The voice of the Des Moines Catholic Worker community

JULY 2018 WWW.DMCATHOLICWORKER.ORG VOLUME 42, NO. 2 Ground the Drones at Air National Guard

By Frank Cordaro Julie Brown spoke at the rally. She had just St. Ambrose Cathedral, where we will be Center: returned from Iraqi Kurdistan, where she begging the Bishop to join the effort against The first document is the one-page Mis- On May 19, Armed Forces Day, members works with Christian Peacemaker Teams. the Des Moines Drone Command Center in sion Statement found in the 132nd Wing’s of Veterans for Peace, Des Moines Catholic In her speech, Julie helped us bridge the accordance with the United States Bishops’ Intake (vol. 32, issue 4, April 2017, p. 9). This Worker, and Iowa’s religious community distance between us and our bombs by 2014 statement, which found the United document clearly states the three specialized held a rally and direct action at the Iowa Air sharing about the people she serves in Iraqi States’ drone warfare to be immoral and un- career certifications in which the Des Moines National Guard’s Drone Command Center Kurdistan who have been bombed by the just. August 6-9 commemorates the United Drone Command is operating. It states that on the south side of Des Moines. United States. States’ nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and their missions include to find, kill, and assess Our featured speaker was Elliott Adams, Des Moines Catholic Worker Frank Nagasaki, Japan. killings of targeted people anywhere on the co-chair of Creating a Culture of Peace’s Cordaro gave the closing speech. He gave This year we are going to end our three- planet from Des Moines, Iowa. board of directors, Meta Peace Team Train- an overall rationale for why the Iowa Drone day vigil with a march from St. Ambrose Ca- The second document is the “January 2014 ing Committee member, former president Command Center gets away with commit- thedral to the Drone Command Center for - Background on Armed Drones” two-page of Veterans for Peace, and friend of many ting war crimes from an active war zone, a rally and direct action at 11 a.m., the time statement from the United States Catholic Catholic Workers and peace and justice while the local Christian community ignores the United States dropped the atomic bomb Bishops, signed by Des Moines’ Bishop Pates, activists all over the country. At the rally, El- its existence. on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. who at the time was the Chair of the United liott was introduced by Des Moines Catholic At the conclusion of the rally, Frank and States Bishops’ Committee on International Worker and Veterans for Peace Chapter 163, Elliot peacefully crossed onto base property Weekly Saturday Vigils at the Drone Com- Justice and Peace. Gil Landolt (read Elliott’s speech on p. 3). and were ordered to leave. In an act of civil mand Center: Any fair reading of these two docu- Area priests, pastors, and other religious disobedience, they refused to leave and were ments will plainly show the immorality of leaders were also asked to join the rally arrested. Both spent the night in jail, pled The Des Moines Catholic Worker and the Drone Command Center’s mission and and show their public disapproval of the guilty to trespassing at jail court, and were Veterans for Peace have restarted our weekly work. The state of Christianity in Iowa is drone command mission and presence in fined and released the following day. one-hour vigils at the Drone Command up for grabs! Christians in Iowa are sorely Des Moines. We were blessed to have four Center on Saturdays at 4 p.m. Please join us! lacking in moral leadership when it comes to religious leaders show up. They included Future Actions We need more Iowa pastors, priests and the Iowa-based war zone, where, every day Reverend Bob Cook, a Presbyterian pas- religious leaders to make a public stand op- in Des Moines, Iowans are committing war tor in Vale, Iowa, Reverend Chet Guinn, a August 6-9, Second Annual Vigil at St. posing the mission of Iowa’s Drone Com- crimes from a computer. This needs to be retired Methodist Minister in Des Moines, Ambrose Cathedral & August 9th Rally and mand Center as immoral, unjust and illegal, stopped, and we have the power to stop it! and Sisters Elaine and Jeanie Hagedorn, who Direct Action at Drone Command Center: based on our Christian just war and human are both blood sisters and Sisters of Humility rights traditions and teachings. I recommend Will you join us? from Des Moines. All four spoke at the rally. The next action in this campaign will two primary documents to assess what is go- In addition, Des Moines Catholic Worker be the second annual August 6-9 vigil at ing on at the Des Moines Drone Command

Catholic Workers, faith leaders, and community members gather at the Drone Command Center in Des Moines to protest the killing of innocent civilians abroad 2 via pacis | JULY 2018

