In The East Village, Christian Anarchy Meets Occupy Wall Street

by Mary Reinholz

NEW YORK--Soon after legendary folk singer Loudon Wainwright III finished performing for cheering protesters in Zuccotti Park yesterday afternoon, telling them that the Occupy Wall Street encampment reminded him of the 1968 “Summer of Love,” a Catholic Worker band called the Filthy Rotten System showed up.

St. Joseph's Catholic Worker, NYC.

Bud Courtney, who plays banjo in the group, said its decidedly unholy name came from the late Dorothy Day, who started the Christian-anarchist Catholic Worker Movement 78 years ago with Peter Maurin during the Great Depression. She is now being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.

“Dorothy observed that all of our problems come from our acceptance of the filthy rotten system,” said Mr. Courtney, 61, a former actor who served on a Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq last year and now lives at one of two Catholic Worker hospitality houses in the East Village. With the help of several bandmates as well as protesters who sang along, he belted out Woody Guthrie’s classic, “My Land is Your Land.”

Longtime Yippie activist Aron Kay, who has been visiting the Occupy Wall Street encampment daily since it sprouted up on Sept. 17, said he was aware of Catholic Worker’s history in the East Village, where its volunteers regularly provide free food, clothing and shelter (what Ms. Day would have called “acts of mercy”) for people in need. The movement now claims about 213 independent communities in the U.S. and abroad. St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality on East First Street and Maryhouse on East Third Street subsist solely on donations and are run by unpaid Catholic Worker volunteers committed to voluntary poverty.

  

“People may not know their name here,” said Mr. Kay, 61, leaning on a cane. “But as far as I’m concerned, this [protest] is following in the tradition of the Catholic Worker – take care of the homeless; take care of the disadvantaged and the unemployed, the students, all people who are victims of the same entity: Wall Street.”

Brian Hines, 46, a Catholic Worker supporter who plays guitar for the Filthy Rotten System, said he agreed that Occupy Wall Street protesters and their diverse causes seem to embody many of The Catholic Worker movement’s values. “Dorothy thought the poor gave the rich an opportunity to do good,” he said, adding that Ms. Day would not have wanted a government intervention. “She would never say ‘New York City: Help the poor.’ But she did understand that the system was the problem.”

Mr. Hines, a former teacher of theology at Fordham University who lived at St. Joseph’s after college and is now in the textile importing business, acknowledged that the Catholic Worker movement has not been a “huge” presence at Zuccotti Park. “But we’re doing our part,” he said, noting that supporters have visited the encampment and distributed copies of the Catholic Worker newspaper, which Ms. Day and Mr. Maurin, a former Christian Brother, also founded. The paper is published seven times a year and still sells for a penny.

Mr. Courtney, a live-in volunteer at St. Joseph’s since 2007, said earlier that he had come to Zucotti Park four or five times to “walk around and talk to people,” and offered to have his band play at an inter-faith service Sunday. He believes many of the protestors are preparing for a long, cold winter. “These people are quite determined to make a statement,” he said. “They’re planning to do this now and they’re buckling down to get through the winter. They have given up their lives to be there and they want to create a working environment that can produce change.”

Carmen Trotta

Some of the protesters have found their way up to the East Village. Carmen Trotta, an associate editor of the Catholic Worker newspaper who has been a volunteer and resident at St. Joseph’s since the late 1980s, estimated that “six to ten” protestors have recently come for dinner. The monastic “St. Joe’s” – a graffiti-splashed five-story walk-up near Second Avenue – hosts about 25 mostly male residents in its dormitories.

But Mr. Trotta, a founding member of Witness Against Torture (a national campaign to shut down the Guantanamo Bay facility) has not been been to the encampment himself. “I’ve been pretty busy here,” he said with a laugh. He had just prepared a donated dinner of tamales and rice for residents (including Nora Weber, 23, a Columbia University graduate and the only female volunteer at St. Joe’s) as well as guests like Tom Cornell, a Roman Catholic deacon who lives at the Peter Maurin farm in Marlboro, N.Y.

Stephen Rex Brown

Jane Sammon

Maryhouse, a four-story red brick building that Ms. Day purchased in the 1970s from the Third Street Music School, recently put up a female Occupy Wall Street protester from North Camden, Mass., for at least a week, said volunteer Jane Sammon.

