Appeared in The Catholic Virginian August 7, 2000
PAX CHRISTI ASSEMBLY
Last weekend about 450 people from all walks of life and from every age group gathered at Randolph Macon College in Ashland to be renewed in spirit and recommitted to promote the peace of Christ in a culture that glorifies violence. This was not the first time that Pax Christi came to the Diocese of Richmond. Back in October 1981, in its early days, people assembled at St. Joseph's Villa in Richmond. Every year since Pax Christi has held an assembly in various places throughout the country. Last year we gathered in Los Angeles. The Assembly is an opportunity to meet friends in the Catholic peace movement, to share ideas, to address current issues of concern and in the spirit of Jubilee 2000 to celebrate and respond to God's call for us to be peacemakers.
The theme of this year's assembly was "Sound the Jubilee Trumpet: Reconcile, Renew, Rejoice." We began Friday night with the blowing of the Shofar, the gift I received from the Jewish Community of Richmond. I had the privilege of welcoming the participants both as Bishop of Richmond and the Bishop President of Pax Christi, USA. I have been active in Pax Christi since its founding in the early 1970s. Pax Christi started here in our country as part of an international Catholic peace movement in about 30 countries. Pax Christi was founded in 1945 just after World War II. A group of French and German Catholics wanted to put an end to the hostilities between the two countries. Pax Christi is the only recognized Catholic Peace movement.
Pax Christi, USA now has 14,000 members. The office is headquartered in Erie, PA with Nancy Small serving as National Coordinator. Its governing board is called a national Council on which I have been a member for at least 20 years. I have been Bishop President for about 8 years. I consider my role in Pax Christi as a most rewarding experience because I believe in the gospel of non-violence as reflected in the life of Jesus and thus imperative to speak out and witness against the insanity of the arms race and the continued production of nuclear weapons.
Putting on an assembly is not an easy task. Thankfully, we had a planning committee of around 30 people under the direction and leadership of Dr. Steve Colecchi, who heads up our diocesan Office of Justice and Peace. This was no small undertaking in view of the fact that we had the diocesan Jubilee Convocation of 6,000 persons in May. About 140 Virginians participated in the Assembly. We emphasized our three major priority areas, namely: a moratorium on the death penalty, reduction, if not elimination of the third World Debt and the drastic reduction in the defense budget with monies saved being allocated for education, housing, health care and tax relief for millions of struggling families. Its hard for us to comprehend that 50% of our federal discretionary budget goes to the so-called national defense which includes billions of dollars spent on nuclear and conventional weapons systems that have no plausible military purpose. At the same time our families and especially children lack the basic necessities of life. The social needs of our nation and world are held hostage to military spending, making our world increasingly insecure and violent as we have experienced all the wars in the past century.
This year Pax Christi embarks on a national campaign for the reduction of military spending entitled, ": Bread Not Stones" fashioned after the words of Jesus. "Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give you a stone?" (Matthew 7:9). Would you believe that the United States has the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world? We are the wealthiest nation in the world with budget surpluses yet we choose to spend only 6 cents of every dollar on education and 4 cents on healthcare for every 50 cents spent on the military. Pax Christi holds that true peace and security does not lie in superior firepower but in a world where every person is enabled to develop to his or her full potential. The well being of our nations people holds the key to our future peace and security. By saying no to a bloated defense budget we can transform the stones of war into the bread of life for those in need both at home and throughout the world.
Pax Christi works in four major priority areas:
1) Spirituality of Non-violence and Peacemaking
2) Disarmament, Demilitarization, and Reconciliation
3) Economic and Interracial Justice
4) Human Rights and Global Restoration
Pax Christi numbers commit themselves to lives of non-violence. They are highly committed to the Catholic Church and are active in parishes. They believe in bringing the Gospel of life as reflected in the consistent ethic of life. They affirm the words of the 1971 Synod of Bishops that "action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constituitive dimension of preaching the gospel." A large number of Pax Christi members participate in various works of mercy such as concern for helping the hungry or homeless people.
Workshops were held all day on Saturday. I attended the one presented by Liz McAlister and Andreas Toupadakis entitled "Atonement and Reconciliation: The Sin of Empire." Liz emphasized that "no weapon as conceived, ever rusted, no weapon exiting, was never used, and no war ever brought lasting peace." Andreas is a chemist who recently resigned his position at Livermore Lab in California. I visited there with concerned persons a few years ago. Andreas could not in conscience continue in the stockpiling of nuclear weapons, which in turn are killing countless numbers of people everyday through radiation. At Livermore he found "nothing best for humanity, but only for the death of humanity."
Eileen Egan, one of the founders of Pax Christi, received the book award for her recent book entitled "Peace Be With You: Justified Warfare or the Way of Non-Violence." In written remarks (she could not attend because of failing health), she said that"when we teach war we are teaching Cicero not Jesus." We must work together to teach the peace of Christ and thankfully our Church is no longer giving blind allegiance to military policies.
This year's assembly was a tremendously moving experience. Peace folks are very loving, alive and committed. They believe in the dream of God for our world and they are ones to help bring that dream to reality. I had the honor of celebrating the closing liturgy on Sunday. The gospel of Jesus feeding the 5,000 emphasizes that feeding the hungry with physical or spiritual hunger is a prerequisite for working reception of the Eucharist. Christ gives of himself so freely and in abundance. Should we not do likewise as disciples of the one "who is our peace"?
Pax Christi, USA
532 West 8th St.
Erie, PA 16502
Tel: 814-453-4955
+ Walter F. Sullivan
Bishop of Richmond