via pacis Editorial: On Russiagate c/o Des Moines Catholic Worker By Patrick Stall. PO Box 4551 This article originally appeared June 25, 2017 on the Democratic Left blog. Des Moines, IA 50305 The palace intrigue around Donald numbers of everyday people taking the streets to 515-214-1030 Trump’s ties to Russia which has been stewing since demonstrate, but the Russian media narrative, just before the 2016 election has reached a fever congressional testimonies concerning it, and any EDITOR pitch. The capitalist press bombards us daily with impeachment trial that might come of it grants Jade Suganuma, Jakob Whitson, Bozena Scheidel the latest revelations in an endless saga of allega- agency (the ability to meaningfully have an impact tions and denials of collusion between Trump’s on events) to political and media elites. Impeach- LAYOUT campaign and the Russian government; liberal ment hearings, congressional testimonies, and Aaron Jorgensen-Briggs, Jade Suganuma, Jakob Whitson, Bozena pundits and centrist Democratic Party officials information leaks are palace intrigues that only a Scheidel now spend their days screeching at anyone who select few can effect, leaving the rest of us specta- SUBSCRIPTIONS will listen about Helinski, Trump, and treason. A tors to our own political fates. Further, the Russia- via pacis is published quarterly. How to subscribe: mail, email, or phone small but growing chorus, mostly of Democratic gate narrative itself is wholly alienating to the vast your name and address to the editor. Party operatives and media personalities, but also a majority ofAmericans: what does a working person handful of the party faithful on the ground, is now with less than $500 in their saving account, working THEDES MOINES CATHOLIC WORKER COMMUNITY openly calling for the President’s impeachment. fifty hours a week and still having trouble paying The Des Moines Catholic Worker Community, founded in 1976, is a How should we on the Left react to these calls? the bills, care about Vladimir Putin? response to the Gospel call to compassionate action as summarized by the Trump is a reprehensible man who espouses and But if an impeachment is truly unlikely, if Catholic Worker tradition. practices racist, sexist, and hyper-capitalist poli- it’s likely effects are less than desirable, We are committed to a simple, nonviolent lifestyle as we live and work tics. His policies are even now having devastating why are liberal celebrities pushing this narrative? In among the poor. We directly serve others by opening the Dingman House as a drop-in center for those in need of food, clothing, toiletries, use of a effects on undocumented immigrants and refugees: fact, the elites discussing this ‘Russian phone, toilet, shower, or just a cup of coffee and conversation. We also there is a certain urgency to resisting and removing interference’ have good reason to push this particu- engage in activities that advocate social justice. the President. And this urgency has been trans- lar story. Neoliberal Democrats, unable to lated into words and action. There was a start-up accept responsibility for their unpopular policies BECOMING A DES MOINES CATHOLICWORKER movement to convince members of the Electoral and candidates (Hillary Clinton) losing their We are open to new community members. For information about join- College to not vote for Trump in December 2016, party the election in November, are cynically seek- ing our mission, contact any community member or visit our website: even before the spectacular Women’s March and ing to shift the blame onto a favorite old foe, www.dmcatholicworker.org. JFK protests. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party elite Russia. Following the 2016 loss, the Democratic have become single-issue partisans, demanding an Party had an opportunity to move to the left and MAILING ADDRESS impeachment of the President based on his alleged democratize the party by welcoming introspection Des Moines Catholic Worker Tuesday 3pm-6:30pm ties with Russia. But while the impulse that moti- Instead, they have chosen to blame the Russians, PO Box 4551 vates cries of Russian interference and calls for allowing establishment Democrats to maintain their Des Moines IA 50305 impeachment comes from a laudable place - revul- current policy positions and pretend nothing is BISHOP DINGMAN HOUSE sion to Trump’s brand of reaction - attempts to wrong, all the while creating a new foreign enemy impeach Trump or inflate the ‘Russian interference’ to wage bloody proxy wars with. Placing blame (Drop-in Center and Business Phone) Monday CLOSED 1310 7th St. Des Moines, IA 50314 Tuesday 3pm-6:30pm narrative are both wrong-headed on the Russians strengthens the establishment 515-214-1030 Wednesday CLOSED strategically and counterproductive for the Left Democrats and their corporate agenda, while rais- Residents: Thursday 3pm-6:30pm Friday 3pm-6:30pm generally. ing a nationalistic, anti-Russia narrative. Shifting Gil Landolt, Al Burney, Jake Fee, Mary Traxler, Saturday 12pm-2pm First, we should note that any attempt to responsibility for our own nation’s issues elsewhere Jakob Whitson, Bozena Scheidel Sunday 3pm-6:30pm impeach the President is doomed to failure. is a reactionary strategy, and will leave progressives Impeachment requires a two-thirds majority in the in a weaker position both inside and outside the PHIL BERRIGAN HOUSE Senate. Democrats do not have that majority now, Democratic Party. 713 Indiana Ave. nor will they after the 2018 elections. Furthermore, Finally, and most important, the emphasis Des Moines, IA 50314 515-282-4781 Republicans in the Senate have shown nothing but on Trump’s personage and removing [email protected] loyalty to Trump throughout his presidency. Im- him individually from office ignores the fact that Residents: Frank Cordaro, Tim Burris, Caylan Cordaro peachment, for all the liberal bluster, is simply not Trump is only the face of the problem, not the going to happen. problem itself. While he might be the most openly RACHEL CORRIE HOUSE Second, even if we can suspend our disbe- capitalist, racist, and sexist politician, and 1301 8th St. lief on this point and an impeachment effort unabashedly demonstrates his authoritarian im- Des Moines, IA 50314 succeeds completely, even if liberals and their con- pulses, capitalism, racism, sexism, and the US’s 515-330-2172 gressional Democratic allies manage to post-9/11 slide towards a surveillance state preexist Residents: Julie Brown, Patrick Stall, Jade Suganuma unearth evidence of collusion between Trump and and will outlast him, even if he is Russian agents, even if the worst of the removed by impeachment. Trump, congressional CHELSEA MANNING HOUSE allegations against Donald Trump are true, and and executive Republicans and Democrats 1317 8th St. enough “moderate” congressional Republicans are (including many of those calling for impeachment) Des Moines, IA 50314 515-777-2180 moved to impeach Trump, what has been accom- are representatives of the capitalist class and act in Residents: Norman Searah, Ed Bloomer, Annie Patton, Charlie Faraday, plished? Trump will leave, and likely its interests- and are doing so right now, with bills Celestino Ramirez become a talking head on Fox News, thankfully to gut Medicaid, SNAP, and Social Security making out of Executive power, but he will immediately their way through Congress. A proper resistance WEEKLY COMMUNITY LITURGY be replaced, as the Constitution stipulates, by Vice to Trump and the things he represents- capitalism, Mondays, 4:00 pm. Berrigan House. President Pence. One can be forgiven for believing militarism, racism, and sexism - ought to resist All are welcome. Call to confirm. that this development would be a net positive for these systems whether Trump is in office or not, MONTHLY VETERANS the Left: Trump’s authoritarian and should hesitate to make alliances with neolib- impulses would be rebuked and progressives well- eral, racist, militaristic congressional Democrats. If FOR PEACE MEETING positioned for the 2020 elections, plus, Pence may the best the #Resistance to Trump can do is parrot Berrigan House. For more information, appear a welcome replacement to Trump. Nancy Pelosi and other elites pushing the Russian contact Gil Landolt at [email protected] But this analysis is simply insufficient. A interference” narrative, our chances for resisting or call 515-333-2180. Pence presidency could well be worse than Trump’s anything are negligible. WEEKLY AA MEETING administration, a disastrous defeat materially for Luckily, as a series of massive, nationwide Fridays, 5:00 pm, Berrigan house the Left. While Donald Trump is an demonstrations against Trump and his incompetent politician whose administration has policies have demonstrated, first in the Women’s THE CHIAPAS PROJECT been generally characterized by failure to March, then in the Airport Protests, again with Chiapas, Mexico institute its policies and constant internal infighting the Women’s Strike and even now with rallies for Richard Flamer and cabinet shuffling, Michael Pence is a #FamiliesBelongTogether against ICE, we can do [email protected] veteran statesman ruthlessly efficient in accomplish- much better than Nancy Pelosi and Anderson ing his policy goals. A Pence presidency Cooper. Millions of Americans, many for the first might have less nasty rhetoric than a Trump presi- time, are hitting the streets in protest and are ripe dency, but Pence, a religious fundamentalist for organizing. Though Trump’s election may have and reactionary at least as vile as Trump, a man brought out the worst of the Presidency, it has who once signed into law a bill requiring brought out the best of the American people, and women to attend funerals for their aborted or mis- the Left ought to seize this opportunity to create carried fetuses, knows how to build legislative coali- powerful, long-term organizations, rather than fol- tions and put policies into law. A Pence presidency low centrist Democratic talking points. We can and As for ourselves, we must be would likely result in the awful policies Trump is should resist Trump- by demonstrating, holding meek, bear injustice, malice, too inept to enact becoming law at a lightning rate - meetings, organizing on the job and in the street. and rash judgment. We must not a victory any of us should want a part of. But don’t be fooled into believing that the palace turn the other cheek, give up Third, and just as important, the ‘Russian intrigue around Trump and Russia is a viable politi- our cloak, go a second mile. interference’ narrative is a script with roles only for cal struggle. That’s not resistance- it’s a dangerous -Dorothy Day the elites. The Women’s March, Travel Ban Airport liberal delusion. protests, and Women’s strike witnessed record www.dmcatholicworker.org 3 We Are Here to Cry Out ...