“She was an older woman in her 50s or 60s and not so agile on her feet,” recalled Ms. Sammon, herself a robust woman of a certain age who was at Maryhouse when Ms. Day died there in 1980 at the age of 83.

Though she claims Maryhouse (which houses mostly women) is leaderless, Ms. Sammon clearly serves as its unofficial mother superior. Born “orthodox Catholic” in Cleveland, the Irish-American daughter of a steam fitter joined the Catholic Worker movement in New York in 1970 in part because of her strong opposition to the war in Vietnam. Over the years, she has been arrested during anti-war demonstrations and protests over labor and housing abuses in New York City. She has also been to Zuccotti Park and attended an Occupy Wall Street rally in Foley Square.

“The Catholic Worker has a long tradition of civil disobedience,” Ms. Sammon said in an interview at Maryhouse that was frequently interrupted by neighbors and supporters attending a Sunday lunch in the basement cafeteria, including a woman living in a shelter who wanted a shower. There were pacifist slogans on the walls and posters with images of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi. A banner proclaimed: “Love is Patient, Love is Kind.”

Last Friday night, Ms. Sammon greeted a much larger gathering of people who had come to Maryhouse to hear a talk by peace activist Jim Forest, who in 1968 was imprisoned for more than a year after burning draft files along with thirteen others (mostly Catholic clergy members). He once served as managing editor of the Catholic Worker newspaper and has published a new biography of Dorothy Day, whom he knew personally. When Mr. Forest, 70, concluded his reminiscences, a woman in the auditorium asked how he felt Ms. Day might respond to the goings-on in Zuccotti Park if she were alive today.

Mr. Forest didn’t hesitate in his reply: “Dorothy would be thrilled,” he said. “But she wouldn’t here,” he added, referring to Maryhouse. “She’d be down there [in Zuccotti Park].”

Source:

http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/in-the-east-village-chrisitian-anarchy-meets-occupy-wall-street/

Guilty of “Failure to Obey”

WASHINGTON, DC--Eighteen co-defendants representing Veterans for Peace and other long-time peace activists were sentenced October 28, 2011, in DC Superior Court for arrests at the White House on Saturday, March 19, 2011.  They were found guilty of Failure to Obey and Blocking and Incommoding and have to pay $50 plus $100 to the Victims of Violent Crimes fund.

Watermelon Slim of Vietnam Veterans Against the War is taken into 

custody March 19 at the White House.  Photo by Ellen Davidson

The D.C. Superior Court ruled today that potential pedestrian convenience was more important than the US Constitution or than stopping wars.  The 18 defendants (including 8 members of Veterans For Peace) were found guilty by Judge Canan of “failure to obey” and “blocking/incommoding” after being arrested at the White House, March 19, 2011.

The defendants argued for their 1st Amendment right to petition their government for redress of grievances.

They called on the US Government to obey the law, to obey international law, and to stop the crimes against peace, the war crimes, and the crimes against humanity. The government argued that protecting Constitutional rights and ending war crimes were less important than assuring that a potential pedestrian would not be delayed by a few seconds passing in front of the White House.

During the four day trial Richard Duffee, who worked under Benjamin Ferencz (the last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor), submitted a motion on the relevance of international law and that expert witnesses be allowed to testify to the facts about U.S. war crimes. The US Constitution makes the Geneva conventions and other elements of international law the supreme law of the land and enforceable in every court. But the Judge denied the motion. Duffee later said, “For the last thirty years, the United States has been reneging on the basic commitment it made after WWII to develop international legal institutions, because we want to be the judge in our own case.”

The defendants maintained a focus on the US Constitution, that international law is enforceable in every court, and that cost of war. The court heard personal stories from several vets. Chuck Heyn, a Vietnam veteran, said “When I left Vietnam I pledged to the guys I served with who did not come back that I would speak out against my country when ever my country decided to commit our troops to war based on lies”

It was a pro se defense (the defendants acted as their own lawyers) ably assisted by attorney-advisors Ann Wilcox, Deborah Anderson and Mark Goldstone.

Judge Russell F. Canan, Jr., Associate Judge of the DC Superior Court found the defendants guilty on all charges, fining them $50 plus $100 court fees.  Defendant Bev Rice chose to go to jail rather than pay a fine for an unjust law. She was held for about ten hours before being released. The case will be appealed.

