Good Friday Commemoration Witness at the Pentagon

Dear Friends,

Early this Good Friday morning, from 7-8 AM, 18 peacemakers from the DMV held a nonviolent witness at the Pentagon to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and to call for an end to the crucifixion of people today. The witness, which was organized by the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, included members from the DDCW, Pax Christi, the Assisi Community, the Franciscan Action Network and other faith communities. As a spectacular sunrise was unfolding, we offered yet another prayer of intercession at this center of warmaking on our planet. We carried in our hearts many from our extended communities who could not be with us physically but joined us in spirit for this witness.    

As Pentagon police kept a watchful eye on us, a steady stream of Pentagon workers and soldiers walked by us in the designated protest area, located behind bicycle fences on the southeast side of the building. We hung on the fence a banner with a quote from the late renowned peacemaker, Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen: “Nuclear Arms are the global crucifixion of Jesus.” (see attached photos with Pentagon in background.) Other banners were hung on the fence, including several with quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. and another banner that read: “Nuclear Weapons are Illegal–The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.” We all held crosses with the names of the different victims that we were remembering in our prayer service. 

The prayer service began with an opening statement/reflection that was offered by myself and Frank Panopoulos (see below). Preceding each part of the statement/reflection was the prayer recited by all gathered: “We adore you o Christ and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!” Each section ended with everyone singing:

“O God, let me be an instrument of peace, let me be an instrument of peace.” 

We then proceeded to read the accounts/prayers of crucified victims. (see below: Remembering Crucified Victims Today). The readers were Kirstin and Merwyn DeMello, Paul Magno, Mike Walli, Kathy Boylan, Scott Wright and Jack McHale. After each account/prayer, we sang “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.” Marie Dennis then offered a prayer “Jesus Our Tortured Brother Today,” (see below) that was written by the late Sr. Dianna Ortiz.

This was followed by Ken Cooper reading an excerpt from Leonardo Boff’s book “The Way of the Cross, Way of Justice,” and singing the “Stabat Mater” (At the Cross Her Station Keeping), which includes six new verses composed by Joe Byrne. In closing we remembered Jewish brothers and sisters who commemorate Passover this evening, and Muslim sisters and brothers who began the holy month of Ramadan on April 2. We called into our circle of prayer plowshares peacemaker Carl Kabat, OMI, who is now in hospice care in San Antonio, TX as we sang together “Vine and Fig Tree.” We then had brief introductions and concluded with praying together the Lord’s Prayer.

Let us pray for each other during this Holy Season, and for all those in our world who are experiencing at this very moment the passion and death of Jesus. And let us be transformed by the cross and resurrection of Jesus as we seek to practice resurrection and be living signs of hope for our world.

In Resurrection Hope, 

Art Laffin

Opening Statement/Reflection

A Good Friday Plea: Stop Crucifixion Today!

(Prepared by Art Laffin)

“We adore you o Christ and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!”  

Good Morning and may God’s peace be with all who work here at the Pentagon. Today is Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Today, vast numbers of God’s global family experience a modern form of crucifixion as they are crucified to a cross of war, militarism, racial hatred, discrimination and economic exploitation. In the crucified people of our world, we see the crucified face of Jesus.

We, members of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, Pax Christi and other faith communities, come to the Pentagon, the center of warmaking on our planet, as we seek to follow Jesus in nonviolent revolution as he made his way to Jerusalem. We remember the victims who have been and continue to be crucified and deemed expendable, and call for an immediate end to their crucifixion. We also pray for an end to the desecration of our sacred earth. We come here as people of faith who believe in God’s reign of justice, love, peace and nonviolence and reject empire, white supremacy and all systems of domination and structures of power that oppress and kill. Living under the brutal occupation of the Roman empire, Jesus declared: “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Living in the U.S. empire, which is responsible for so much death and suffering in our world, we all need to heed Jesus’ proclamation of repentance and conversion now more than ever. 