Elliott Adams, speaking on May 19, 2018, Armed Forces Day, at Des Moines CatholicWorker andVeterans for Peace“Ground the Drones” Rally and Direction at ’s 132ndWing in Des Moines. By Elliott Adams wars. believe that. We clearly can abolish war and ground Think of the invasion of Iraq and all the War was created by man, it can be abol- drones. I can’t say that we will, but I do know Elliott Adams is the past National Presi- excuses they floated: Saddam was hurting ished by man. that we will start setting fires in people’s dent of Veterans for Peace. He is the co-chair his people, to give women equality, citizens People even use the Bible as an excuse minds here today. of Creating a Culture of Peace’s board of were being tortured, Saddam was a threat to and quote Matthew 24:6 as saying that “there The struggle to ground drones and abol- directors and serves on the Meta Peace Team his neighbors, nuclear weapons, weapons of always has been war and there always will be ish war has two fronts, and those fronts are Training Committee. He gave the following mass destruction. They tried one excuse after war,” which is a myth, too. Matthew was just interconnected. speech on May 19, 2018, Armed Forces Day, another. Karl Rove was asked “Why?” when talking about the passage of time, not about One front is helping people tear the at the Des Moines Catholic Worker and Vet- the United States knew Saddam had no the inevitability of war. scales or the blinders from their eyes and erans for Peace “Ground the Drones” rally nukes and the President still used the excuse War is no more inevitable that burning see that war and drones have never served and direct action at the Iowa Air National of avoiding a mushroom cloud over Europe. people at the stake was inevitable. We abol- the people and they never will. That is why Guard Drone Command Center in Des Rove’s answer was “Because it worked.” ished that. We can also abolish war. we are here today to cry out with the truth. Moines. Today there is a clear pattern of conjur- One reason why war is never inevitable Every scale that falls from an eye also helps ing up conflicts to justify our war crimes, is that it always requires an active choice to with the other front. We are here to cry out, to tell Iowa and and now our militarized culture is justifying go to war. It also always requires an acqui- The other front is demanding that the the world, drones are responsible for end- to Iowans this Drone Command Center. escence of the people to go along with one power holders abandon war as a toll to en- less immoral acts and war crimes. They are Some people excuse war by saying it is more dumb war. rich themselves and enslave people at home used deep in civilian areas, far from areas of diplomacy by other means. How ridiculous it Speaking of dumb wars, General Eisen- and abroad. This requires each of our voices combat, where no weapons of war should that? That is like saying burning someone at hower summed up war when he said, “I hate now, and we will get louder as we bring oth- be. They are used to commit war crimes. It the stake is education by another means. war as only a soldier who has lived it can, ers in. is time we outlaw them internationally and I have also heard that war is failed diplo- one who has seen its brutality, its futility, and Fredrick Douglas said, “Power concedes ground them in the United States. macy. When does the diplomatic process its stupidity.” nothing without a demand. It never did and Still, drones are just a symptom, a part fail? The diplomatic process is to keep going War is good for absolutely nothing. it never will. Find out just what any people of a far greater, more encompassing malady, on in order to get a better understanding and I ask you what is war good for? will quietly submit to and you have found the malady of war. Since 9/11, this nation has a better relationship. What is war good for? out the exact measure of injustice and wrong been swept up in a cult of war glorification. Well, it goes on until one side launches Are we going to ground drones and end which will be imposed upon them, and these We need to look that in the face. some drone attacks and starts a war. Instead war? will continue till they are resisted.” War is not about conflict resolution. It of war being failed diplomacy, it would be Samuel Adams said, “It does not require Do you want to ground drones and abol- does not resolve conflict. We know many more accurate to say war is the assassin of a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, ish war? ways to resolve conflict. Indeed, the opposite diplomacy. tireless minority keen to set brush fires in Let us go forth and ground our killer is true: conflicts are conjured up to justify People say war is inevitable. I don’t people’s minds.” drones.

Action shot of Elliott Adams and Frank Cordaro being arrested in front of the Drone Command Center in Des Moines, Iowa, on Armed Forces Day. 4 via pacis | JULY 2018

Anonymous Christian Artist: “No Respect” for US War Crimes By Frank Cordaro these actions only fan the flames of terrorism warfare that we are part of and about which The Berrigan Catholic Worker House is targeting the United States. the majority of us have no clue. I wish to calling for “No Respect” in the US Military This Memorial Day, Berrigan House The US “War on Terror” cannot be won. remain anonymous to be free to continue this Iowa Billboard Campaign. We are calling for received the below statement with a 1600 Assassination without due process and the important work. a bottom-up, nonviolent, street-based move- Euclid Ave. address. The artist wished to brutalization of innocents will never reduce - Concerned Christian Political Artist ment to reclaim the truth about what our remain anonymous. terrorism. But we should be asking ourselves military has been doing in these post-9/11, if this is not, in fact, by design. The US, A photo of the altered billboard with the US-led wars. Fellow Iowans, post-9/11, now exists in a state of perpetual statement from the anonymous artist was The lies the US military is allowed to ad- The time has come to have a conversation warfare where any person, anywhere in the sent out to over 100 news media contacts. vertise on Iowa’s commercial billboards is a about the use of armed drones in the backyard world can be declared an “enemy combat- No one responded. Within five days the direct assault on the truth. Simply put, most of Des Moines, IA. In fact, this conversation is ant” with absolutely no oversight by Congress altered Army billboard was replaced with a Iowans can’t see the truth through all the lies. well overdue. Iowans need to break the silence or the American public. In the course of this Pro-Life America billboard. Billboards are certainly not the only about the killing that is being perpetuated in “War,” weapons manufacturers and military On June 10th, Berrigan House received place where this ugly “Pro-Rich, Pro-War, our city at the Drone Command Center next contractors have made billions upon billions the below statement with a NE 14th ST & Pro-USA” message comes through. The to the Des Moines International Airport. By of dollars, at US taxpayers’ expense. And what NE 44th Ave. address. whole damn culture is locked into these lies, letting the Air National Guard Drone Com- do we have to show for it? beginning with our churches. This mad- mand Center and the 132nd Wing exist in our If the US government honestly intended Fellow Iowans, ness is reinforced by imperialist bias in our city, we are failing to publicly condemn an ac- to reduce terrorism, to protect the American This is my second effort at sending an mainstream media. Billboards are simply tive war zone in which Iowans are committing public and serve humanitarian interests important message to my fellow Iowans, accessible to political artists who can’t afford war crimes. We are also failing to uphold basic abroad, it would show it via an unwavering specifically the people of Des Moines. As long to buy billboard space. human rights, killing without due process. commitment to diplomacy, democracy and the as Iowa continues to accept being part of an It is going to take a lot of altered billboards As a result of Iowans’ silence, this unjustified rule of law, not an endless, secret war that ex- active war zone through the Drone Command to start exposing this national lie. The good and inhumane drone warfare turns develop- ists only to serve an elite economic and politi- Center, there can be “No Respect” for serving news is, there are a lot of US military bill- ing countries, such as Iraq and Pakistan, into cal class. The US drone war is, itself, terrorism. in the military in the state of Iowa. Our Iowa board advertisements in Iowa and across the literal open-air prisons, terrorized by killer My added words, “Drones Kill,” expose the Drone Command Center connects Iowa to country. And there are a lot of poor politi- drones. Although the US government claims to lie of respectability of drone warfare that this war crimes committed every day. cal artists who want the truth to be known. be assassinating“bad guys,” in the name of the Army billboard is promoting. As a political I encourage others to speak the truth about Don’t let the word “artist” throw you, my “War on Terror,” reports from international artist and a believer in free speech, this act of the power of money and lies in Iowa, and join friends. If you got a bucket of paint, a brush, press and human rights workers, as well as truth-speaking and exposing lies is far more me in this campaign. and a message, that is all you need! documentation from our own government, valuable than the cost of any sign. Concerned Christian Political Artist Please feel free to send Berrigan House show that many innocent lives have been Finally, I hope this piece of political any photos, clippings, and statements from taken, families and communities brutally speech will serve to enlighten my fellow Iowa This time both the Des Moines Register altered US military billboard efforts. disrupted. In addition to being morally wrong, Christians to wake up to this terrible drone and our local WHO TV ran stories.

First altered billboard on Euclid Avenue in Des Moines, IA appearing May 27, 2018

“As long as Iowa continues to accept being part of an active war zone through the Drone Command Center, there can be ‘No Respect’ for serv- ing in the military in the state of Iowa. Our Iowa Drone Command Center connects Iowa to war crimes committed every day. I encourage others to speak the truth about the power of money and lies in Iowa, and join me in this campaign.” June 10, 2018 statement from an anonymous political artist

