The three had conducted a six month public campaign, urging the church to reject the “Just War” doctrine, and as a symbol of this rejection, urging St. Paul’s, the designated “Garrison Church” for a war memorial, to remove the sword from the center of the memorial’s cross, and replace it, reforged, as a plowshare. They appealed first to church officials, and when their request was rejected, broadened their appeal to the congregation and wider faith community.
After a fast during the last week of Lent, Rev. Don Heap, Rev. Bob Holmes, and Leonard Desroches gave church officials a final chance to either escort them to the memorial and assist in its transformation, or permit the men to complete the job. Instead, they were arrested after climbing the fence into the churchyard. They were released on condition they not return within 300 meters of the church.
A trial date will be set at a hearing June 28.
For more information, contact Leonard Desroches, 407 Bleecker St., Toronto, Ont. M4X 1W2, Canada, (416)975-4897.
From their statement:
CROSS AND SWORD or
CROSS AND PLOUGHSHARE?
“If we truly believed the only force available to us was the Sword, we would be urging NATO to bomb not just Iraq and Yugoslavia, but the many other parts of the global family where terrible violence is going on - for example Turkey (a NATO member). But we believe God puts at our disposal the same force that was used in the Nazi-occupied French parish of Le Chambon, where 5,000 Christians risked their lives and saved 5,000 Jews; the same force that was used by the many Filipino Christians who led the nonviolent overthrow of the Marcos military dictatorship; the same force that was used by thousands of Christians who led the powerful civil rights movement in the United States of America.
“Since the beginning of the conflicts in Iraq and Yugoslavia, there have been faith groups, such as the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, which have been doing the true work of peace: conflict resolution, healing, rebuilding and the hard, fruitful work of reconciliation. But since Christians help fund the institution of war to deal with our enemies, there are very few substantial resources offered to these groups committed to nonviolence - nothing close to what is would take for the full work of peacemaking.
“After months of prayer and discernment we feel bound in conscience to publicly witness to the urgent need for the church to begin concrete actions of renunciation of the ‘Just War’ doctrine-beyond studies and statements. The Just War doctrine sanctions and therefore perpetuates war upon war, poverty here and abroad, an overwhelming, endless flood of refugees and irreparable damage to Earth.
“We are addressing all the mainline churches. But in order to start somewhere, we come here to the war memorial on Bloor Street for which St. Paul’s Anglican is the ‘Garrison Church.’
“We fully respect the need for a memorial for the war dead and their loved ones. ...We stress that though the sword-in-the-cross war memorial happens to be on Anglican property, it could be on any of the mainline churches’ properties, because none of them has officially renounced all participation in war...
“We [urge] not only St. Paul’s parish, but the representatives of all the Toronto-area mainline churches (Anglican, Roman Catholic, United, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Baptist) to join together in this symbolic act of renunciation of war and public witness to Christ’s urgent, life-giving call: ‘Love your enemies.’
“We offer mallet, chisel and prybar for use in this symbolic action. We will pray and wait briefly one last time in the hope that some church leader will lead us in this witness. If nothing happens, the three of us feel bound in conscience to begin this task ourselves. “[The Church will either signal] their willingness to begin to renounce the Just War doctrine, or they will do what they have done since the year 313, when Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the official, state-protected, religion of the empire and its military: the church will choose to protect the sword with the physical force of the state; it will refuse to remove the sword from the cross; it will refuse to renounce the Just War doctrine; it will refuse to renounce the mass killing and destruction of the institution of war.
“Good Friday is the one sacred day of the year when we come together as a church community and face once again the meaning of the Cross. Is the Cross a mere version of the Sword (as it has been and continues to be experienced by so many people), or is the Cross the sacred symbol of the fullness of love - including love of enemy? How we as a church community answer that question affects the whole human family...”
Washington DC
From Ash Wednesday, February 17, through March 27, Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, D.C., and Chicago-based Voices in the Wilderness sponsored a nonviolent “Lenten Witness to End the U.S. War Against Iraq.” People across the U.S. fasted in repentance for the suffering and death the U.S. has inflicted on the people of Iraq through sanctions and bombing, prayed for a conversion of heart away from violence to nonviolence, and organized nonviolent actions for peace, including nonviolent protests each Saturday at the White House.
On February 20, 25 people protested at the White House, and two from Baltimore were arrested for holding a photo of a dying Iraqi child and an anti-sanction sign in the restricted sidewalk zone directly in front of the White House. One week later, five people were arrested in the same location as they recreated a crime scene by drawing bodies representing Iraqi victims on the sidewalk.
On March 6, the plight of Iraqi children dying in hospitals was dramatized and two women were arrested as they held their photos of the children in the restricted zone. The March 13 demonstration illustrated the impact of the sanctions by leaving on the sidewalk numerous beneficial and non-threatening items banned for export to Iraq. Thirty people vigiled nearby as three people were arrested for praying in the restricted zone.
Two more people were arrested as they knelt in prayer and displayed the photos of Iraqi children in front of the White House on March 20. No arrests were reported when 50 people demonstrated on March 27.
All charges against the fourteen people arrested during the campaign were eventually dismissed.
The Atlantic Life Community’s annual Holy Week Faith and Resistance retreat, co-hosted by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker and Jonah House, witnessed for life at three sites while engaging for several says of education, reflection, and prayer about the destruction of God’s good earth and creations.
On Holy Thursday, April 1, the group occupied the lobby of the Department of Energy, overseer of every nuclear project in the country. Alyosha of the Little Flower Catholic Worker was arrested for refusing to leave. He spent the night in jail and was misinformed that his case was dismissed. He was later summoned to court on May 4, and then assigned an August 10 court date.
On Good Friday, April 2, retreatants visited the Pentagon. The Pentagon tunnel entrance was marked with blood by Kristin Betts, Felton Davis, Liz McAlister, and Sr. Megan Rice. They were charged and released pending trial June 4 for Davis and Rice, and June 18 for Betts and McAlister. On June 4, Rice was convicted and sentenced to unsupervised probation and $10 court costs. Davis was told his charges were dropped.
Also on Good Friday in Washington, an Economic Way of the Cross litany was observed that included the arrest of seven members of the Religious Working Group on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), when they knelt in prayer in front of the IMF entrance, calling for the cancellation of Third World debt. Their charges were later dropped.
For more information, contact Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, 503 Rock Creek Church Rd., Washington DC 20010, (202)882-9649.