Pax Christi NJ Upcoming Events

October 5th – Pax Christi St. Joe’s & Network will present Faithful Citizenship & The Platform for the Common Good, St. Joseph’s, East Rutherford 5 to 7 PM in the school cafeteria


October 12th –IRATE(the Interfaith Refugee Action Team - Elizabeth) and Pax Christi NJ will march with the flags of the nation to honor our immigrant heritage and protest the treatment of immigrants held at the Elizabeth Detention Center. We will assemble on Progress Street, just off Dowd Avenue in Elizabeth at 1:30 pm and march two blocks to the Detention Center where we will hold a vigil to remember those who are being held inside and at similar facilities across the country.


October 14th – “The Healing of Memories” sponsored by Pax Christi NJ and The Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast. In April 1990, while living in exile from South Africa, Fr. Michael Lapsley became a victim of the violence of apartheid when he received a letter bomb. He lost both his hands, an eye, and his eardrums were shattered. He is now an international advocate for reconciliation, forgiveness and restorative justice. 7:30pm - 9:30pm St. Patrick's Theater, 509 Bramhall Ave., Jersey City, NJ

January 24th – Pax Christi NJ’s Annual Retreat at St. Mary’s in Colt’s Neck.


March 28th – Pax Christi NJ Annual Assembly at Felician College in Lodi NJ. The theme is disarmament and demilitarization. The keynote speaker is Joshua Casteel, a former interrogator at Abu Ghraid turned conscientious objector and recent convert to Catholicism.

HSNNE & Pax Christi NJ to Host Fr. Michael Lapsley

Please join the Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast and Pax Christi NJ as we host Fr. Michael Lapsley on Tuesday October 14th at 7:30 pm at St. Patrick's Theater, 509 Bramhall Ave, Jersey City, NJ.

In April 1990, while living in exile from South Africa, Fr. Michael Lapsley became a victim of the violence of apartheid when he received a letter bomb. He lost both his hands, an eye, and his eardrums were shattered.

After leaving the hospital he became an international advocate for reconciliation, forgiveness and restorative justice. In 1992 he returned to South Africa to found the Trauma Center for Victims of Violence and Torture in Cape Town.

His organization provided assistance to Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which is credited with putting South Africa on a path toward healing. It serves as a model for other countries including Rwanda, Guatemala and Argentina.

He is now Director of the Institute for Healing of Memories, Cape Town, South Africa.

The Healing of Memories method began as an alternative form of providing support for victims and survivors of apartheid violence and is now seen as way to contribute to the healing journey of individuals, communities and nations.

Vigil for Immigrants at the Elizabeth Detention Center

Please join IRATE (the Interfaith Refugee Action Team - Elizabeth) and Pax Christi NJ at 1:30 pm on Sunday, October 12th as we march with the flags of the nation to honor our immigrant heritage and protest the treatment of immigrants held at the Elizabeth Detention Center. We will assemble on Progress Street, just off Dowd Avenue in Elizabeth, NJ and march two blocks to the Detention Center where we will hold a vigil to remember those who are being held inside and at similar facilities across the country.

About Immigration Detention
Immigrants in detention include families, both undocumented and documented immigrants, many who have been in the US for years and are now facing exile. They include survivors of torture, asylum seekers and other vulnerable groups including pregnant women, and children. Individuals who are seriously ill are held without proper medication or care. Immigrants detained during this process are in non-criminal custody because being in violation of immigration laws is not a crime. It is a civil violation similar to a traffic ticket.

About IRATE
IRATE is an alliance of grassroots organizations whose members believe that the current U.S. policy of detaining immigrants in prison-like conditions is contrary to our tradition of welcoming refugees. Currently in New Jersey, the Bureau of Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) has some 300 people detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center and an unknown number of people in county jails throughout the state.

For more information on the vigil click here

For more information on immigration detention go to
www.irateweb.org
www.detentionwatchnetwork.org
www.cliniclegal.org

Former Abu Ghraib Interrogator to Deliver Keynote

Joshua Casteel will be the keynote speaker at Pax Christi NJ’s upcoming spring assembly to be held on March 28, 2009 at Felician College in Lodi. Joshua will also be making himself available for other speaking engagements at the end of March. For more information or to book Joshua contact
Kathy O’Leary 908-273-0751 kathy-wargo@comcast.net

About Joshua Casteel
Joshua is a former interrogator at Abu Ghraib turned conscientious objector and a recent convert to Catholicism. He gave witness at Winter Soldier and traveled to Rome in March of 2007 with the Catholic Peace Fellowship to meet with Pope Benedict XVI and members of the Vatican to advance the issue of conscientious objection. He is featured along with Camilo Mejia and six other CO’s in the documentary Soldiers of Conscience which will air on PBS’s P.O.V. on October 16th.

His book Letters from Abu Ghraib is available on Amazon.com and Small Press Distribution.



Videos of Joshua Casteel


Conscientious Objection: How Our Beliefs About War Changed

Joshua talks of his epiphany

"How I Became a Conscientious Objector"

Everyone thinks that John McCain is against torture.

