Prayers sought for Stephen Kelly, Louis Vitale as priests are sentenced to prison for nonviolent CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

By Rev. John P. McGarry, S.J., Provincial

On Wednesday, October 17, Fathers Stephen Kelly, S.J., and Louis Vitale, O.F.M., were sentenced to five months in federal prison for their participation in a nonviolent act of civil disobedience at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, for which they were arrested on November 19, 2006. At the time of their arrest, Louie and Steve were trying to deliver a letter denouncing certain methods of “interrogation training” sanctioned by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 to then-commander Major General Barbara Fast. (To read their letter, click on this link)

Steve is a member of the Murray Residence Jesuit Community in Oakland, and for many years his main apostolic work has been engaging with and educating others regarding peace, nuclear non-proliferation, and nonviolence with the Pacific Life Community and members of the Catholic Worker Movement. Louie is a member of the Santa Barbara Province of the Franciscans and has devoted his whole life to working for peace. (A statement from the Franciscan Friars can be found on their website: www.franciscan.org/JPIC/take_action.asp )

Guided by the Gospel mandate of peace and nonviolence, as well as the Ignatian commitment to a faith that does justice, Steve is no stranger to being imprisoned for speaking and acting out against institutions and mechanisms of violence. Steve’s prophetic witness against nuclear proliferation and war-making speaks a Christ-like love for peace – a voice all too often drowned out and actively suppressed by the cultural and political powers that support violence and war. His incarceration provides a powerful point of reference for contemplating the truth of Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer’s famous line: “Thou shall not be a victim. Thou shall not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shall not be a bystander.”

Steve’s act of nonviolent civil disobedience at Ft. Huachuca last year was a way to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the deaths of the Salvadoran Jesuits and the two women who worked with them, and coincided with the Annual Ignatian Family Teach-In, vigil and peaceful demonstration at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Represented by human rights attorney Bill Quigley, Steve and Louie stipulated to the court that they would refuse to comply with any sentence that included supervision, a fine, or compulsory community service and pleaded no contest to one federal count of trespass (USC 18-1382) and one Arizona state count of "Failure to Comply with Police Officer" (ARS 28-622). They have been sentenced to three months in prison for the federal conviction, plus two months for the state conviction, to be served consecutively.

Steve and Louie have asked that every woman and man of conscience do all they can to protest the injustice of torture and to end U.S. policy that sanctions torture.

Respect Life Month and Ignatian Family Teach-In

The powerful witness given by Steve and Louie is an appropriate context for my annual message to the Province on the Church’s observance of Respect Life Month and the Ignatian Family Teach-In in Columbus, Georgia. Since 1972, the U.S. Bishops have invited us to pray and act for a renewed sense of the sacredness of every human being from conception to natural death. Each year, the Church focuses on a full range of critical life issues of our times. Steve and Louie provide us with a concrete witness for life in rejecting the torture of human beings. I invite the Province to reflect on this witness as we continue to shape our response to the call of Christ as servants of Christ’s mission in the Church and the world. (Additional resources for Respect Life Month can be found at www.usccb.org and www.jesuit.org )

This prophetic witness is also an opportunity to invite you to the annual gathering that commemorates the lives of the six Jesuits and their two lay women co-workers who were assassinated on November 16, 1989, at the Jesuit University of Central America in San Salvador, El Salvador. This gathering will take place at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, from November 16 to 18.

The highlight of this commemoration is the Ignatian Family Teach-In on Friday and Saturday in conjunction with the peaceful demonstration and procession to support the closure of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly known as the School of the Americas (SOA) in Ft. Benning. A program of this school trained the soldiers responsible for the murder of thousands of people in El Salvador and other countries, including our beloved Jesuits and their co-workers. There is a peaceful protest also scheduled at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, on the same weekend. Both of these are opportunities to speak out against tortuous interrogation techniques. (Additional information and resources can be found at: www.ignatiansolidarity.net, www.soaw.org, www.southwestwitness.org, www.tortureontrial.org, and www.torturelaw.org)

Prayers and Support for Steve Kelly and Louis Vitale

Steve and Louie were taken to a privately-run detention center in Florence, Arizona, the day of their sentencing. If you would like to send them a note of support, please send to:

Note that all books and magazines must be sent by the publisher or directly from a book store.

I will be visiting Steve and Louie while I am in Arizona at the end of this month for my visitation to the Jesuit community and apostolates in Phoenix. I will be sure to bring the prayers, support and encouragement of the Province to them. Their gospel witness is a model and a challenge for us all. We stand by Steve and Louie, knowing that during their time of incarceration, they will continue to work and pray for peace.

Conclusion

Over the past two years, we have been shocked and ashamed by reports of torture in U.S. prisons, and so let us recall the words of the U.S. Catholic Bishops in their October 2005 letter: “There can be no compromise on the moral imperative to protect the basic human rights of any individual incarcerated for any reason.”

As we all seek to continually grow in our personal and communal call to holiness, generosity, solidarity, and availability in serving God and God’s people, let us remember to pray for and encourage one another.

Sincerely in Christ,

John P. McGarry, S.J.
Provincial

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PRAYER TO END TORTURE

By Jill Rauh, of Education for Justice

For recognition of the “special dignity in every human being that comes from the fact that we are brothers and sisters in God’s one human family” . . . (Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, June 13, 2006) God, help us to uphold the dignity of all in our human family.

That all persons, especially those incarcerated indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay and other prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan, and across the world, would be treated according to the “highest ethical standards” . . . (Bishop Thomas Wenski, June 13, 2006) God, help us to uphold the dignity of all in our human family.

For policies which ban the use of torture and which recognize that: “Torture is a dehumanizing and terrible attack against human nature and the respect we owe for each other” . . . (Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, June 13, 2006) God, help us to uphold the dignity of all in our human family.

Help us to take seriously our call as Catholics to uphold the dignity of all people in our human family. Inspire us to urge our leaders to reject torture and mistreatment in all forms. We ask this through Christ, Our Lord, Giver of Life. Amen.