Pax Christi USA - PSA e-Bulletin

Pray-Study-Act: Close the SOA!

In This Issue

PRAY: Prayer to Close the SOA

STUDY: The Jesuit Martyrs, 25 years later

ACT: Come to the SOA or take action from home

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On The Web

See photos and a report from last year's PCUSA at the SOA gathering

Join the march and vigil at the nearby Stewart Detention Center in Georgia

Watch our interview from 2008 with liberation theologian Jon Sobrino, SJ

Order copies of "Romero and the Nonviolent Struggle for Justice" by John Dear

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November 11, 2014

For the 14th consecutive year, Pax Christi USA will be hosting a Friday evening gathering at the annual vigil and action to close the School of the Americas in Columbus, GA. This year's gathering will take place on Friday, November 21 from 6-7:30pm at the Columbus Convention Center, room 205. The program is entitled, "Resisting the Militarization of our Youth--From Central America to Ferguson," and will include presentations by Honduran Jesuit Fr. Ismael Moreno and Ferguson resident Tony Neal. You can click here to find out more about the program. We hope you'll arrive early that weekend and join us for the event.

The SOA weekend also represents one of the largest gatherings of Pax Christi USA members that take place each year. Thousands of members have attended and participated in years past, and we hope that many of you are planning on being there again this year. Let's hope that we'll see the SOA closed for good soon!

In peace,

Johnny Zokovitch

Director of Communications, Pax Christi USA

PRAY: Prayer to Close the SOA

from the Interfaith Committee on Latin America

Gracious and loving God, we gather to remember those who continue to speak until the violence ends. We join our voices and lives with those who witness to justice and truth. In faithfulness we seek to relieve misery and address its causes. We pray to end this cause of human misery. We pray to end this cause of human rights abuses. We pray for the restoration of the fullness of life for all people, especially the most marginalized. We envision a day in which a culture of peace with justice and respect for the earth will prevail, where all people will live together free from oppression. We cry out to close the SOA. We pray with full hearts and longing spirits. Amen.

STUDY: The Jesuit Martyrs, 25 years later

from the Ignatian Solidarity Network

November 16, 2014, will mark twenty-five years since Ignacio Ellacur�a, S.J., Ignacio Mart�n-Bar�, S.J., Segundo Montes, S.J., Juan Ram�n Moreno, S.J., Joaqu�n L�pez y L�pez, S.J., Amando L�pez, S.J. and their housekeeper Elba Ramos, and her 15 year-old daughter Celina Ramos, were murdered at the University of Central America in San Salvador, El Salvador.

The lives and loss of these martyrs have significantly influenced the Ignatian family in the United States and throughout the world. Jesuit institutions have re-defined what it is to be universities, high schools, parishes, etc. in light of the martyrs, discerning new ways of addressing issues of social justice locally and abroad. Across the Ignatian family new ways of proceeding have developed over the course of twenty-five years. ISN itself, is a direct product of the spirit of the martyrs, forming in response to their tragic deaths at the hands of many individuals who received training at the former U.S. Army School of the Americas...

Click here to read more and see additional resources.

ACT: Come to the SOA or take action at home

1. We hope that many of you plan on joining us at the School of the Americas between November 21-23. For those who will be making the trek to Georgia, remember to come early and join us Friday evening at 6pm for our annual Pax Christi USA at the SOA gathering, featuring Honduran Jesuit Ismael Moreno and Ferguson, MO resident Tony Neal. Click here for more information about our gathering.

2. For more information on the events taking place at the SOA on the weekend of Nov. 21-23, click here.

3. Encourage your parish priest to preach on the 25th anniversary of the Jesuit martyrs, November 16th. Fr. Jim Hug, SJ has provided a homily guide you can download and share with your local priest. Click here for more information.

4. For actions you can take from home, including legislative efforts, click here.