Bishops, at annual meeting, invited to Catholic Worker dinner for peace

Joshua J. McElwee | Nov. 11, 2013

As the U.S. bishops start their annual meeting here Monday morning, they are facing a number of tough choices: who to elect as their new president, what tone to adopt in the new Pope Francis era, and how to engage the wider culture.Another hard decision: Where to eat dinner each night, and with whom.

If the stakes on this one seem a bit more personal, perhaps they are. But Tomas Murray, a member of a Catholic Worker community in Ohio, thinks where the bishops choose to eat also sends a significant message about how they see the role of the U.S. Catholic church.

Murray is one of several people hosting an alternative dinner option for the prelates Tuesday night. They want the focus of their meal, held on the night of the annual assembly at which the bishops are also invited to a dinner in support of Catholic military chaplains, to be focused on peacemaking.

Read the rest of McElwee’s article at National Catholic Reporter.

Schedule of events for the celebration of the Feast of Saint Marcellus 2013

Shawn Storer, director of Catholic Peace Fellowship, has issued the following public invitation:

Peace. The Saint Marcellus Day 2013 events that will take place in South Bend and Notre Dame, Indiana on Marcellus’ feast day, Wednesday, October 30th, are as follows: Continue reading “Schedule of events for the celebration of the Feast of Saint Marcellus 2013” →

Three days celebrating “Pacem in Terris” in our times

Vatican City, 26 September 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Holy See Press Office a press conference was held to present the Days commemorating the 50th Anniversary of John XXIII’s encyclical, “Pacem in Terris”, which was published on 11 April 1963 and offered, as Bishop Mario Toso explained, “a structure for thought and political planning that ensured that the Church and believers were committed to social questions in the years to come, with a truly universal capacity for foresight and suggestion”. Continue reading “Three days celebrating “Pacem in Terris” in our times” →

Pope: Angelus appeal for peace

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has called for a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, in the entire Mideast region, and throughout the whole world to be held this coming Saturday, September 7th, 2013. The Pope made the announcement during the course of remarks ahead of the traditional Angelus prayer this Sunday. Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father’s Angelus appeal.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Hello!

Today, dear brothers and sisters, I wish to make add my voice to the cry which rises up with increasing anguish from every part of the world, from every people, from the heart of each person, from the one great family which is humanity: it is the cry for peace! It is a cry which declares with force: we want a peaceful world, we want to be men and women of peace, and we want in our society, torn apart by divisions and conflict, that peace break out! War never again! Never again war! Peace is a precious gift, which must be promoted and protected. Continue reading “Pope: Angelus appeal for peace” →

Pax Christi: Dialogue is the only way towards an end of the violence in Syria

Catholic peace organization Pax Christi has issued the following statement:

Pax Christi International is deeply concerned about the latest events in Syria.

While we unequivocally condemn the use of chemical weapons, regardless of who perpetrated the attack, Pax Christi pleads with the nations of the world to recognize the responsibility and authority of the UN Security Council to address this egregious violation of international law and morality and to work with the United Nations to protect – without escalating the violence – the Syrian people. This should be done through urgent diplomatic efforts to stop immediately the flow of arms to both sides and to all militant groups and to bring all stakeholders in the conflict to the negotiating table. Many states have helped fuel the armed conflict in Syria by sending weapons to the region; now it is time for the International community to cooperate fully on an arms embargo and to unequivocally back dialogue that alone can end the horrific violence.

Continue reading “Pax Christi: Dialogue is the only way towards an end of the violence in Syria” →

Pope: Faith and violence are incompatible

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday reiterated his call for peace in the ongoing crisis in Egypt saying, “we continue to pray for peace in Egypt together, Mary Queen of Peace pray for us.” The Holy Father also remembered those who were killed in a ferry disaster in the Philippines this week and prayed for the families in their grief.

The Pope was speaking following the recitation of the Angelus prayer from the Papal Apartments above St Peter’s Square.

During his Angelus address Pope Francis took his cue from Sunday’s Gospel liturgy. Continue reading “Pope: Faith and violence are incompatible” →

12th annual Bridgefolk conference meets in Waterloo

Collegeville, MN (BRIDGEFOLK) — Meeting for the first time in Canada, the 12^th annual Bridgefolk conference was held July 25-28 at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario under the theme, “Reconciliation: A Way to Peace.”

Bridgefolk is a movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other’s traditions, explore each other’s practices, and honor each other’s contribution to the mission of Christ’s Church.

Previous conferences have alternated between Catholic and Mennonite locations in the United States. Of the sixty participants gathered for this year’s conference, about thirty-five were Mennonite and twenty-five Catholic. Half the participants were from Canada, with the other half being mainly from the United States in addition to a couple participants from outside of North America.

The conference’s keynote speakers were Christian McConnell, who teaches Liturgical Studies at the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto, and John Rempel, director of the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, both of whom spoke on practices of reconciliation within their respective churches’ traditions. Continue reading “12th annual Bridgefolk conference meets in Waterloo” →

Nigerian EMU graduate building peace

Nigerian grad has had huge impact on peace in West Africa

Gopar Tapkida (left) is transitioning from his role as Mennonite Central Committee’s regional peace advisor for West and Central Africa to jointly serving with his wife Monica (right), a former teacher, as MCC’s country representatives for Zimbabwe. Tapkida, a former pastor who holds an MA in conflict transformation from EMU, has seen his seeds of peace take root and grow well despite adverse conditions in Nigeria and the surrounding region. (Photos by Bonnie Price Lofton)

After decades spent establishing a network of Muslim and Christian peacebuilders in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, Gopar Tapkida says he is ready to leave his home country for the challenge of doing leadership and peace work in Zimbabwe, one of the poorest countries in Africa.

Tapkida, who earned a master’s in conflict transformation from Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in 2001, has seen Nigeria move from having virtually no leading citizens committed to peacebuilding to having a network of Muslim and Christian peace practitioners who monitor their neighborhoods and faith communities for signs of budding violence and who intervene to head it off. Continue reading “Nigerian EMU graduate building peace” →

John Dear describes his experience at a Catholic Worker house in California, quotes Mennonite volunteer

In a two-part series on National Catholic Reporter, John Dear, SJ writes about his current experience as a short-term volunteer at Kelly Avenue Catholic Worker house in Half Moon Bay, California.

In part one (available in full here), Dear quotes Mennonite volunteer Katerina Friesen as she explains what motivates her involvement there:

I came to the Catholic Worker because, as a follower of Jesus, I wanted to learn how to live a different way of life…. The Catholic Worker tradition of resisting war and serving the poor made sense to me, and it’s turned out to be a really liberating experience. Now, when I see a homeless person, I feel free to talk with him or her, to ask what they need rather than walking past or feeling afraid. And I used to be bound by anxiety about my life, but now I see how my needs are taken care of even as I help care for other people’s needs. Continue reading “John Dear describes his experience at a Catholic Worker house in California, quotes Mennonite volunteer” →