Related Commentary

Never Been More Proud to Be in a Courtroom

http://catholicworkercommentary.blogspot.com/2011/10/never-been-more-proud-to-be-in.html

Story submitted by Art Laffin

Art Laffin <artlaffin@hotmail.com>

Dorothy Day CW House

503 Rock Creek Church Road, NW

Washington, D.C. 20010

Phone: 202.882.9649 or 202.829.7625

http://dccatholicworker.wordpress.com/

Occupy London could be protected by ring of prayer

Coalition of Catholic Workers and other Christian groups plan to prevent forcible attempts to remove tents outside St Paul's Cathedral

by Mark Townsend

Christian groups have drawn up plans to protect protesters by forming a ring of prayer around the camp outside St Paul's Cathedral, should an attempt be made to forcibly remove them.

As the storm of controversy over the handling of the Occupy London Stock Exchange demonstration deepened on Saturday, Christian activists said it was their duty to stand up for peaceful protest in the absence of support from St Paul's. One Christian protester, Tanya Paton, said: "We represent peace, unity and love. A ring of prayer is a wonderful symbol."

Occupy London in front of St. Paul's.

With senior officials at St Paul's apparently intent on seeking an injunction to break up the protest, the director of the influential religious thinktank Ekklesia, Jonathan Bartley, said the cathedral's handling of the protest had been a "car crash" and predicted more high-profile resignations from the Church of England.

The canon chancellor of St Paul's, Dr Giles Fraser, and the Rev Fraser Dyer, who works as a chaplain at the cathedral, have already stepped down over the decision to pursue legal action to break up the camp.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, is attempting to mediate in the dispute. She said she had contacted the corporation, cathedral and protesters to offer a "neutral space" to sort out the impasse. The corporation had not yet responded, she said, although St Paul's had acknowledged her offer. She said the protesters had been enthusiastic in their desire for dialogue and a peaceful resolution.

"It would have been easy to opt for a line of action that would have led to images of police dragging away protesters, but they want to talk."

It was claimed last night that a highly critical report into the moral standards of bankers has been suppressed by St Paul's amid fears it would inflame tensions over the protest. The report, based on a survey of 500 City workers who were asked if they thought they were worth their salaries and bonuses, was due to be published last Thursday.

But publication of the report, by the St Paul's Institute, has been delayed in apparent acknowledgement that it would give the impression the cathedral was on the side of protesters.

Christian groups that have publicly sided with the protesters include one of the oldest Christian charities, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the oldest national student organisation, the Student Christian Movement, Christianity Uncut, the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust and the Christian magazine Third Way. In addition, London Catholic Worker, the Society of Sacramental Socialists and Quaker groups have offered their support.

A statement by the groups said: "As Christians, we stand alongside people of all religions who are resisting economic injustice with active nonviolence. The global economic system perpetuates the wealth of the few at the expense of the many. It is based on idolatrous subservience to markets. We cannot worship both God and money."

Bartley said: "There are some very unhappy people within the Church of England. The protesters seem to articulate many of the issues that the church has paid lip-service to. Many people are disillusioned with the position St Paul's has adopted. To evict rather than offer sanctuary is contrary to what many people think the church is all about. The whole thing has been a car crash."

On Saturday afternoon, more than 20 religious figures gathered on the steps of St Paul's to support the occupation, which began two weeks ago.

The bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres, has promised to attend St Paul's in an attempt to persuade activists to leave. But protesters say they have no intention of packing up, many reiterating their intention to stay at the cathedral until Christmas and beyond.

A spokesman for Occupy London urged the City of London Corporation to open a dialogue with protesters to avoid a lengthy legal battle that could prove expensive for the taxpayer.

Source:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/29/christians-defend-occupy-london-protest?newsfeed=true

A time of hope: Retired pastor reaches out to Hispanic community

Rev. Joe Mattern serves the Hispanic community in ...: Rev. Joe Mattern explains on September 26, 2011, what he and volunteers at Casa Esther Catholic Worker House in Omro, Wis. do to serve the Hispanic community. 

OMRO, WI — Casa Esther, an unassuming building tucked toward the back of Main Street in this Winnebago County community, recently was the flashpoint of an ethical dilemma confronted by hundreds in the state.

A handful of women came to meet with the retired Rev. Joe Mattern and his volunteers at the Catholic Worker House's tight quarters. The conversation turned to the risk undocumented family members and acquaintances would be taking by driving without a license to keep their jobs.

There is fear.