Second altered billboard appearing on E. 14 Street, Des Moines, IA www.dmcatholicworker.org 5 From Catonsville to Kings Bay, U.S. Catholic Left Moves Forward. . . By Frank Cordaro the text, I had plenty of time to read the “go to jail,” Catholics who saw the witness contribution to our movement, and the article and also say something about the at Catonsville as a starting point of some- imprisonment of their 78-year-old mother I had an extraordinary experience in last ten years at the end. As it turned out, thing great. I connected and re-connected and their children’s grandmother were all May when I drove to Baltimore, Maryland I got lost reading the article when I went with lots of folks, including people I have very powerful. to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the off script and started telling my “Gods of heard of and read about for years, but had Another hopeful experience for me was Catonsville Nine. Metal Plowshares” story. I’m really not never met, and people whose names are being housed at Jonah House, bunked up The Catonsville Nine were nine Catholic sure what I said after losing my place. It on our Via Pacis mailing list or one of my in the “small house” with Paul Magno and activists who burned draft files to protest came from my heart, but I am not sure it email list serves that I can now add a face Joe. Jonah House and the Jonah House the Vietnam War. On May 17, 1968, they made any sense. to. On my way back home, I stopped at the communities I have worked with over the went to the draft board in Catonsville, The conference attendees were old; most Duncan Porter Catholic Worker House years have been an important part of my Maryland, took 378 draft files, brought were over 70. However, all are or have been in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and spent a resistance life. I am grateful for my time them to the parking lot in wire baskets, a part of the United States Catholic Left great night with Vince Ireiene! Vince and spent walking the cometary grounds while dumped them out, poured homemade story, either as a player or as an admirer. I started our lives of “holy crime” around at Jonah House and having good conversa- napalm (an incendiary used extensively The rock star of the event was Marjorie the same time, and we are both Berrigan tions with Paul and Joe about what is next by the United States military in Vietnam) Melville, a former nun and wife of fellow groupies! for us. These two old guys are starting over them, and set them on fire. Then Catonsville Nine member, Father Thomas However, the most exciting news that anew, in an old community that has a rich they sang, prayed, spoke with reporters, Melville. She was the only living member of weekend was not 50 years old. Front and and blessed history behind it. Given what I and waited to be arrested by the Baltimore the original Catonsville Nine in attendance. center on everyone’s minds was the news saw and experienced that weekend in Bal- County police. After this witness, nothing Marjorie is 89 yrs old, yet she is filled with of the Kings Bay Plowshares witness and timore, Jonah House and the whole United was the same for Catholics in this country life and spirit, as she still lives with the of the fate of the seven Catholics that were States Catholic Left has much, work to do, and the Catholic Worker Movement. poor and does service in a small village in arrested and are still in jail, all of them but by looking back on the Catonsville This witness, along with the Baltimore Mexico. She is truly an amazing woman. with good friends in the crowd. Among the Nine and our movement’s past succesises, Four, would spark a series of similar, Given the high ages and the large locked up, Liz McAlister was scheduled to we can remain inspired to continue to work Catholic Left-led demonstrations. These number of players, both past and present, give a presentation at the conference. Liz’s for a more peaceful world. include the Milwaukee 14, the D.C. Nine, I felt like I was in an “upper room” kind daughter Frieda filled in for her. Her retell- the Chicago 15, the Boston Eight, plus over of experience with the Saints of several ing of personal Berrigan family history 50 similar draft board raids. This move- generations of nonviolent, direct action, up to the present Berrigan family, their ment was a textbook example of a symbolic witness that also impaired the United States Selective Service System by impeding our ability to keep fighting the war in Vietnam! It was both symbolic and effective! The trip was especially meaningful on a number of levels. So much of who I am is wrapped up in having been both a Catho- lic and a Catholic Worker throughout my entire adult life. Added to this is 40 years of mentorship and leadership by Dan, Phil and Liz Berrigan. I must admit that I was incredibly moved. I was one of three keynote speakers for the opening day of the conference. The other two were Amy Goodman and Kathy Kelly. Needless to say, I was way out of my league. I lost my place in my talk, got emo- tional, and went off script. Trying to manage my time and message, I figured I’d read my ten-year-old “40th Catonsville Anniversary” article from the Catonsville 9 draft card burning on May 17th, 1968 in protest of the Vietnam War 2008 Via Pacis. When I practiced reading A Legacy of Light Mission Project: Its Hopes, Dreams and History of Development by Reverend Bob Cook work I did in the Berlin area from 2000 to say that fear lurked in the recesses of my get to experience childhood as we know to 2006. As a member of the six person brain. Then, the light of flickering candles it. Yet, they yearn to have this experience, This is a story about a mission project parish team we constructed potable water was extinguished, and darkness enveloped and just like you and I, they hope for an designed to provide light for humble projects and developed support in areas of the room. I could no longer see the rats, education that will transcend tumultuous homes of eastern El Salvador. It is called education, medical care, and agriculture. but I could hear them. My fear that one poverty and ignite the promise for better “A Legacy of Light.” The goal is to install Fr. Jose Candido, the priest at the parish of of them would fall on me made it a rather lives. simple solar systems to illuminate farm St. Joseph, was aware of the mission card sleepless night. In the dark of that night, Salvadoran children want an education as family homes on the mountainside in the I was given, so in June of 2016 he invited I prayed, and in the meditation of my soul, desperately as you want one for yourself Municipality of Berlin in eastern El Salva- me to be responsible for the solar mission formed out of fear, I promised to God and or for your children,ut unlike the experi- dor. This is made possible as a four-pack project which became known as “A Legacy to myself that if I ever had the opportunity, ence of those of us reading this article, the of AA rechargeable batteries are charged of Light.” I am proud of the letter of invita- I would bring light to the homes of the experience of life in the light for those in El with a ten watt solar panel, which in turn, tion Fr. Candido wrote to me, and it is cantons on the mountainside. Salvador is not achieved by a mere flip of a provides the energy to light the homes included at the end of this article. I never really believed I would be given the switch. Although every community on the with three LED lights. An added feature “A Legacy of Light” is an awesome respon- opportunity to bring light to the poor of mountainside has a school where morning of the system is the capability to charge cell sibility I have been given. Many people those communities, but the fear and drama classes are held, the demand of their chores phone batteries. have asked me why I simply did not say of that night long ago was memorable, puts students in a race with the setting sun. I am the stated supply pastor at United “no” to Fr. Candido’s request. For that and so was the promise to bring light to They’re typically forced to study as best as Presbyterian Church of Vail and United answer I need to take you back to Novem- the poor. The proverbial fork in the road they can after dark, aided by the dim light Church of Westside. I arrived November ber 16, 1990. By the leading of the spirit of in my faith journey loomed large. To say of candles or the flickering light of kero- 1, 2016. “A Legacy of Light” mission had the living God, I found myself on a 16 day/ “no” to Fr. Candido’s invitation was not an sene lanterns. been founded in June of that year, and each night visit to the canton (community) El option. Just like you, these children hope that edu- church has given generously to the success Tablon, one of the 17 cantons on the Berlin Imagine the possibilities for your own faith cation will carry them aloft to a gratifying of the project. To date, 157 solar systems Mountain. The Salvadoran twelve year journey. As the lay missionary responsible existence and enlightened life. This wish have been installed. The cost of the solar long civil war was in its tenth year. The for “A Legacy of Light” , mission for the alone makes powering Salvadoran homes systems for each home is $110.00, which poverty I witnessed was pervasive, unlike poor of eastern El Salvador, and as modera- with “A Legacy of Light” in this twenty-first includes installation and transportation of any I had seen in my 47 years of life. The tor of the United Presbyterian Church of century an ethical obligation for those of us the units from San Salvador to Berlin. hunger of especially children in the canton Vail Session and the Council of United with the means to help. Also, are not such You might be wondering how a Presby- brought silent sobs in the night. I had been Church Westside, I present this, an oppor- choices as these a faith decision for all who terian pastor from rural northwest Iowa given a bed, along with four other people tunity to ignite a “Legacy of Light” for the call on the spirit of the living God to lead Presbytery of Prospect Hill has been called near the far end of the canton, away from poor people living in the darkest corners of us on our journey of life? by the parish of St. Joseph in Berlin, El the sound of war guns. I could not help but El Salvador. For many years, I experienced If you are led to donate to this life-affirm- Salvador to serve as the lay missionary note I shared my sleeping space with rats the bleak environment of this third world ing project of light, please make your gift to person in charge of this mission proj- in the rafters above my bed. At bedtime, struggle. In an environment where every “A Legacy of Light” and send it to Westside ect. The lay missionary status is official, by the light of flickering candles, the door hand-big or small, strong or frail- is needed State Bank, Westside, IA 51467. complete with a card which is signed by was bolted, and a heavy plank was placed to gather wood, cook food, carry water, the Bishop of the Diocese. He gave me the on it for additional safety from outside till the crops in the fields, tend to infants, status as a gift of gratitude for the mission intrusion. It would be an understatement the elderly, and the ailing, children hardly 6 via pacis | JULY 2018

