Category: Lent

This morning at the federal courthouse in Worcester, after attending mass and with about a dozen supporters outside, Mike Benedetti, Ken Hannaford-Ricardi, Sandra McSweeney, Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, and Roger Stanley entered the pre-lobby, knelt, prayed for an end to the war in Iraq, and said a rosary. People came and went from the courthouse, though additional participants weren’t allowed to enter.

Officers allowed them to complete the prayers, then arrested them.

They were charged in federal court with the “petty offenses” of not obeying a federal officer and blocking an entrance. They all plead “not guilty” and said they would represent themselves.

The 2 charges each carry a possible $5,000 fine. A 30-day jail sentence is also possible for each charge, but both the US attorneys and the judge said there was no risk of that.

The defendants will be representing themselves in court. Trial is set for June.

Photo: Worcester Indymedia. Pictured: Tom Lewis and law officers outside the entrance.

The prayers and arrest come as the culmination of a 43-day Lenten prayer, fast, and vigil carried out in conjunction with people in 11 other US cities, including Des Moines, Iowa, Buffalo and Rochester, New York. This campaign was inspired by the example of Franz Jagerstatter, the recently beatified Austrian Catholic who was executed for refusing to participate in an unjust war.

Continue reading “5 arrested for praying the rosary in Worcester”

Bishops McManus and Reilly chat outside St. Paul’s Cathedral before the Chrism Mass.

Rocco Palmo:

In the majority of Stateside dioceses, whether in their cathedrals or even larger parish churches, the Chrism Mass — the lone “family reunion” mandated by the rubrics — is happening today.

There was no noon mass at the cathedral today, so my friends and I went to the Chrism Mass before our Lenten prayer vigil for an end to the Iraq War.

The Chrism Mass takes its name from the last of the three oils blessed during the rite, which are then used throughout the diocese for the next year.

Tom Lewis does a little anti-war “pre-vigiling” at the cathedral before mass. More of us assembled across the street afterwards. I was happy that several priests came over to share words or hugs of support.

I’d never been to one of these before. The bishop blessed the year’s holy oil and priests renewed their “commitment to priestly service.” A very long standing ovation for Auxiliary Bishop George E. Rueger, who celebrated his 50th year as a priest and gave a great homily directed at the many Catholic school kids in attendance.

The daily Lenten prayer and fasting for an end to the Iraq War continued today in Worcester, with 4 people participating. (I think a few dozen have been involved at some point.) We found a nice ring outside the cathedral; you can pick it up at the rectory if it’s yours.

When we went down to the federal building to continue the vigil, a friend and I went inside to talk to whoever was there. (From my limited experience, this seems to be standard operating procedure for continuing vigils. Sometimes this can bear unexpected fruit.)

My friend mentioned the recent report that upwards of 5% of Iraq and Afganistan War vets are collecting disability for hearing loss due to roadside bombs and the like.

One guy said, “And that’s a problem for us?” (Which seemed an odd thing to say.)

Another guy responded, “Yeah–we gotta pay for it!”

My friend pointed out that hearing loss also probably messes up a lot of these vets’ lives.

Other than that, things passed without incident.

Today we had six people praying and fasting for an end to the Iraq War. At the cathedral, we had more positive comments than ever.

Outside the federal building, an old guy was stopped at a red light with a dog in his lap. The way the dog was leaning out the window, he looked like he was driving. “He can’t read your sign!” the old man pointed out with a smile.

Another man stopped by and said, “We can pray all we want and fast all we want, people are making so much money from it it’s never gonna end.”

We had 5 people with us this rainy day, fasting and praying for an end to the Iraq War.

Outside the Federal Building, a guy asked, “You’re doing this outside the federal court?” Ken said, “Yes.”

“They can’t move Jesus,” the guy said, gesturing to our sign and the building. “They can’t move Jesus!”

At today’s 12:10 Cathedral mass, there were maybe twice as many people as normal. Pretty cool.

We had 6 people praying and fasting after mass and at the Federal Building. No incidents. (Don’t worry, I’m not going to blog every day of this.)

If I recall correctly, last Ash Wednesday the noon Cathedral mass was packed. This year, the church was maybe 3/4 full.

Bishop Robert McManus, after mass

After mass we began our Lenten fast and vigil for an end to the Iraq War. We started out by holding a banner near the Cathedral door, but were asked to move across the street. This was unfortunate, in that it probably left some passersby with the impression that we were protesting the church or something.

Holding a banner across the street. In the spirit of “Let no one see you fasting,” I tried to take photos of people’s backs.

All of the response I saw from churchgoers or people driving by was positive. Meanwhile, people handed out Jagerstatter holy cards to those leaving mass.

Then we went over to the Federal Building, where they didn’t care where we stood, so long as we weren’t blocking a door. I don’t have any good face-free pix of this part, so here you see Scott and Ken posing with the banner.

Nice omnibus Ash Wednesday post from Rocco Palmo. This bit sums up the point of the vigil, for me:

The crux of Ash Wednesday is one that fascinates, and rightfully so: in a world — and, indeed, in a church — too often obsessed with appearances, with shirking blame and maintaining an image of perfection (sometimes at any cost), all that gets turned inside out: I’m far from perfect. I don’t have all the answers. I can’t go it alone. What I do matters beyond myself.