As the Pope travels to Iraq, Pray-Study-Act during the 3rd Week of Lent, Mar. 7-13

PRAYER - STUDY - ACTION

Third week of Lent, Mar. 7-13

Thursday, February 24, 2021

Greetings of peace!

Iraq casts a long shadow over the conscience of the United States, and as Pope Francis travels to Iraq tomorrow for a visit to that devastated nation through March 8, those of us in Pax Christi USA who have stood in solidarity with the Iraqi people through sanctions and war can use this opportunity to raise awareness and, as Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Kathy Kelly writes in the article below, join the pope in "expressing collective sorrow for making war after hideous war in Iraq, against people who meant us no harm."

The pope's visit overlaps with the beginning of this 3rd week of Lent, and you'll find below resources to observe this week in prayer, study and action with Pope Francis as he stands for the hope that rightly belongs to the Iraqi people. You'll find additional resources below too that recall Pax Christi USA's past advocacy for the Iraqi people and our staunch opposition to our nation's history of warmaking and economic exploitation in Iraq.

We are also very excited about an incredible webinar that our Director of Communications, Roxana Bendezú, has been putting together with several of our sister organizations to mark International Women's Day, March 8th. The webinar, "Women’s Voices from Central America: Impacts of U.S. Policies on Migration," features women in three Central American countries that have been heavily impacted by U.S. foreign policy: El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Through a video montage of interviews, they will share their personal experiences of being caught in circumstances that threatened their livelihoods and their families. The program will also feature a live conversation with social movement women leaders from the three countries who will connect the dots between the impact of U.S. policies on their countries, including trade agreements, land tenure, military intervention, promotion of fossil fuels and agribusiness and the massive displacement of people from their communities. Click here for more information and to register.

In peace,

Johnny Zokovitch

Executive Director, Pax Christi USA

PRAYER

A PRAYER FOR IRAQ (adapted)

By Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Art Laffin

originally written on the 20th anniversary of the first U.S. war in Iraq

Loving God, we beg your forgiveness for decades of U.S. warmaking in Iraq -- for destroying Iraq's infrastructure by massive bombings, for using highly toxic weapons, including depleted uranium, that contaminated Iraq's land and water, and which have caused cancer, severe birth defects and other illnesses for numerous Iraqis.

Forgive us for imposing economic sanctions that killed over one million Iraqis, mostly children.

Forgive us for invading, occupying and destabilizing Iraq, causing nearly one million deaths and displacement and long-term trauma for countless Iraqis.

Forgive us for placing oil interests above human welfare.

Heal us of our moral blindness and fill our hearts with love.

Help us to renounce all killing, torture and violence, to stop demonizing our adversaries, to value all life as sacred, and to see the Iraqi people and all Muslims and Arabs as our brothers and sisters.

Help us to truly repent for the sin of war and to make reparations to the Iraqi people.

Empower us to engage in nonviolent action calling for an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. military forces and private contractors from Iraq, and for an end to U.S. warmaking and military intervention everywhere.

O God, make us channels of your peace and reconciliation.

Amen.

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> Read this prayer written by the recipient of Pax Christi International's Peace Award, Cardinal Louis Sako, Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk, Iraq, a prominent defender of Iraq’s endangered minorities and a staunch advocate of the difficult democratization and reconciliation process in Iraq.

STUDY

A REFLECTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

by Colleen Kelly, Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace

The reflections for last Sunday and this upcoming Sunday were written by people who were strong, resilient voices against the U.S. response to 9/11 and the subsequent war in Iraq, Joshua Casteel and Colleen Kelly. Colleen is a co-founder of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization dedicated to turning grief into action for peace. Peaceful Tomorrows was born when a small group of family members of those killed on 9/11 became connected after reading each others’ pleas for nonviolent and reasoned responses to the terrorist attacks. Colleen's reflection for the 3rd Sunday of Lent, taken from our 2012 booklet, is below. Joshua served at the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center at Abu Ghraib, Iraq, from June 2004 to January 2005, as a member of the interrogation units sent to overhaul the prison after the prisoner abuse scandal. During his time at Abu Ghraib, he came to realize he was a conscientious objector and was honorably discharged from Active Duty as a CO. Joshua wrote and spoke on his experiences during war and served on the board of Iraq Veterans Against the War. He died of cancer in 2012. Read his reflection, written in 2009, for the 2nd Sunday of Lent at this link.