It stands to reason to say of course he is, he was a victim of it himself. Sadly that is not entirely true. John McCain has appeared to lead the charge to end the use of torture unequivocally, but his legislative compromises have allowed the practice to continue and have even provided immunity from prosecution for its perpetrators.

Now, TrueMajority is working with Catholics United and School of the Americas Watch to bring you the voices of torture survivors and military interrogators who are asking Sen. McCain to regain his moral footing and ban torture.

Please see below a video from Joshua Casteel, a former interrogator at Abu Ghraib, turned conscientious objector, asking John McCain to ban ALL TORTURE

Watch the video and sign their petition demanding an end to torture:






More on John McCain’s position on torture

In September 2006, McCain negotiated a compromise in the Senate for the Military Commissions Act, suspending habeas corpus provisions for anyone deemed by the Executive Branch an "unlawful enemy combatant" and barring them from challenging their detentions in court. McCain's compromise also gave a retroactive, nine-year immunity to U.S. officials who authorized, ordered, or committed acts of torture and abuse, and permitted the use of statements obtained through torture to be used in military tribunals so long as the abuse took place by December 30, 2005.

McCain's compromise permitted the President to establish "permissible" interrogation techniques and to "interpret the meaning and application" of international Geneva Convention standards, so long as the coercion fell short of "serious" bodily or psychological injury. Widely dubbed McCain's "torture compromise", the bill was signed into law by George W. Bush on October 17, 2006, shortly before the 2006 midterm elections.

In February of 2008 John McCain voted against an amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, which would have forced the CIA to comply with the US Army field manual for treatment of prisoners. This would have ended the practice of water boarding and other coercive tactics by interrogators at Guantanamo and elsewhere.

Iraqi Refugee Crisis and HR 6496

On July 15th, as Congressmen Alcee Hastings and John Dingel reintroduced HR 6496 they “lauded” the work of NGO’s who have supported legislative action from the US government. Among those recognized for their contribution was Pax Christi USA. According to Network, this bill is the best legislative attempt to date to deal with the worsening Iraqi refugee crisis. As of this writing there are no co-sponsors from New Jersey. Please contact your congressman and urge him to support this legislation.

About the Iraqi Refugee Crisis
There are currently 5 million Iraqi’s who have been displaced, internally and externally, due to the ongoing violence in Iraq. Of the 2.4 million who have left the country few consider returning to Iraq an option.

Iraqi refugees are among the most traumatized in modern history. It is estimated that 80% have experienced torture, extortion or the violent death of a family member. The children are the most seriously affected.

The United States Government, under previous legislation has allowed for up to 12,000 visas to be issued by this September. To date only 4,700 have actually been processed. The USCCB is calling for an allotment of at least 100,000 visas for next year.

For more information on the Iraqi refugee crisis you can go to these links

USCCB Report, Escaping Mayhem and Murder: Iraqi Refugees in the Middle East

Refugees International The Iraqi Displacement Crisis

For more information on the bill and a complete list of co-sponsors click here


To find your congressman’s information click here and type in your zip code

To contact your representative through the Network website click here

Pax Chrisi NJ Helps Launch Campaign for the Common Good

National Convention draws over 800 Catholics to address key moral and political issues

Philadelphia, PA - Representatives from Pax Christi NJ joined more than 800 Catholics from a dozen national Catholic organizations including NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Pax Christi USA; Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; Sisters of Mercy of the Americas; the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men and the National Catholic Rural Life Conference at the Convention for the Common Good held July 11-13 in Philadelphia.

The Convention delegates affirmed a Platform for the Common Good that has been sent to both presidential candidates and national political parties. Over 2500 Catholics in more than 40 states contributed to the platform over the last several months at the grassroots level.

The delegates from Pax Christi and other Catholic organizations and parishes from New Jersey participated in panel discussions and caucuses on a range of key moral and political issues including the death penalty, global debt cancellation, immigration, war and peace, ecology and the economy. The delegates pledged to disseminate the common good message in their local communities.

The entire platform along with statements from the breakout sessions can be viewed on the website for the campaign www.votethecommongood.com. The web site includes voter education resources from several Catholic organizations, opportunities for media training and tools for disseminating the common good message.

The campaign will also include print, broadcast and online advertising this fall that will highlight Catholic teaching about economic justice, humane immigration reform, universal health care, peace and building a consistent culture of life that honors human dignity at all stages.

Inspired by the values of Catholic social teaching, the convention was convened by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, and over 15 sponsoring organizations. The first-of-its kind gathering featured leading Catholics in public life including Senators Bob Casey Jr. and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania; Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio; former Rep. Charles Dougherty of Pennsylvania; E.J. Dionne, Jr. of the Washington Post; Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking and M. Shawn Copeland, Professor of Systematic Teology at Boston College.

The Convention for the Common Good was preceded on Thursday and Friday by a teach-in on Iraq sponsored by Pax Christi USA. The attendees heard panel discussions on issues including the Iraqi refugee crisis, private military contractors and the international arms trade and the costs of the war at home. The speakers at the pre-convention event included Bishop Walter Sullivan, Arlene Flaherty, OP of Catholic Relief Services, Frida Berrigan, and Joshua Casteel, a former interrogator at Abu Ghraib, conscientious objector, and recent convert to Catholicism.