Sing: Let me be an instrument of peace, let me be an instrument of peace. 

“We adore you o Christ and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!”  

In our prayer this morning we beckon Jesus, our crucified and Risen Savior, and summon the holy cloud of witnesses–past and present. We call out to the consciences of all who work at the Pentagon and people everywhere, especially those who lead the nations, including our own, to practice nonviolence and eradicate what Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called the “triple evils of poverty (economic exploitation), racism and militarism.” End all racial violence, torture and injustice! Welcome immigrants! Stop all torture and killing! Abolish war! Abolish all weapons, from guns and assault weapons to killer drones and nuclear weapons. 

Sing: Let me be an instrument of peace, let me be an instrument of peace. 

“We adore you o Christ and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!”  

Jesus commands us “to take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” We appeal to the U.S. government, which Dr. King called the greatest purveyor of violence in the world, to take the log out of its own eye and repent for the sins of violence it has committed against numerous nations, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. cannot legitimately call into account the wrongdoing of others until it first repents for its own wrongdoing.

Sing: Let me be an instrument of peace, let me be an instrument of peace. 

“We adore you o Christ and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!”  

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist has set the Doomsday Clock at 100 seconds before midnight due to the increasing dangers of nuclear war, the climate crisis and worsening world tensions. At this perilous moment when humanity is once again on the brink of nuclear catastrophe, due to deteriorating relations between the two largest nuclear powers–the U.S. and Russia–which has been exacerbated by NATO expansion in eastern Europe and deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in 5 European countries,  and now the tragic Russian invasion of Ukraine, we say loudly and clearly with Jesus: “Love one another,” “Love your enemies,” “Be merciful as God is merciful,” Proclaim Liberty to captives,” Put away the sword,” Thou shalt not kill!” We call on all soldiers everywhere: Lay down your arms! Refuse to Fight–Refuse to Kill! All war and aggression, whether carried out by the U.S. or Russia or any other nation, violates God’s command: Thou shalt not kill! In a statement denouncing the war in Ukraine, Mark Colville, on behalf of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 writes: “Killing indiscriminately with impunity; environmental destruction without boundary or responsibility; the plunging of millions into refugee status; the flouting of law, human rights, international cooperation and the authority of the United Nations—these are the common threads that tie together Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Ukraine. These are the “constitutive elements,” of the “unmitigated evil” of nuclear weapons.” 

Let us heed the words of the late peacemaking prophet, Daniel Berrigan: “There is no cause however noble that justifies the taking of a single life, much less millions of them! Let us heed the words of Pope Francis: “Abolish war now, before war erases humanity from history.” And let us heed the words of Dr. King who declared on the night before he was martyred: “It is no longer the choice between violence and nonviolence in this world…it’s nonviolence or nonexistence.”

Sing: Let me be an instrument of peace, let me be an instrument of peace. 

“We adore you o Christ and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!” 

 As our banner on display here says: “Nuclear Arms Are The Global Crucifixion of Jesus.” This quote is taken from the late Archbishop Hunthausen of Seattle. To build, possess and threaten to use nuclear weapons by any nation is a sin which must be condemned unreservedly. Pope Francis has declared that the very possession of nuclear weapons is immoral. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons now makes nuclear weapons illegal under international law. In his Pastoral Letter on Nuclear Disarmament, Archbishop Wester of Sante Fe, NM, in whose diocese is located the Los Alamos and Sandia National Nuclear Labs and Kirtland AFB, where some 2,500 nuclear weapons are stored, has called for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. We call on the U.S., which is the only country to have ever used nuclear weapons, and which has threatened on numerous occasions to use nuclear weapons against adversaries as nuclear blackmail, to repent for using and threatening to use these weapons of indiscriminate mass murder. We call on the U.S. and all other nuclear nations to ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 

Sing: Let me be an instrument of peace, let me be an instrument of peace. 

“We adore you o Christ and we bless you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!”