"The catch phrase is, 'What's not to understand about the law? They're here illegally.' Well, there's a higher law. There's a law of human dignity — God's law if you want to put it that way," Mattern said.

Mattern, 77, is the go-to person for many Hispanics in the region. He opened the center in 2008, the product of a 30-year ministry to Latinos that grew from his encounter with the first migrant workers to arrive in the late 1970s to the Wautoma area from Texas to pick crops. His is one of the oldest Latino ministries in the Fox Valley.

"I knew a little Spanish, enough to have Mass and do the sacraments. We went out in the fields right by the barracks," he said.

The roles have reversed with the resurgence of Latino presence in recent years. People walking through the center's doors want to talk openly with Mattern about their problems.

While driving privileges are a topic of occasional discussion at the center (Wisconsin started requiring proof of legal residency in 2007), it's only a small part of what goes on there on a daily basis.

The Catholic Worker House gets steady foot traffic from people living in the Oshkosh and Omro areas whose needs are diverse.

A few examples of the center's wide-ranging influence in the community:

• Is someone struggling with the language? There are English lessons.
•  Does a family need financial assistance with auto insurance or medical bills? Mattern finds a way.
• What happens when a worker needs a ride to his job? Volunteers can provide transportation.
• The center offers high-achieving, but under-resourced, students scholarships — even for music and golf lessons.

Mattern and his team of volunteers meet with agencies, nonprofits, law enforcement officials and lawmakers at the municipal to federal levels to talk about issues facing the community they serve.

He goes about his work with this premise: "The answer is always yes."

"This is every day. People come in and ask for help. We work to help the poorest among us, the neediest among us," he said.

A helping hand.

Casa Esther has been a godsend to Claudia and Jorge Rojas and their five children.  Within a week of moving to Omro, family members felt at home. They relocated five months ago from the Green Lake County community of Princeton.  The Rojas family lived in Aurora, Ill., for 13 years, but Jorge's construction jobs dried up under the weight of the recession in the Chicago metro area. They sold their home and journeyed to Wisconsin.  The family's new neighbors in Omro pointed them to Casa Esther as a community resource. Days after meeting Mattern, the retired pastor was hauling pieces of furniture to their home.

Right away, Mattern pushed for the older children to become involved in sports. The result has been a quicker integration to their new surroundings.

Two of the boys, Alexander, 12, and Alan, 11, also began clarinet lessons with him.

"That's how it all began," Claudia Rojas said. "When you are so alone — because we don't have any other family in Wisconsin — he is here for support."

Staunch advocate Mattern arrived in 1979 at Omro's St. Mary Catholic Church.  His religious credentials include studying four years in the Vatican. He is an accomplished jazz and big-band musician. He is fluent in English, Italian, Polish and Spanish. He learned the latter language 

when he traveled to Guatemala for immersion courses.

"Now I speak Spanish every day. I preach and administer and do all kinds of things in Spanish. My whole ministry grew along with my responsibilities as a pastor with St. Mary's," Mattern said. "When you talk about changes that have taken place over the years, there were just a handful of Hispanic families in the area when I first came. … It's changed. But it also takes time to change attitudes."

Advocates for the Fox Valley's growing Hispanic community have big goals to achieve. High on their list is resolving the driver's license issue and resident tuition rates for undocumented, college-bound high school graduates.

Because immigration is a deeply personal, politically divisive issue, some people expect it will be years before they see meaningful change.

"I have more hope that the states will pass laws, such as (to make allowances) for driver licenses. (Immigration) reform at the national level is not possible right now," said Carlos Herrera, Hispanic ministry coordinator at St. Therese Catholic Church in Appleton. "Everyone is experiencing the same economic downturns, but what differentiates us in the Hispanic community is the lack of papers. Without those papers, we're talking about the loss of many privileges and rights. … That's a huge burden."

Mattern said he looks to the civil rights movement of the 1960s for inspiration.

He cited as a small victory the Outagamie County Board's passage of a resolution in July to oppose a state Assembly bill that would mimic Arizona's stringent immigration law.

"This is a marathon we're in. This is not a sprint, and we're going to change (the) laws," he said. "One of the things I like to say is, don't give up hope."

Source:

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20111030/APC0101/110300510/A-time-hope-Retired-pastor-reaches-out-Hispanic-community

Mass Dale Farm walkout: “You can’t take away our dignity.”