A F T E R

BEFORE www.dmcatholicworker.org 7 8 via pacis | JULY 2018 Stop Killing Children! Upcoming Events and Important Dates

By Julie Brown village of Dupre, families sheltered inside their homes dur- ing the last Turkish bombing. This provided little protec- tion from exploding glass as large rocks off the nearby **Reverend Chet Guinn’s 90th Birthday was mountainside rained down on their homes. I have visited on July 22nd! Chet was one of the original Dupre many times, and although the last bombing was almost two years ago, the children suffer from trauma and supporters of the Des Moines Catholic Worker are still afraid of the planes in the sky. in 1976, both in the hospitality and the peace- In the Alana Gully, there was no place to hide. Shells fell directly on a group of children grazing sheep in a rocky making efforts. Feel free to send Chet a belated field. The rocks in the field were not big enough to shelter birthday card at 1041 8th St. Des Moines, IA more than one person at a time, so the children were spread 50314. all over the field, hiding alone as the shells fell. As a mother, I try to imagine what that would have been like. I think of myson, hiding behind a small rock, alone for July 27-29 - National Catholic Worker Gath- over an hour as explosions happened all around him. These were small children! Three of them were injured that day. ering in Rochester, New York Although these villagers never see a soldier, the children can tell you exactly who is bombing them. They will point ugust up and tell you, “We are being bombed by Turkey and A 6 - Father Jim Murphy’s Line-Cross- NATO. The United States is a part of NATO.” ing at Offutt The United States government arms the Iraqi govern- August 6-9 - 24/7 ment and the Kurdish Peshmerga while allying with, selling Vigil at St. Amborse Ca- A speech given by Julie Brown at the Poor People’s weapons to, and storing nuclear warheads in Turkey. The thedral in Des Moines Campaign Rally– May 29, 2018 United States has found ways to fight on both sides of a war August 9 - 11 a.m. Rally & Direct Action at at once. Hi, all. My name is Julie, and I am from just about 30 So what does it take to be an expert on peace? In today’s Des Moines Armed Drone Command Center minutes from here in Jasper County, Iowa. I am a high world, I guess not much. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels school graduate and a college drop-out. I am a member of as though we are sorely outnumbered. However, there are the Des Moines Catholic Worker and also work with CPT some places we can start. September 14-16 - Sugar Creek - Midwest [Christian Peacemaker Teams] in Iraqi Kurdistan. My team We must be willing to say that we don’t believe in these Catholic Worker Gathering is considered by some to be experts on cross-border bomb- calculated sciences of war and speak out against weapons eptember ings in Iraqi Kurdistan. We meet with the European Union, sales and weapons profiteering. S 21-24 - Milwaukee 14th’s 50 Year embassies, the United States State Department, and anyone We must amplify the voices of the strong men, women, Celebration who will listen about the impacts of war. and children living in areas of conflict. These are the Being thought of as an “expert” at anything seems kind of people affected by and resisting war, colonization, and oc- funny to me. I guess this happened by default. My team is cupation. October 15 -18 Occupy the World Food the only human rights team in the world currently moni- We need to educate ourselves, our children, and our Prize Week and Rally and Direct Action at the toring and reporting on cross-border bombings in Iraqi families about racism and how to be compassionate to oth- Kurdistan. That alone should tell you how much we need ers with skin colors, cultures, languages, and religions that Iowa State Capitol more people working for peace in this world. may not be exactly like ours. At this very moment, there are military personnel choos- We have to get the military ceremonies out of our places ing their next bombing targets within Iraqi Kurdistan. My of worship and military recruiters out of our schools. November 16 - “Jesuit Universities Teach small team responds to these horrible acts of war. Take it from a former bartender and single mother from War No More” National Campaign Witness After three years, I can almost tell you how a visit to a small-town Iowa: You can make a difference. We all can. bombed village will go before we even arrive. You see, You just have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone. Day-Des Moines Catholic Worker Vigil at there are many people all over the world who are experts at It’s in that space, that place of discomfort, that we will be Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska war, and they have it down to a calculated science! able to stop this terrible war machine. It doesn’t matter if it’s a young girl from the Alana Gully Thank you. with bomb shrapnel lodged in her wrist or an Assyrian man December 27-28 - Des Moines Drone Ac- from Mrkagia talking about picking up dozens of human Julie Brown is a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams’ tion: Feast of Holy Innocents Retreat and Wit- body parts from his fields. They all recount the bombings Iraqi Kurdistan Project. She splits her time between Iraq and like this: the Des Moines Catholic Worker as a member of DMCW’s ness First came the planes or drones. They circled around and Rachel Corrie Project. left. hen came the F16s and bombs and shells. During the active bombing, people try to hide. In the An Invitation to Condemn Nuclear War by Father Jim Murphy

Three months before I was ordained, Pope John Paul II visited Japan, specifically the site of the first use of a nuclear bomb. In his talk, he repeatedly said, “To remember the past is to commit oneself to the future.” Thirty-seven years later, our, and thus the church’s, com- mitment to the future may seem unclear. Since the 1980s I’ve made many trips to Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha. Thanks to the leadership of the Des Moines Catholic Worker, many of us remembered the presence of nuclear weapons and reflected, prayed, studied, witnessed, and sometimes crossed the line. The evil of nuclear weapons was not tens of thousands of miles away, although a common belief exists that nuclear destruction is unknown and of no threat to our future. In recent months, with the development of long range missiles by North Korea, the threat of nuclear weapons just seemed to be a passing thought to people in the United States. There seemed to be no connection that United States submarines, planes, and missiles are a constant threat to most other people on the face of the earth at any moment. Last summer, the United Nations gathered the nations of the world to support a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. As the nuclear powers refused to participate, there was little coverage to the 122 to 1 vote of nations to join the treaty to ban nuclear weapons. In November, Pope Francis addressed an international symposium on a world free of nuclear weapons. He said, “If we take into account the risk of an accidental detonation as a result of error of any kind, the threat of their use, as well as their very possession, is to be firmly condemned.” Now is the time for me to make the walk up the inclined drive at Offutt Air Force Base and say that my spiritual leader has condemned the work of nuclear war planning. After decades of statements from the church about the evil of the use of nuclear weapons and the loopholes of working toward disarmament, I can now be a local moral agent to communicate the condemnation of the existence of all nuclear weapons. I invite you to join me at the entrance to Offutt Air Force Base, Kinney Gate at 11:00 a.m. on August 6. Come and pray and reflect and announce that nuclear weapons are evil and need to be condemned. Bring or send me a letter to Colonel Michael Manion or STRAT- COM commander General John Hyten, and I will attempt to deliver these letters. Father Jim Murphy gives Mass at St. John’s at Creighton University, December 2007 Feel free to contact me for further details at jimmurphy@ centurylink.net or 608-617-7379.

