Statement issued in Washington, DC, September 20th, 2006
Good afternoon. On behalf of Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic movement for justice and peace, I would like to thank you for coming here this afternoon. I would also like to express my deep appreciation for the good work and strong leadership of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, our hosts and valued colleagues in the quest for peace as the fruit of justice.
As grassroots organizations comprised of people of faith, Pax Christi USA and the Muslim American Society have as our essential core, a shared conviction that the God of Abraham calls us all to work tirelessly for justice, seek peace, and walk humbly with our God in our journey toward spiritual growth and social harmony.
It is unfortunate that today we are here to address the growing violence that has emerged as a response to statements by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI last week. Pax Christi USA has been a committed voice for nonviolence in the US Church and society for nearly 35 years. The statements by Pope Benedict last week included a reference to an ancient characterization of Islam that I personally find very regrettable. But it is not my role here today to interpret the Pontiff’s statements, nor to illuminate the mindset or motivations behind that choice of reference. I leave that to the theologians and Church historians who have since weighed in on these matters and they are far more qualified to do so than I. I do think that it is appropriate and important, given the manifestations of violence in the wake of that statement, to be here today in solidarity with my Muslim sisters and brothers, to express my own sincere conviction that violence in every form must be condemned.
Clearly the need for continued, deepened dialogue between our two respective faith traditions is of the utmost importance today, and I am here to affirm the calls for ongoing dialogue, particularly as expressed by our own International President, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem whose statement issued earlier this week specifically called for a recommitment to that dialogue.
I also believe that such dialogue must be grounded in the very concept of reason to which His Holiness was attempting to call us all to: a reason that is antithetical to violence. This grounding must therefore begin with the clear acknowledgement and unequivocal assertion that the current militarized foreign policy being pursued by the US Administration in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon and at least on the rhetorical level so far, Iran, are themselves unreasonable.
Violence is unreasonable. And violence comes in many forms. From the unreasonable violence of justified torture, to the unreasonable violence of military occupation, we reject the use of violence to achieve political ends. But to be truly attuned to the unreasonableness of violence we cannot limit our definition and concept of violence to merely the use of force. Violence comes in many other, just as deadly forms. Poverty is a violence that plagues our world and is perpetuated intentionally and unreasonably by political and corporate power unaccountable to the kind of reason that recognizes a common good among peoples. The very desperation bred by abject poverty remains the most fertile ground in which some continue to plant the seeds of hatred and violence.
We must, and do, reject the system of domination that sadly remains the foundation of international economic policy and US foreign policy today and we call for a dialogue between our great cultures that focuses on unmasking this domination system and the political and policy manifestations that perpetuate it.
Dialogue has many forms. As grassroots people who share a faith in the God of Abraham, Pax Christi is committed to a dialogue of the spirit as well as the intellect. Therefore, I announce here, that Pax Christi USA, a grassroots movement reaching more than half a million Catholics here in the US, will offer as a gesture of political resistance and spiritual solidarity, our intention this year to keep the Ramadan fast so foundational to our Muslim sisters and brothers. In keeping this holy space in our own hearts and lives we will therefore enter into a spiritual accompaniment with the intention to deepen our own relationship with God, and more deeply understand the spirituality and discipline of our sisters and brothers. Fasting has a long tradition in the Catholic community most notably during the season of Lent. During our Lenten fasts we seek to grow in our devotion and express our atonement before our God for the sins, both personal and social, that keep God’s people separate. It has been rightly said that to understand another walk a distance in their shoes. This year, beginning in a few short days on September 24th, we in Pax Christi will enter into the discipline of the Ramadan fast as effort to better and more deeply prepare a space in our own spirits to dialogue with our Muslim neighbors.
Appropriately, for this moment, and in conclusion this afternoon I offer an excerpt from the Catholic community’s readings for this Sunday, September 24th from the Letter of James: "Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the harvest of justice is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace."
During this coming Ramadan, we will cultivate this peace within our own hearts and throughout our communities. Thank you.