[Ed. Note: Faithful to the “least of these,” London Catholic Worker, Zelda Jeffers has been resisting the mistreatment of Dale Farm residents for some time.  More information about their plight is referred at the end of this article.]

London Catholic Worker Zelda Jeffers walked at the rear of this procession to observe if anyone was picked off by police.

DALE FARM--At 4.45 pm, October 20, 2011, Dale Farm residents and supporters jointly walked off the site to begin the next stage of the battle against eviction which has been waged across courts, barricades and protests. The decision to leave together was made in order to show the unity of the residents and supporters after two months of supporter presence at Dale Farm through Camp Constant.

Resident Mary Sheridan said, “Leaving with supporters today is about our own dignity and our appreciation of the support we’ve received. We’re leaving together as one family, and we are proud of that- you can’t take away our dignity”.

The mass walk-out leaves the site free of people except legal observers, who are required to make sure that the bailiffs stick to the letter of the law in leaving the walls, fences and most of the hardstanding in place.

Now the Travellers are outside the Dale Farm site, the legacy of Tory Councillor Tony Ball and local MP John Baron who drove the forced eviction to conclusion is laid bare. Where will these families go? How will their needs be met? The Travellers’ and supporters’ next move remains to be decided. Mr Ball and Mr Baron have declined to respond when asked for advice on what the Dale Farm community should do now.

Ali Saunders, a Dale Farm supporter added, “We have held off eviction for over a month, and our sense of togetherness has been amazing. Anyone who has visited the community cannot fail to see the importance of a movement to promote the rights of Travellers. Dale Farm will have a legacy for years to come.”

A new group, the Traveller Solidarity Network [1], has emerged in recent weeks, in response to the Dale Farm crisis.

Ali Saunders continued, “The Dale Farm forced eviction showed that the UK’s reputation for tolerance is a smokescreen for systematic discrimination against a Travellers because of their ethnicity and culture. That’s why groups from Amnesty International to the United Nations opposed the forced eviction.

Dale Farm has brought the ingrained prejudice against Travellers into public view, from constant rejections of planning permission, to hostile local authorities, to violent evictions. The true long-term impact of Dale Farm will be a movement of travellers and supporters to change attitudes so travelling people can live in peace and not be criminalised.”

More information:

http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/tag/save-dale-farm/

____________________

Updates from Zelda Jeffers:

October 21, 2011

I am home and safe and offering a safe house to dale Farm supporters who have come from police cells, before they move on. Below some news from Dale farm, I was acting as a legal observer on 19th and 20th, on the 19th was the violence when the police entered the site in full riot gear, knocked a traveller woman to the ground and kicked her fracturing her spine, she was stretchered off the site and treated in hospital but wanted to come back and was in a brace, thank goodness, still able to walk. Other sick people were taken off site and treated and people who were locked on defending the site were roughly removed and tazered. Steve from the London Catholic Worker was locked on to a caravan with a friend, they are both all right 

The next day they removed the last of the lockons and the Travellers decided they did not want any more harm to come to the supporters and also were not happy with some press who said the supporters were causing trouble, they wanted to make it clear they had invited us and welcomed our presence. After some discussion and confusion we all walked off together united and proud, it was very emotional. Lots of tears and embracing.

Still remaining are the problems of how the Travelers will continue their lives and we will be trying to ensure that the bailiffs do not carry our more destruction on the site than the courts have allowed.

October 23, 2011

Dale farm is not finished. People are still living among the bailiffs, security, diggers and dumpers. Supporters are trying to help ensure the bailiffs obey the law. I was there taking notes yesterday Sunday 23 October. Another Catholic Worker supporter was led off the site by Bailiffs for "arguing" (I'm not putting his name as I didn't get to speak to him) Other residents are parked on the half of the site which has planning permission but they can't stay there for long.

The struggle continues,  Love Zelda

Basildon Council enforce media 'blackout' as Bailiffs break the law.  Diggers to move in tomorrow when 48 hour notices expire

Basildon council have prevented media from accessing Dale Farm, as it emerged today that Bailiffs were breaking the law. Constant & Co. bailiffs have begun removing fences and walls in breach of a court order requiring them to give 48 hours notice before work can commence. Notices were given to residents on Friday morning and are scheduled to expire at 9am on Sunday.  Significantly increased activity by bulldozers is expected at this point.