www.dmcatholicworker.org 9 Norman’s Whereabouts

By Norman Searah

Hello there! I just got done on the phone with Sheri Clem- ons, who was once a member of the Des Moines Catholic Worker, some time ago. She lives in New York City, one time she lived on Staten Island, not too far from the ocean near where she had a house. That was torn down to build more seafront homes. Sheri Clemons comes back to Des Moines to stay at the Catholic Worker and visits her father who’s got Alzheimer’s and sees a relative. She’s a good friend. Aaron and I got to stay with her each one time. I guess each time we got to see New York City, even the Catholic Worker. It was good, even Mary House, and recalling the pictures of Dorothy Day’s funeral in 1980. From Mary House, some people carried her coffin to the Catholic church around the corner, and the coffin was homemade. I often think of the time when Frank Cordaro told Bishop Dingman that he was going to start a Catholic Worker. I won- der if both men went to the all-girl’s school on Grand, if I recall Photo by Al Viola it wasn’t too far from the chancery where some priests live. It’s where Dorothy Day spoke about the Catholic Worker move- front room upstairs and it was cool. young woman who died for some reason. I heard she might ment. I don’t know much about Peter Maurin, who was also of Since I been here over the years I’ve spent four months in have had diabetes and drank, died from that. the Catholic Worker movement, who died in 1949. Peoria. It was a nice city with a river. It had Mother Theresa’s We had James, that earned the Medal of Honor, maybe for I figure from 1929 when the stock market crashed, leaving order there. Just a few I think, doing some work with people serving in Vietnam, and died on the streets of Des Moines with a lot of people without jobs, food lines where they can eat. I that needed it. Shared the cooking for the poor. The order a black lung from drinking too much. heard that a lot of rich people that were never poor or never cooked and fed, I believe it was St. Mary’s. There was Rick, I called him Chiefy. I heard when he died knew what being poor meant killed themselves. I’ve been to other places but I got to know the people that they buried him in Montana. Then I got a DVD movie on the Dust Bowl days where farm- came to Mass. I got to know the staff over the years, com- I recall going to a park in Johnston. There was a thing going ers were losing their farms to the dust storms. Other people ing to live here then moving, and our guests. I felt hurt when on like a pow-wow in memory of a young Indian boy. He tried were losing their jobs too. People were looking for ways to keep someone died that liked, like Hilary’s mother died. She lived in to save a bird of prey, I recall it up on a post. The boy climbed, the dust out, animals were dying from the dust, people too, a nice house. I once did some work there for a short time. She touched and died. I felt real sorry for the son and the family. they had to cover their mouths. grew flowers, that was nice. I recall she must have liked sitting I and my friends of a small town in New England, he was In- A well-known singer that had to give up his paint brush for a and watching. dian along with his father but I never knew it. His father played guitar and started singing I guess around his home in Okla- My mother died in 2015, at the age of 92 years old. Loved drums for a band that played on Saturday nights at Barre Hunt- homa, like a lot of people wanting to get out of the Dust Bowl, English flowers, she lived in England. Frank Cordaro lost a ing Club. Tuna was a cool friend, when he died his father went losing a lot, headed to for a life, job, home. After mother. Frank started the Des Moines Catholic Worker. back to his tribe. I often remind myself a city isn’t like town. A making a name for Woody Guthrie he moved to New York Bishop Dingman, who one of our houses is named after, who town might know it. People may be better. where he made friends with Pete Seeger, had a fundraiser at also said Mass here and also blessed the houses too. I’m proud of all of you who stood up with the Native Indians Washington Square Park and later died. Jim Harrington, who had a friendly dog, too friendly, that in protest for our Mother Earth that we live on and share and Then in 1940, World War II. I wonder when Dorothy spoke came to the worker. has a voice. But you can hear her heart beat. in New England, in fact, Worcester, MA, where Mustard Seed, Mike was a good guy and I thought his wife was good. When Maybe, maybe we might see a Catholic Worker run by Na- the Catholic Worker is where I first started. I met a lot of Mike died she moved to the Waterloo Catholic Worker. tive Indians. Think of it. people, learned a lot about city poor and town poor, which isn’t I recall William Basinger, some of us call him Bill. His wife I’m liking it. Thank you Catholic Worker brothers and well known on a small scale. Jean was a good wife. sisters. I honor you. In the summer of 1980, when I got a ride outside of Daven- We had other people die. Poor, homeless, young, old, friends port, getting a ride from a dairy truck when there was a dairy and guests. Norman Searah nearby. It’s not there anymore. But I recall we drove through I been here a long time. I’ve been to other Catholic Workers, the parking lot through the milking section out onto the street, all different sizes, all doing their best. Thank you Dorothy Day, Oh yeah, I heard Carmen Trotta is in jail for protesting. We stopped, and went straight to the front of a house where I met Peter Maurin. don’t need war. Thank you, and all who protest. We need to Steve Marsden, who I thought was Frank. Frank was in the We used to have a few Indians come to work, to eat, even a work, talk, eat together. Introduction to the Des Moines Catholic Worker

by Jakob Whitson I come to the community as a self-described Hello, Via Pacis readers! My name is Jakob, Christian Anarchist, yet I was confirmed and after a ten day visit in the community in the Presbyterian church (PCUSA) as a earlier this year, I have decided to join in on young adult. I haven’t attended a service at a the festivities for the next six months or so Presbyterian church since moving out of my as an intern before I discern becoming a full parent’s house after graduating high school. fledged member of the community. Woah! Before moving to Des Moines, I regularly at- How exciting it has been for me to finally be tended Lorraine Avenue Mennonite Church a part of a Catholic Worker community after in Wichita, Kansas. I have explored Catholi- my first exposure to Dorothy Day and the cism, especially during my time in Bolivia. Catholic Worker more than five years ago. I almost converted twice, but in the end, I found than an official conversion would be Des Moines is a new city for me. Before unhelpful for spiritual growth. Therefore, I moving to the community, I was living in continue my exploration. I enjoy attending Wichita, Kansas. I spent most of my child- weekly liturgy at Berrigan House, although hood in a small town west of Wichita called we are always looking for new faces. Pratt. I graduated from Kansas State Univer- sity with a Bachelor’s of Science in Geogra- I hope to bring enthusiasm and another phy. Halfway through completing my degree, strong work ethic to the community, along I left the United States and become a service with another body at the protests. I con- worker/volunteer for Mennonite Central tinue to be inspired by my fellow Catholic Committee (MCC) in Bolivia. I was exposed Workers, including those that participated to a different reality, and I met many awe- in the recent King’s Bay Plowshare action some people. My work there consisted of in Georgia. I rely on the Des Moines Catho- supporting a project developed by a Bolivian lic Worker’s core community members for Baptist nongovernmental organization that support and guidance. The journey has just required I live in a small rural village in begun. I am excited, and God’s presence is the Andes. I attempted to motivate farmers felt in this sacred place. Peace! to practice methods of water conservation, and I also helped plant trees, a new crop to the area called maca, and vegetables for the school children. My work in Bolivia was of- ten satisfying, yet it was difficult to navigate being in a country where I couldn’t speak my mind without fear of deportation or get- ting MCC kicked out of the country. 10 via pacis | JULY 2018 The Midwest Catholic Worker Faith and Resistance Retreat and Beyond by Greg Boertje-Obed, *This article originally appeared in the HIldegard House’s “2018 Spring Newsletter*