Exodus 20:1-17 | 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 | John 2:13-25

“Jesus…did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.”

(Jn 2:25)

Jesus’s righteous anger in the temple strikes such a chord. In other Biblical passages, Jesus displayed human emotion: sorrow, disappointment, compassion, love—all the “good” or “polite” emotions. But it’s comforting to conjure up an image of Jesus turning over tables, dumping money boxes on the ground, making a whip! Wow. That type of anger we can relate to. John describes this incident not as a parable, but as an actual accounting of Jesus’s actions. No one is hurt, however. There is no physical violence to anyone’s body. And it’s notable that the infraction that most infuriated Jesus (as far as the Gospel recounts) is not betrayal, not adultery, not bearing false witness or coveting others’ possessions. It was the buying and selling taking place in God’s temple, making the sacred profane...

Click here to read the entire reflection.

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> Read this article from Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Kathy Kelly, "As the pope visits Iraq, a call to express our collective sorrow, no more blood for oil". Kathy writes, "From March 5-8, 2021, Pope Francis will visit Iraq. Security concerns are high, and I won’t begin to second guess the itinerary that has been developed. But knowing of his eloquent and authentic plea to end wars and stop the pernicious weapons trade, I wish he could kneel and kiss the ground at the Ameriyah shelter in Baghdad where, on February 13, 1991, two 2,000 lb. U.S. laser guided missiles killed 400 civilians, mostly women and children. Another 200 were severely wounded. I wish President Joe Biden could meet the Pope there and ask the Pope to hear his confession. I wish people around the world could be represented by the Pope as a symbol of unity expressing collective sorrow for making war after hideous war, in Iraq, against people who meant us no harm..." Click here to read the entire article.

ACTION

SUPPORT THE POPE'S VISIT TO IRAQ WITH THESE ACTIONS

TAKE ACTION: Raise awareness of the Pope's visit to Iraq in your church and community! Ask your elected officials to take steps expressing U.S. repentance for the harm U.S. foreign policy has caused in Iraq!

Art Laffin, Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace, has crafted language below for people in the U.S. to use in offering "expressions of sorrow and repentance" for 30 years of U.S. warmaking, sanctions and oppression in Iraq.

In light of Pope Francis's historic visit to Iraq, we invite members of Pax Christi USA and all followers of Jesus in the U.S. to join together in publicly asking God for forgiveness for thirty years of U.S. military intervention in Iraq, and to apologize to the Iraqi people for the death and suffering the U.S. has caused.

God commands us: "Thou shalt not kill!" Jesus commands us to "Love one another." Since 1991, when the U.S. first began its direct military intervention in Iraq, the U.S. has defied these divine commands by its bombings, sanctions, torture and occupation. God forgive us! We pray in repentance for these U.S. crimes against the Iraqi people, that have resulted in over a million Iraqi deaths and countless injuries; the contamination of land and water; millions of refugees; immeasurable trauma for an entire society; dire poverty; political, economic and social instability; and an endless cycle of violence. We apologize to the people of Iraq and we ask forgiveness for these atrocities and injustices.

We appeal to the U.S. government to apologize to the people of Iraq for the death and suffering it has inflicted on them. If there is any hope to make true peace with Iraq, the U.S. government must apologize and make reparations to the Iraqi people for its warmaking and occupation and withdraw all present troops, CIA and private contractors from Iraq.

Take action by:

> Incorporate language from above into the prayers of the faithful at your places of worship this weekend and next.

> Use the language above to write letters to the editor or post on social media (use the hashtags #PopeFrancisinIraq #NoMoreBlood4Oil).

> Contact your Members of Congress with the message that the U.S. must apologize to the Iraqi people and offer reparations for the damage we have caused. You can use the words above as a template for your calls, emails and letters.

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JOIN US ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!

Click here to register today!

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> Register for the Pax Christi USA Young Adult Caucus Lenten retreat or encourage a young adult you know to participate. The retreat is taking place virtually over Zoom on March 27. Click here for more information.

> Join Pax Christi Metro New York on Saturday this week, March 6th, for a Lenten retreat on the Parable of the Good Samaritan with Pax Christi USA National Council member Fr. Fred Thelen. Click here for more information and to register.

> Take advantage of this Lenten retreat opportunity on Zoom, Finding Our Prophetic Voice, with Brayton & Suzanne Shanley, Frida Berrigan & others on March 19-21. Click here for more information.