One women, recovering on a legal plot after spinal injuries gained from police heavy-handedness, was intimidated out of her home as bailiffs began illegally demolishing her fences and walls. Bailiffs smashed a window in Nora's chalet as they proceeded with the unlawful demolition.

Mary Sheridan, a resident, described the tactics as "disgraceful. We always knew the bailiffs would breach their court orders, they always do. But I can't believe Basildon council could be so obviously trying to cover-up their demolition of our homes from the world."

YESTERDAY Bailiffs attempted to move trailers from three families' plots despite confirmation at the High Court by Justice Edwards-Stuart on 4 Oct that these plots could not be evicted and that families had a legal right to stay. Barrister Marc Willers was forced to intervene, reminding the Council that any action on these plots would place them in contempt of court.

The imposition of a media blackout today follows Basildon council's 'forcible eviction' of local MEP Richard Howitt from the press enclosure last Wednesday [1]. Howitt is an outspoken critic of the forced eviction.

Supporter Ali Saunders said, "the council's attempt at a cover-up is evidence of their embarrassment. This brutal eviction has left families with nowhere to go and will fall upon the conscience of all of the British people".

http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/News/East-of-England-MEP-Howitt-bundled-off-Dale-Farm-travelller-site-20102011.htm

This story was submitted by London Catholic Worker Zelda Jeffers zeidyj@hotmail.com

Dale Farm web page:

http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/contact/

The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day now available in paperback

The paperback (and e-book) edition of The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day is now available from Image Books.  (Available on Amazon.com.)

Here are some advance comments:

"Duty of Delight is indispensable reading for anyone who cares deeply about God, about the world, or about humanity--in other words for anyone who wishes to learn how to love." 

–James Martin, SJ, author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything

"These diaries, and the splendid work of the editor, are a gift to each of us. Instead of simply talking about justice, peace, the poor, the reader is invited to encounter the reality of each situation, event, and person with a mentor and a guide who can be trusted to shine the necessary light which illumines: Dorothy Day. The ordinariness of her life speaks to the extraordinary power of grace in action." 

–Catholic Press Association

"To read these diaries is to enter the world of Dorothy Day, to see that world as she did, and to hear firsthand her conversations with herself and God. The reader is privileged to be invited into this intimate dialogue. . .. Dorothy Day’s life speaks for itself, and here in these diaries it speaks loudest of all, confirming what she believed: Duty expressed in love gives joy and delight." 

–National Catholic Reporter

“The Duty of  Delight is an enlightening read. Robert Ellsberg has done a magnificent job of editing Dorothy's journal entries from the 1930s to her death in 1980. Here we discover the extraordinary vision and work of the Catholic Worker movement through the ordinary daily events of a woman who worked tirelessly as a devout Catholic and servant of the poor. I recommend it highly to those who want to appreciate more fully the life of a radical follower of Jesus Christ.” 

–Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York

“No Catholic has inspired me more than Dorothy Day. When I awakened to the struggles of the poor, she was there. When I first committed my life to non-violence, she was there.  When I first thought of writing about my experiences on death row, she was there. When I struggle to pray and stay close to the suffering Christ, she’s still there. What a spiritual treasure in this intimate record of the sturm und drang of Dorothy’s spirit – her passionate loves and losses, confusions, and daily struggles to serve the unwashed, unfed, and often, un-sober, of America’s streets. There’s a starkness to her soul. She even talks about delight as a duty. You sense in her a steel-ribbed, relentless will, and yet, on every page is her acknowledgement of God’s saving grace and tender mercies – the two magnetic poles of Dorothy’s vibrant life. Thank you, God, for giving us this gospel of Dorothy.” 

–Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, founder of The Moratorium Campaign and author of Dead Man Walking

 “Dorothy Day is perhaps the most significant figure in Western Christianity during the twentieth century. And there is no greater caretaker of these personal scrap-notes and journals than Robert Ellsberg. This book is bound to become a classic, just as Dorothy has become a legend. But let us not forget, Dorothy’s famous line: ‘Don’t call us saints…. We don’t want to be dismissed that easily.’ She was just as ordinary as she was radical, and that is part of her charm.  Let her life disturb and inspire you… not to become her – but to become you.” 

–Shane Claiborne, activist, founding member of The Simple Way, and author of The Irresistible Revolution

“The Duty of Delight is an astonishing ‘act of community’—a chronicle , so lovingly and carefully edited by Robert Ellsberg that each entry comes soaked with the heart of the Gospel and the power of transformative love. The sacred is present in every ordinary recounting.” 