“A good shepherd set up a table for all the lays down one’s life for the sacred objects that had been sheep. Hired workers, who collected over these past are not shepherds and whose months, and placed glass sheep are not their own, see jars filled with water and a wolf coming and leave the prayers inside the stacked sheep and run away, and pipes. Throughout the day, the wolf catches them and there were reports from the scatters them. This is because local police that we would they work for pay and have be arrested for trespass in no concern for the sheep” groups of two to four, but (John 10:11-13). This quote that did not materialize. As suggests a critical differ- time went on, some people ence between those who are left in groups, but we were willing to lay down their asked by a Native elder to lives and those who work for “hold the space” until others pay. The Midwest Catholic could arrive. Then, we were Worker Faith and Resistance joined by other water protec- retreat was a modest example tors. Enbridge security people of the laying down of lives to responded by bringing in a oppose the coming of a dan- portapotty, setting up flood ger which threatens Mother lights, and driving trucks Earth and Sacred Water. around the yard. Since we An estimated 60 Catholic Workers and friends from nine different communities gather to protest, heal, and share in community were not prepared for camp- Catholic Workers and friends from nine different states as far east as and ing through the cold night, we left about 9 pm. south as Arizona participated in this year’s Faith and Resistance Retreat held in The action was not intended to be a long-term encampment or occupa- Duluth, . Our area is faced with an expanded fossil fuel project by Ca- tion. We came to bring our prayers and spirit into the yard. We were willing to risk nadian based, Enbridge Energy Partners, which is intent on shipping tar sands oil arrest in order to do that. from Canada into a Wisconsin refinery. The current portion of the Line 3 pipeline Subsequent to the retreat, two events occurred which relate to the impor- is corroded and outdated, so instead of shutting it down and removing the pipe, tance of resisting the expansion of Enbridge’s oil pipelines. In Michigan, Enbridge they want to expand the line with wider pipe along a new route. Their expansion was fined $1.8 million for not carrying out timely and thorough inspections on project route goes through ceded territory in which the Ojibwe Nation have treaty its pipelines as required under a 2016 agreement. And explosions at the Husky rights to hunt, gather, and defend. An inevitable leak or oil spill will amount to oil refinery in Superior, across a river from Duluth, injured workers and spewed cultural genocide, and Enbridge has a dismal track record of spills and safety viola- toxic clouds of chemicals which have poisoned the land, water, plants, wildlife, and tions. humans. Over the weekend, retreatants heard from local Ojibwe spiritual leaders, a Currently we await the decision of the Public Utilities Commission tribal lawyer, Fond-Du-Lac Reservation members, and members of water protector concerning whether or not they will grant a permit for Enbridge’s preferred route. camps. We were led through a beautiful sacred water ceremony where the living Their decision is expected in June, and there may be a need for further laying down water healed each of us and we, in turn, promised to protect and defend her. We of our lives to defend against threats to the water, land, and life. The Hildegard visited one of the sugar bush camps on the Fond-Du-Lac Reservation and helped House community is grateful to be part of this Indigenous-led movement, weaving to begin to construct a lodge for elders. our prayers, hopes, and dreams together for a better world for all Creation. On Monday, April 9, we traveled to one of the staging areas where En- bridge is illegally storing pipes for their new route. They fraudulently applied for *If interested in receiving the Hildegard House newsletter write to Greg at 617 N. 8th the permits and brought in $300 million worth of pipe. The yards are also located Ave. E. Duluth MN 55805 and ask to be added. on treaty land and are therefore trespassing on Ojibwe territory. Twenty-seven people entered the yard and hung banners along the fence, Jonah House Update by Paul Magno down valuable information on the healing properties of Washington DC for the past 37 years. He has been a grass- plants to Ausar. In turn, he has shared this knowledge and roots peace and justice activist his whole adult life, rooted Jonah House was founded by Phil Berrigan, Liz wisdom through lectures, workshops, and community in the Catholic Worker movement, through a long array of McAlister, and others, in 1973, during the Vietnam War. It organizing in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of commitments. He look forward especially to bringing Jonah was a center of resistance to that war. When the war ended, Baltimore City. Currently, he is the farm manager for the House’s charism of nonviolent resistance to war and kindred the focus of resistance became the nuclear arms race. This Tubman House Farms and an OSI Fellow. injustices forward to its next blossoming in service of a resistance blossomed into the Plowshares movement. J Joseph Byrne, 52, grew up as one of six kids in crucified world and its resurrection. Jonah House members have spent years in jail for the suburbs of Chicago, . He has lived on the east Rainbow Williams. 39, was born and raised in Plowshares disarmament actions. Other Baltimore City. He aspires to contribute a members have spent years supporting them sense of community development in and and doing the work of the community in around the city. He is a local mentor/youth their absence. Resistance to weapons and counselor and assists with the farming war continues at Jonah House. More recent- projects, as well as community engagement ly, Jonah House has also become involved in the West Baltimore Sandtown/Winchester in racial justice efforts in Baltimore, as well community, as has been his passion for the as the environmental justice movement. last 20 years. He is committed to change in Jonah House is planted in the America’s urban communities and desires middle of a 22-acre, mostly-wooded cem- to establish a collective to help bring our etery called St. Peter’s in West Baltimore. youth and disenfranchised families in our Maintaining and slowly restoring St. Peter’s communities to flourish and sustain as a Cemetery is the work that pays the bills healthy community through healthy living for the community. Jonah House also uses and eating. the property to serve the living, as well as To continue the vision, Jonah House honor the dead. Our gardens and orchards is looking for new core members willing feed the Jonah House community and the to commit to a two-year stint. We are also surrounding neighborhood community, via open to short- and long-term interns (three a food pantry and weekly food distribution months to a year). The work of radical to low-income neighbors. We envision the peacemaking, direct service to the poor, and cemetery—particularly the eleven acres for- stewarding the land requires workers. We est patch—as a haven for the people of the pray that God will send laborers to the vine- neighborhood, international peace activists, yard (yes, we have that too) and that Jonah and numberless living beings. House will continue to comfort the afflicted Jonah House is also an interfaith and afflict the comfortable for another 45 spiritual community. We pray or meditate years! together daily, and our spiritual practice informs and empowers everything we do, whether in the coast since 1987, when he came east to join the Dorothy fields or in the streets. Day Catholic Worker in Washington DC. A decades long As of May, our newly reconstituted community odyssey through academic and spiritual pursuits, as well as For more information, call 410-233-6238 or email us at consists of four men: service and justice commitments, brought him to the Jonah [email protected]. Ausar-Mesh Amen is a third generation natural House community in 2015, where he flourishes as a Bud- healer who grew up in Baltimore. His father, a southern dhist practitioner, land steward, musician, and peacemaker. sharecropper, herbalist, blacksmith, and engineer, passed Paul Magno recently joined Jonah House after living in www.dmcatholicworker.org 11 The United States Catholic Left and the Plowshares Movement is Not Dead Yet! Carmen Trotta is a former Des Moines Catholic Worker men will write, organize, witness, and prepare for trial at by Frank Cordaro (1984) and a Grinnell College graduate. She has since home, while Clare, Liz, and Mark will do the same from returned home to join the New York Catholic Worker jail. Steve was not given the option of bail because he From the east, where the sun always rises, came the over 30 years ago! has a pending case in Washington State for a protest at April 4th “Good News” press release: “Seven Catho- Joining Carmen from the New York Catholic Worker the Trident sub base there. Those who want to write in lic plowshares activists were detained early Thursday is Dorothy Day’s granddaughter, Martha Hennessy. support of the Plowshares are encouraged to send letters morning at the Kings Bay Naval Base, St. Mary’s Geor- Martha was our Des Moines Catholic Worker keynote to our friends! gia. They entered on Wednesday night, April 4. Calling speaker for our 35th anniversary. The Names & ID #s themselves Kings Bay Plowshares, they went to make Actions speak louder than words. This should put to rest Clare Grady #015632 real the prophet Isaiah’s command: ‘beat swords into any confusion surrounding the issues of destruction of Elizabeth McAlister #015633 plowshares.’” property and the Plowshares movement at the New York Stephen Kelly #015634 The seven chose to act on the fiftieth anniversary of Catholic Worker. Mark Colville #015635 the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther Then we have Clare Grady of the three generations of Glynn County Detention Center King, Jr., who devoted his life to addressing the triplets Catholic Worker/Catholic Left East Coast Grady clan! 100 Sulphur Springs Road of militarism, racism and materialism. In their state- Clare’s dad, John, was a close friend and fellow draft Brunswick, GA 31520 ment, which they carried with them, the group quoted board activist of Dan and Phil Berrigan. Clare’s sister, King, who said, The greatest purveyor of violence in the Ellen, married former Des Moines Catholic Worker, Important, please note: Inmates may only receive plain world (today) is my own government.” Peter DeMott. white pre-stamped postcards. Use only blue or black ink, Carrying hammers and baby bottles of their own Catholic Workers, Patrick O’Neil and Mark Colville, include the prisoner’s name and number blood, the seven attempted to convert weapons of mass are both family men. They married and raised a total destruction. of 14 children in their Catholic Worker communities! Please visit https://www.kingsbayplowshares7.org for Kings Bay Naval base opened in 1979 as the Navy’s Luz Catarineau (Mark’s wife) and Mary Rider (Patrick’s more information and resources for continuing the Atlantic Ocean Trident port. It is the largest nuclear sub- wife), whose names we need to add in this article, are movement! marine base in the world. There are six ballistic missile also doing astounding work. They are doing the harder subs and two guided missile subs based at Kings Bay. time, keeping the work and family afloat, plus being The activists went to three sites on the base. These their “locked up” partners’ primary personal support include the administration building, the D5 Missile persons. monument installation, and the nuclear weapons storage These five extraordinary Catholic Workers are joined, bunkers. The activists used crime scene tape, hammers, led, and mentored by Fr. Steve Kelly S.J. and Liz McAli- and banners reading, “The ultimate logic of racism is ster. Fr. Steve is a second generation Dan Berrigan genocide, Dr. Martin Luther King,” “The ultimate logic Jesuit! The only exception is that Fr. Steve has done a of Trident is omnicide,” and “Nuclear weapons: illegal - lot more jail and prison time than Fr. Dan. Liz was immoral.” They also brought an indictment charging the the wife and partner of Phil Berrigan. They raised their U.S. government for crimes against peace. three children while living in the Catholic Worker The activists at the nuclear weapons storage bunkers community at Jonah House in Baltimore, collectively were Elizabeth McAlister, 78, Jonah House, Baltimore, spending many years in jails and prisons. Liz and Phil Maryland; Steve Kelly, S.J., 69, Bay Area, California; were the heart and soul of the Atlantic Life Community. Carmen Trotta, 55, New York Catholic Worker. When Phil died, Liz’s role as leader and mentor only The activists at the administration building were Clare grew for me. Grady, 59, Ithaca Catholic Worker; Martha Hennessy, It is not an overstatement to say that doing a plow- 62, New York Catholic Worker. shares action with Fr. Steve Kelly and Liz McAlister The activists at the Trident D5 monuments were is like doing an action with Moses and Elijah! Amen! Mark Colville, 55, Amistad Catholic Worker, New Amen! Alleluia! Haven Connecticut; Patrick O’Neill, 61, Fr. Charlie Mul- holland, Catholic Worker, Garner North Carolina. **Since the writing of this article, we want to share an Seven Catholics, five Catholic Workers, plus Liz update on the campaign. Martha, Patrick, and Carmen McAlister and Fr. Steve Kelly S.J.; I know every one of were able to be bailed out, while Clare, Liz,and Mark Kings Bay Plowshares: Clare, Patrick, Liz, Steve, Martha, these good souls! have decided not to bail out. Martha, Patrick, and Car- Mark, Carmen