We call on all people of faith, conscience and goodwill to create a political and economic order that rejects empire, upholds the dignity and human rights of every person, protects the earth and meets the human needs of all, especially the poor in this pandemic time. Please join with us as we strive with people worldwide to work for nonviolent social transformation and create the Beloved Community and a disarmed world!

Sing: Let me be an instrument of peace, let me be an instrument of peace. 

Remembering Crucified Victims Today

Victim of Racial Violence                                                                              We pray for all those–past and present–who have been and continue to be crucified to a cross of racial hatred, rooted in the sin of white supremacy. We remember and pray for all those American Indians and African Americans who were slaughtered, enslaved, lynched and murdered simply because of their skin color. Today racial hatred and violence is pervasive throughout the land. A disproportionate number of African Americans are imprisoned and executed. African Americans are constantly profiled and are being killed in record numbers by white police officers. Too many have suffered and died because of White Supremacy and State violence! The knee of White Supremacy has been on the necks of Blacks for far too long! Black Lives Matter!  

Muslims in the U.S. are demonized and targeted. Hate crimes are being committed against Asians. Systemic violence and racism, inherent in oppressive economic and political structures and policies, crush the poor and people of color, denying so many of their dignity and human rights. We call into our presence all victims of racism.

Loving God, you have instructed us that every person is created in your image and that all life is sacred. We repent for the sin of racism. Deepen our commitment to work for justice and equality for all people of color as we strive to make the Beloved Community a reality here and now.                                    Sing: Were You There 

Victim of Militarism and Nuclearism                                                                We pray for all people–past and present–who have been, and continue to be, crucified to the cross of militarism, nuclearism and warmaking. We remember and pray for all victims of U.S. warmaking and intervention, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has resulted in the death, displacement and trauma for millions of people. The U.S. must repent for the war crimes it has committed in these two countries, and all other nations that it has intervened in, and make reparations to all of its victims. 

We appeal for an end to all U.S. military aid/arms sales to Israel which are used to support the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine; for an end to U.S. arms sales and military support to Saudi Arabia in its 7-year war against Yemen which has claimed untold lives and where there is now severe famine. We plead for an end to AFRICOM and U.S. arms sales to African countries, including Morocco, which are used to support the illegal occupation of Western Sahara. We call for the closing of the estimated 800 U.S. military bases worldwide, including Guantanamo.  

We pray and are committed to working for the abolition of war; for the elimination of nuclear weapons, nuclear technology and all weapons; for an end to the militarization of space and all U.S. arms sales and military intervention worldwide; for the conversion of our war-based economy to one centered on serving the common good. This includes ending the nuclear modernization program now underway at an estimated cost of $1.7 trillion over the next two decades and redirecting the $780 billion U.S. military budget to meet urgent human needs in this perilous pandemic time. We call for the Pentagon to be converted and transformed from a center of warmaking to a center that serves life! We pray in gratitude for all who have resisted and who have been imprisoned for decrying the sin of militarism and nuclearism. 

Sing: Were You There 

Drone Bombing Victim                                                                                  We pray in repentance for all victims of U.S. drone strikes and call for an immediate end to the use of these immoral and illegal killer-drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. We call for the U.S. to apologize and make reparations to all victims’ families of drone strikes. We pray in gratitude for all who have resisted and who have been imprisoned for decrying this diabolical robotic warfare. We commit ourselves to abolishing these murderous drones, the American death squads of the skies.

Sing: Were You There 

Imprisoned Victim                                                                             We remember and pray for:                                                                                  –All whistle-blowers, truth-tellers and political prisoners who have been, and continue to be persecuted, including Mordechai Vanunu, Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, Daniel Hale and Edward Snowden;                                                            

–Leonard Peltier, Native American political prisoner serving a life sentence;  

–the estimated 2 million prisoners in the U.S., and all who are condemned and awaiting execution, and for all prisoners worldwide;

We pray and work for a dismantling of the mass incarceration complex, and an end to torture and the death penalty. In the words of Jesus, let us “proclaim liberty to all captives.”  

