for Justice, Chicago, IL: "Christian Response To War" The Christian response to war includes three distinct traditions: Pacifism/nonviolence, Just War, and Crusade. We will examine the roots of these traditions, how they manifest themselves today and reflect upon our call as followers of Christ.
• Catholic Peace Fellowship, South Bend, Indiana: "The Current Catholic Struggle with War" - How the Church can be a Sign of Peace Today.

Break Out Sessions

• "Personal Vocation and Social Conscience After 9/11" by John Neafsey, Psy.D.
• "Teaching Youth and Young Adults How to establish Conscientious Objector Status" by Catholic Peace Fellowship
• "Civil Disobedience and Faith" by Elizabeth Deligio, M.Div.
• "Parents of Soldiers - Parents of Faith" by Ginger Williams

Complementary lunch will be provided.

Please pre-register by September 9:
Call the Parish office, 773.764.3621 ... or
e-mail your name, phone number, and organization to peace@e-grapevine.org

Sponsored by Pax Christi St. Gertrude, St. Gertrude Committee on Growing in Faith, St. Gertrude Committee on Social Justice and Human Concerns, and Pax Christi IL.

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August 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Urged on by the Hibukasha, the survivors of the first nuclear attacks, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have called for "A Year of Remembrance and Action for a Nuclear Weapons Free World".

To honor this call, Pax Christi USA and the Nevada Desert Experience have joined together to sponsor "Many Stories, One Vision for a Nuclear Free World", a national conference and public witness at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the Nevada Test Site, from August 4-7, 2005.

As we mark this anniversary, we come together to not only remember the victims of the world's first nuclear attacks, but to challenge the dangerous moves made by the Bush administration toward new nuclear weapons production and testing.

We invite you to join in this important and timely gathering of peacemakers from across the broad spectrum of interfaith, ecumenical and secular activists committed to stopping renewed nuclear weapons testing, and challenge directly the global U.S. militarism driving our nation's policies today.

Featured speakers at the conference include Dave Robinson, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA; Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director of The Shalom Center; Janet Chisholm, Coordinator of Nonviolence Training for the Fellowship of Reconciliation; Bishop Steven Charleston, Native American Episcopal Bishop and Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School; Frida Berrigan, Senior Research Associate at the World Policy Institute; and Fr. John Dear, S.J., a Jesuit priest and author of more than 20 books on peace and justice.

Workshop presentations during the conference will be led by representatives from Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Citizen Alert, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, and Western States Legal Foundation, among others.

Topics covered will include "International Law and the Military", "Nuclear Weapons and the Environment: National and Global Impacts", "Nuclear Weapons and the University", "Indigenous Life and Lands Poisoned by Nuclear Weapons", and many more. Together, during this weekend when we remember the massive devastation wrought by the first nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we join with millions of people throughout the world to call for an end to nuclear war and nuclear proliferation, and to shed light on the dangerous full scope of U.S. nuclear weapons policy today.

For more information on the "Many Stories, One Vision for a Nuclear Free World" conference and witness, including a downloadable registration form, please visit www.paxchristiusa.org ( link will open in a second browser window for your convenience ). You can also contact Pax Christi USA by phone at 814-453-4955, ext. 221 to request more information.

Thanks for your help.
Blessings of peace,
Phyllis Turner Jepson, Director
Pax Christi USA Local/Regional Development Office
paxwpb@gate.net

God bless the whole world - no exceptions!

A reminder: Please join us on Sunday, 1/2 for our Epiphany Interfaith Service for Peace and Justice at St. Joseph Church, North Sixth Street, Springfield from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. In addition to praying together for a new year of increased commitment to peace, we will hear from recent visitors to the Holy Land.

Refreshments follow the service. For more information, email, or call 544-3997.

In Christ's peace, Diane Lopez Hughes

Here is more information about this important meeting.

Folks,

Please join us Saturday October 30th at a LARGE Peace March in the west suburbs. Participants will march 13 miles, from Wheaton to Geneva, some carrying cardboard coffin replicas, in memory of those killed in the War in Iraq. Some coffins will be draped in US flags in memory of 1,100 US troops killed; some coffins will be draped in black cloth in memory of over 13,000 Iraqi civillians killed. Churches will toll their bells along the route to honor the dead.

This is neither a Republican nor a Democratic issue. Too many people have died in this tragic war - on both sides. It is time to stop the killing. It is time to call for a peaceful end to this war. We call for bringing the US troops home.

The details:

• 9:00 a.m. Opening Service at the Second Baptist Church, 1520 Avery in Wheaton. This will include Military Families, Dr. Calvin Morris of Community Renewal Society, Michael McConnell of American Friends Service Committee, music and more.
• 10:00 a.m. Peace March begins. Hundreds of participants will march through the heart of DuPage & Kane counties in dramatic procession, displaying the tragic human cost of the war.

  Walk lengths to suit abilities of all marchers: The march will stop at each train station between Wheaton & Geneva, allowing marchers to walk 2,4,6 or 13 mile segments.

  Two sag wagons will follow the march:

  1. A school bus with drinks, snacks, a place to rest and get out of the weather, and
  2. A recreational vehicle with bathroom facilities.

• 4:00-5:00 p.m. Closing Rally at Geneva's historic Kane County Courthouse, with Nobel Peace Prize nominee Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness, Military Families, music and more.
• 6:05 p.m. Return Train Service will be available from to Geneva to points east (West Chicago, Winfield, Wheaton, Lombard, Villa Park, and on to Chicago's Ogilvie Station) on the Metra's Chicago to Geneva line. Weekend pass is $5. Tickets available on train.

For more information: See www.faithpeace.org , email info@faithpeace.org or call 630-768-9305

I hope you'll try to join us in this powerful, dramatic call for peace. This may be the largest public peace event in the west suburbs in the last ten years.

Peace,

Dave Martin
West Suburban Faith-based Peace Coalition

Co-Sponsors (so far) are listed below:

West Suburban Faith-based Peace Coalition, American Friends Service Committee, Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice, Second Baptist Church of Wheaton, Pax Christi DuPage, College of DuPage Campus Greens, Voices in the Wilderness, McHenry County Peace Group, DeKalb Interfaith Peace Initiative, Rockford Peace Ministries, Eighth Day Center for Justice, End the Occupation Naperville, Education Not Empire, Food Not Bombs, Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, Parish Partners for Peace, Pax Christi DuPage, College of DuPage Pride Alliance, Sisters of St. Joseph . LaGrange, St. Francis Xavier Peace & Justice Group, Fellowship of Reconciliation.Chicago Chapter, Pax Christi Servants, DuPage Against War Now, Prairie Fire Organizing Committee, Peace Pledge Chicago, Franciscans of the Chicago Area, Musicians Opposing War, Rockford Peace & Justice Action Committee, Community Renewal Society, Church World Service, Muslim American Society.Chicago Chapter, Resurrection Catholic Community, InnerPeace/WorldPeace, American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago, Living Stones Pax Christi, Illinois School of the Americas Watch, Religious Education Committee, Tikkun Community.Chicago Chapter, Christian Peacemaker Teams-Chicago, and more

Peace Mass

SS. Peter & Paul Church, Naperville *
36 N. Ellsworth St., Naperville, IL 60540-4619

All are welcome !

*their Website includes a map for those unfamiliar with the area...

Main Topic: "Welcoming the Stranger - Immigration & Refugee Rights in Post 9-11 America"