Occupy the World Food Prize $50,000 Free Speech Payout

As reported in the Des Moines Register on Jan 9, 2018, Occupy the World Food Prize’s attorney, Wylie Stecklow, from New York City and Glen Downey, from Des Moines, took the World Food Prize and the state of Iowa to court in a lawsuit claiming free speech violations, and we won! The state of Iowa settled with us for the right to hold our rally and protest just outside the front doors to the capitol, plus $50,000! The headline in the Des Moines Register focused on the $50,000. It sounds like a lot of money, and it is. The money was divided in the following way: 32 people received $400 from the state of Iowa from our Occupy the World Food Prize 2017 free speech lawsuit. These people were Ed Bloomer, Julie Brown, Mary Caponi, Bob Cook, Jan Corderman, Jerry Donovan, Joan Engler, , John Frankling, Mauro Heck, Jan Hill, Doug Hertzler, Aaron Jorgensen-Briggs, Gil Land- olt, Linda Leman, Nehemiah Lucket, Tom Mathews, Ray McHenry, Barb Mease, Mike Miles, Brian Morrissey, George Naylor, Joe Palen, Jack Petsche, William Petsche , Magie Rawland, Roger Routh, Norman Searah, Kaylynn Lee Strain, Carolyn Uhlenhake- Walker, Brad Wilson and Robert Zagar. Wylie Stecklow, Reverend Billy, Frank Cordaro, and Glen Downey clelbrate the big payout The criteria for being on this list was verified attendance at the 2015 or 2016 Occupy the World Food Prize rallies. Attendance was verified by photos of the rallies. 2018 Occupy the World Food Prize: Show up Thursday, Sharon Donovan, Rick Perryman, Reverend Billy, and Frank Cordaro received bigger checks between $2000 and $5000. These four received more because they October 18 for our seventh annual Occupy the World Food were on the original complaint. Frank Cordaro go the largest check of $5000 Prize rally and direct action. What is the use of winning a because he also got arrested both years. Our attorneys, Wylie Stecklow and Glen Downey, split the remainder of the free speech battle and not showing up to exercise our free money. speech rights? We need 500 people to show up and make “And well deserved!” said Cordaro, “The suit was their idea. They did all the our speech heard! It’s do-able…. save the date! More infor- work. Now we need to exercise our free speech victory by showing up for our October 18, 2018 Occupy the World Food Prize rally and direct action.” mation to come later! Des Moines Catholic Worker via pacis PO Box 4551 Des Moines, IA 50305

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The voice of the Des Moines Catholic Worker community

JULY 2018 WWW.DMCATHOLICWORKER.ORG VOLUME 42, NO. 2

Ground the Drones at IowaAir National Guard by Frank Cordaro p. 1

Editorial:On Russiagate by Patrick Stall p. 4

We Are Here to Cry HOW YOU CAN HELP Out... by Elliot Adams Prayers . . . without them, nothing happens. p. 3 VOLUNTEERS: mins, Antibiotic Ointment, Soap, Pinesol, Trash Bags, $CASH MONEY$: Anonymous Christian Individuals and work crews Band-Aids, Lip balm. Brooms, Rugs, Candles, Cash donations are es- Artist:“No Respect” for for hospitality (serving Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs, sential to pay our property US War Crimes food, cleanup), cleaning and TOILETRIES: Aluminum Foil, Plastic Wrap, taxes, utilities, repair and by Frank Cordaro general inside and outside Disposable Razors, Shaving Sandwich and Freezer Bags, maintenance of property, p. 4 maintenance . . . without Cream, Shampoo, Condi- Bath Towels, Playing Cards, upkeep and gas for two vans, them, we burn out. tioner, Lotion, Deodorant, Candles. purchase of needed supplies, Stop Killing Children! Soap, Toothpaste. (Small our community gardening by Julie Brown FOOD: sizes preferred for handout . HOUSE REPAIRS: and for the continued pub- p. 8 Fruit, Vegetables, Meat and . .) Toothbrushes and Toilet With four old houses, there lication and mailing of the Fish, Milk, Cheese, Salted Paper. are plenty of projects large via pacis, a good 20% of our An Invitation to Con- Butter, Olive Oil, Sugar, Cof- and small. We invite do-it- annual expenses. demn Nuclear War by Father Jim Murphy fee, Creamer, Juice (sugar NEEDED CLOTHING: yourselfers—individuals or p. 8 free), Salt, Black Pepper, Underwear, Socks, T-shirts, groups—with skills in car- Fresh Garlic, Salad dress- Sweatshirts, Hoodies, Coats, pentry, plumbing, painting, Norman’s ing, Soups and Stews (both Work Pants. (All Sizes—es- electrical, etc. to come in, look Whereabouts canned and fresh). Leftovers pecially big . . .) Sleeping over our housing needs, and DMCWWEBSITE p. 9 from weddings, funerals and Bags, Blankets. choose a project. Bring your For up to date news & info on other social gatherings . . . own tools if possible. the community, the Rachel The US Catholic Left HOUSEHOLD Corrie Project, Berrigan House and the Plowshares HEALTH AND HYGIENE: SUPPLIES: LIBRARY: and Occupy the World Food Movement is Not Dead Feminine Hygiene Items, Bleach, Laundry Detergent, Peace and Justice books for Prize visit the DMCW web Yet! by Frank Cordaro Diapers, Baby Formula, Ty- Environmentally-Friendly the Berrigan House Library. page: www.dmcatholicworker. p. 11 lenol, Ibuprofen, Multivita- Dish Soap, Murphy’s Oil org/.