Non-violence in Iraq

This bright light came to me in an email from Pace ‘e Bene non-violence service.

From April 29 to May 6 in Iraq not only the rumble of bombs will be heard. A network of associations of the Iraqi civil society, belonging to different political and religious affiliations, will carry on peace initiatives on the whole national territory within the Iraqi Week of Nonviolence. This event will take place while the Iraqi government meets in Sharm el-Sheikh (May 3-4) representative of the neighbouring countries, plus the G5 and G8, in the ministerial meeting that aims to restore security in Iraq. But is a top-down peace process feasible in a country traumatized by violence and insulted by military occupation like today’s Iraq? The Iraqi civil society asserts to have the duty and the capability to bring its own contribution. Given the high danger faced by those who organize public events in these times, this is a courageous venture that the international community must know about, an act of civil resistance to terror and militarism.

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Who would you include?

Last night one of the postulants, Br. Antonio Cornier, of Holy Name Province was called on to recite the Litany of the Saints at our Easter Vigil service. What followed was both ordinary and extraordinary. Interspersed among the normal names of the saints were the names of Dorothy Day, Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. I thought it was a fitting addition and was grateful to be reminded of their place in our service. Whose names would you include in the Litany of the Saints?