–Gregory Boyle, S.J., Founder and Executive Director of Homeboy Industries and author of Tattoos on the Heart

“These diaries embody Dorothy’s powerful conviction, lived over many decades, that true holiness is found in the most ordinary aspects of our daily life, and that grace is always present in the midst of struggle. The deeply human side of Dorothy that comes alive in these pages is a sign of great hope for all of us who seek to live a faith-filled life in a complex world.” 

–Sr. Mary Scullion, RSM, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Project H.O.M.E.

The Duty of Delight was edited by Robert Ellsberg, 

REllsberg@maryknoll.org

Battling to stop the horror of war: Kathy Kelly in Brisbane, Australia

Kathy Kelly during a visit last year to Afghanistan's Band-i-Amir village 

in the Bamiyan province. Next to her are Hakim, a Singaporean doctor

who co-ordinates the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers, and several boys 

from the village

Kathy Kelly is a United States school teacher who has devoted much of her life to working for peace. Journalist PAUL DOBBYN gives an insight into her devotion on the eve of her visit to Brisbane

"TOO radical" is often the tag given to people like United States activist Kathy Kelly, soon to begin a series of talks and workshops in Brisbane based around her 35-year struggle to promote world peace.

It's a crusade which put the former Catholic high school teacher in jail for nearly a year for planting corn on Missouri nuclear missile sites.

The three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee has also risked life and limb to live with civilians in war zones in Afghanistan, Gaza, Bosnia and Nicaragua.

So Ms Kelly's response to an observation put by The Catholic Leader - that "the vast majority of the populace might find your ways of protest too radical" - was instructive.

"It's interesting many societies believe it is normal and acceptable to send young people off to war zones," she said.

"This is sometimes for years at a time, with the expectation that they will loan themselves to possibly kill or possibly be killed.  

"And yet, it's considered oddly radical when people who object to war's cruel bloodshed, risk imprisonment for non-violently refusing to pay for or co-operate with war-making."

Starting next Thursday night (October 27) at Brisbane's Parliamentary Annexe, Ms Kelly will give a series of talks and workshops including these and other stories of her struggle to bring peace to the world.

Her life story gives truth to the title of her Thursday talk "The Cost of War, the Price of Peace".

The 58-year-old activist, described as "probably the most respected leader in the American peace movement", has faced death and imprisonment during her long opposition to war.

As part of peace team work in several countries, she has travelled to Iraq 26 times, notably remaining in combat zones during the early days of both US-Iraq wars.

She has been arrested more than 60 times at home and abroad, and written of her experiences among targets of US military bombardment and inmates of US prisons.

After college in 1978, and while working on her MA in Religious Education at Chicago Theological Seminary, Ms Kelly began volunteer work in Chicago's Uptown neighbourhood (where she still lives), working at a local soup kitchen with a circle of activists centred around Chicago's Francis of Assisi House, a homeless shelter in the Catholic Worker tradition.

In 1980 she began work as a teacher of religion at St Ignatius College Preparatory School where she stayed for several years.

In 1982 she married fellow activist Karl Meyer and began a lifetime of "war tax resistance" (refusal to pay federal taxes on pacifist grounds), asking her employer to reduce her salary beneath the taxable income.

In August 1988, Kelly participated in the Missouri Peace Planting, trespassing at a nuclear missile silo near Kansas City, Missouri, to plant corn on it.

For this action she served nine months in a Lexington, Kentucky, maximum security prison.

Some commenting on Ms Kelly's way of life have said: "Jail is the only place she can rest".

Certainly she made the best of two of her longer terms of imprisonment.

"Both times, I was able to study languages, read many books, and write hundreds of letters," she said.

"What's more, I discovered a world of imprisoned beauty.

"Women helped me understand conditions they faced, on 'the outside'.

"In a year I could best describe as the most educational year of my life since I first learned to read, I gained a more acute awareness of how impoverishment affects people.

"It was good to slow down, to focus on forming friendships, and to find time for reading and study."

Despite these unexpected benefits, she is careful to emphasise that her sentence and others which followed were comparatively brief. "I must clarify that for most prisoners the long sentences constitute a harsh and dreadful separation from loved ones.

"This is especially for those who long to see their children and who will be separated from them for many years."

