This is probably the most controversial post we’ve done here. If you are not comfortable with people who have a different view from yours, it probably would be a good idea to skip this post.
This past Tuesday, a U.S. District Judge, sentenced Sister Megan Rice, an activist for many years, to three years in jail for breaking into a United States nuclear weapons complex. You will not find this story, (at least I couldn’t) in the New York Times, but you will find it in the Daily Kos (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/19/1278688/-Judge-sentences-84-year-old-Nun-to-3-years-for-2012-Oak-Ridge-Anti-Nuclear-Weapons-protest?detail=email)
I found it an amazingly amusing story. She and her two accomplices were in the “secure” part of the complex for two hours before they were discovered by security. When discovered, they invited their captors to break bread with them. More information as well as a discussion of the merits of her break-in can be found connected to the above You Tube Video.
What does this have to do with Passionist Partners? Some of our readers will remember Fr. Thomas Berry, C.P. (1914-2009) Yes, he was a controversial person too. He seemed to think the earth was more than something to be used and abused by the human species. His accomplishments were many, including distinguished teaching position at Fordham University and many books on the earth. (http://www.thomasberry.org/Biography/short_bio.html)
So what do you think? Should religious like Fr. Thomas and Sister Megan be involved in such controversial issues? Should we? If so why? If not, why not?
We are a community of laymen and laywomen who, with vowed Passionists, seek to share in the charism of St. Paul of the Cross through prayer, ongoing spiritual formation, and proclamation of the message of Christ Crucified.