Sing: Were You There 

Victim of Poverty and Economic Exploitation      

We remember all people who have been, and continue to be, sacrificed at the altar of greed, oppression and economic exploitation, especially now in this pandemic. Never before have so few rich people been allowed to hoard so much. Income inequality is a grave injustice. According to the Poor People’s Campaign, there are 140 million poor and low-income people in the U.S. and an estimated 31 million are still without health insurance. We remember all people who have died early deaths in the U.S. and worldwide from dire poverty, malnutrition, homelessness and inadequate health care. We pray and work for an end to structures and policies that dominate, exploit and crucify people to a cross of dehumanizing poverty, debt and neglect.                            

Sing: Were You There 

Immigrant and Refugee Victim 

Mindful that Jesus was born as a migrant and exiled as a refugee, we remember today those immigrants and refugees who have been crucified to a cross of exploitation, racism, oppression and war. We remember all those who have fled their homelands in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East, Africa and Ukraine due to war. We remember, too, those who have been driven from their homes and the hundreds who have died in the Mediterranean Sea and crossing the Mexico-U.S. border. Loving God, help us to learn to love and welcome the immigrants in this land. Give us the courage to stand for justice for all immigrants instead of imprisoning them in dehumanizing detention facilities. Give us the courage to speak out and expose how our country’s policies of globalization and free trade are driving people to leave their countries and tearing families apart. Help us to take down the walls of division and fear that create physical walls of separation on our border. Teach us the words of love you would have us speak as we call for comprehensive immigration reform in this land.                                          

Sing: Were You There 

Desecrated Earth                                                                                              Creator God, we confess that the way we live today is desecrating the earth, changing the climate, the seas and the balance of life, and dispossessing the poor and future generations. According to a newly released U.N. report, humanity has less than three years to slash greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half in order to prevent the most catastrophic effects of the climate crisis. Almost the entire global population (99%) breathes air that exceeds World Health Organization air quality limits, and threatens their health. We repent for the way our environment and earth continue to be endangered by industrial pollution, toxic deadly chemicals, wasteful oil consumption, pipelines, nuclear radiation and the effects of preparing for and waging war. With some 800 military bases worldwide and a vast global war machine, the U.S. military is the world’s single biggest consumer of fossil fuels and has greatly contributed to destabilizing the earth’s climate. Creator God, help us to stop destroying your creation. Empower and sustain all those who are nonviolently resisting threats to land, water, air and sky throughout our world. Help us to divest in fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy. Empower us to safeguard the earth, our common home, and all of creation and choose life for all that is at risk.

Sing: Were You There 

Jesus, Our Tortured Brother Today

by Sr. Dianna Ortiz, OSU

Jesus, our Tortured Brother,
     In this world, so many are
forced to walk your path today-
     the suffering and pain, the
humiliation, sense of betrayal and
abandonment,
     for those with power, the
Romans of today, continue to
condemn others to modern crosses.

You said what was done to the least of these was done to
you and so each day,
     You are tortured anew.

Jesus our Guardian of the Wounded and Tortured,
     Bid us to look into the secret prisons – the unmarked
graves – the hearts and minds of torture survivors,
     Bid us to wipe the tears of the families of those whose
decapitated bodies were cast into the open sea,
     Bid us to embrace the open wounds of the tortured.

Jesus, Gduiding Spirit,
     Teach us to be in solidarity with those who hang from
these crosses,
     Call out to those who torture, “Know the evil you have
done and repent.”
     Call out to the rest of us, “What meaning does love have
if you allow torture to continue unopposed?”

In the name of all the tortured of the world, give us the
strength, give us the courage, give us the will to bring this
horror to an end, in the name of love, justice and the God of
us all. Amen.

Prayer first published by Pax Christi USA: www.paxchristiusa.org