In 2005 she helped found the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence to continue challenging US military and economic warfare against Iraq and other countries.

Since then further arrests and imprisonment have followed.

Inevitably the question comes back to what those of us of a less radical bent, those of us who don't necessarily want to spend time in jail for our beliefs, can do to bring about a war-free world.

"People desiring positive change can find kindred spirits, build community, and slow down, taking more leisure time to think about how to solve the problems we face," Ms Kelly said.

"The greatest terror we face is the threat of what we're doing to our own environment.

"How can we live more simply, share resources more equitably, and show that we prefer service to dominance?"
Ms Kelly still passionately believes we, the people, can stop the "next war".

"We should recall that in 2003, during the weeks preceding the US invasion of Iraq, the world came closer than ever before to stopping a war before it started," she said.

"One of the ways to stop a 'next war' is to continue telling the truth about the wars being waged now."

So what can people attending Ms Kelly's talk and workshops expect to hear?

"Voices for Creative Nonviolence activists believe that 'where you stand determines what you see'," she said.

"In Afghanistan, people directly affected by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) night raids, aerial bombardments, and drone warfare aren't always recognised as human beings whose view points matter.

"In Brisbane, people can expect to hear me tell about some of the people in Afghanistan who have suffered deeply during several decades of war.

"Along with considering the cost of war, presentations will include discussion about the price of peace.

"What can ordinary people in Brisbane do to persuade political leaders that peacemaking in Afghanistan is possible?"

After the October 27 talk in the Parliamentary Annexe, Ms Kelly will continue her busy schedule around Brisbane.

On that same day she will speak at school assemblies at Mt Alvernia and Padua colleges.

On October 28, she will be guest speaker at the Just Peace 10th Anniversary Dinner and on October 29 she will run a non-violence workshop for young adults at the West End Uniting Church in Sussex Street.

On October 30 she will present a talk, "The Cost of War on Women and Children", at the West End Uniting Church starting at 2pm.

Ms. Kelly has been brought to Brisbane by Pace E Bene Australia.

For further details contact Carole on 0431 928 500 or peacedove@bigpond.com

Source:

http://www.catholicleader.com.au/news.php/features/battling-to-stop-the-horror-of-war_76845

Carl Kabat Found Guilty of Trespass, Fined, and Released

Carl Kabat and Chrissy Kirchhoefer

Carl Kabat was found guilty of trespass yesterday, Tuesday, October 18, 2011, in Kansas City Municipal Court for his “Interdependence Day” action this past July 4.  He was given a $100 fine, which he stated he would not pay, and released.

According to Chrissy Kirchhoefer, “He now roams free and untamed for no jail can hold him.”

CWJ’s previous story about this.

http://catholicworkernews.blogspot.com/2011/07/carl-kabat-arrested-following-action-at.html

This report comes from Chrissy Kirchhoefer, chrissykone@yahoo.com

Both Kirchhoefer and Kabat are members of the St. Louis Catholic Worker community.

Catholic Workers and the #Occupy Movement

Dan Berrigan watches the Golden Calf of Wall Street hoisted through the street in an 

#Occupy Wall Street march. 

Catholic Workers from throughout the U.S. are participants in the #Occupy movements that are now dotting the nation in about 1500 places.  From Gainsville to Worcester, wherever there is an #Occupation, there is likely a Catholic Worker there too.  Communities involved so far include: Champaign-Urbana, Amos House, Nashville, Tennessee, Hartford, Duluth, Tacoma, four houses in Oklahoma City and several communities in Iowa.

Catholic Worker involvement ranges from helping supply food, showers, marches, protests, and engaging in non-violent resistance.

Bill "Bix" Bichsel, left,  at Occupy Tacoma.

“The thing about Occupy Wall Street that bothers me most is that it didn’t start within the Church.” said Karen Spears Zacharias, an Alabama writer whose work is heavily influenced by the Catholic Worker Movement and Dorothy Day.  “The poverty of the Great Depression compelled Dorothy Day to act upon her faith. Fighting against the unequal distribution of wealth is not a new idea. Day wrote extensively about it in the newspaper she edited, The Catholic Worker.”

Paki Wieland and Mona Shaw (co-editor of Catholic Worker Journal) 

in Freedom Plaza, one of two occupations in Washington, DC.

Four CW houses are in involved in Occupy OKC (Oklahoma City)

Occupy Worcester