Gov. Scott signs another death warrant!

Execution of Robert Waterhouse is

scheduled for February 15 at 6:00 pm

“The dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to  reform.”   -Pope John Paul II (Gospel of Life, 27)

A Call to Action! 

For prayer-study-action resources and suggestions, click here.

Please email details of your public witness against Florida’s death penalty to phyllisjepson@earthlink.net

Amnesty International: Stop Florida Execution of Robert Waterhouse

Robert Waterhouse, a 65-year-old man, is scheduled to be executed in Florida on February 15 for a murder committed in January 1980. At the time of his trial, DNA technology did not exist. Mr. Waterhouse maintains his innocence, and sought DNA testing of evidence, but all useful evidence in the case has been destroyed. Call for this death sentence to be commuted.  To take action, click here.

From Ashes to Resurrection: Dust to New Life

Colleen Kelly, our 2011 Teacher of Peace award recipient, honored for her work as co-founder of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization dedicated to turning grief into action for peace has co-authored this 40th anniversary edition of our Lenten reflection book. Colleen and her daughter Bronagh Jones wrote this as a team. Colleen is a proud Mom as well as a family nurse practitioner in a large Bronx high school clinic. Bronagh Jones is a sophomore at Preston High School in the Bronx, New York. Bronagh says she has learned a lot about peacemaking from her two older brothers. Bronagh is involved in her church youth group, and she loves, loves to read. Bronagh wrote the reflections for each Friday this Lent. Colleen’s brother was lost in the tragic violence in NY on 9/11. Our authors write from their experiences and we are honored to share them with you in From Ashes to Resurrection: Dust to New Life.  To 0rder, click here.

Lenten “Caring for Creation” Calendar 2012 

The Environmental Outreach Committee, Department of Charity and Justice, Archdiocese of Washington, suggests the following spiritual reflections, sacrificial actions, and practical suggestions everyone can consider during Lent. They are a way to help you grow in your commitment to be a wise steward of God’s Creation now and for future generations.  You are invited you to use this Lenten calendar creatively in your preparations for Easter.  Click here to link to calendar.

Journey into  Light – Lent 2012

Christians are not people of the cross. Christians are people of the empty tomb who know that every step on the way to light is Light.                  – Joan Chittister.   Click here to learn more and to order.

Realizing how important this election is, NETWORK – the Catholic Social Justice Lobby in Washington, DC, organized a coalition of national Catholic organizations working to build on the momentum they helped create during the 2008 election.

The coalition, called Election 2012: Catholics Vote for the Common Good, is working to mobilize Catholics across the U.S. in order to challenge candidates to commit to working for the good of all.   In 2012, the goal is to create common-good* platforms for each state and the District of Columbia, which will be signed and delivered to candidates and public officials. Each of these 51 individual platforms will be written with the input of people in that state or the District of Columbia, and they will include a national preamble designed to outline a common-good perspective.

Pax Christi Florida was blessed to have Jean Sammon of NETWORK as our assembly leader last October during which time Pax Christi Florida was provided the opportunity to be one of the first in Florida to provide input into the Platform for the Common Good from our state. To learn more about this project, click here.

Thanks to PCF Council Member, Jim Rucquoi, video samplings from PCF’s assembly are available via YouTube…see below.  Photographs of PCF’s assembly were provided by Maureen O’Connell and Nancy O’Byrne and are found in the right-hand column.

PCF’s 2011 Fall Assembly on YouTube

God, Country, and the Common Good

Part 1 – What’s wrong with the government?

Part 2 - So what’s right with the government?

Part 3 – A Living Liturgy

Part 4 - Mind the Gap

Part 5 – Where do we go from here?

At the Pre-Assembly event, participants were informed and inspired by reports from the PCF Council Members who attended the American Catholic Council gathering held in Detroit in June, 2011.   Below is a reflection written by Adele Azar-Rucquoi related to that event.

At the gathering of the American Catholic Council in Detroit held in June, 2011, 2000 Catholics were brought back to the reality of an early church which all the people of God helped to govern, as well as always welcoming its married priests.

Two clear points of emphasis emerged over our weekend: the role of experience against top down dogma in our church that through the ages has always influenced and informed Catholic teaching. And secondly, the right and responsibility of every Catholic to develop and act on his/her own conscience.

Swiss theologian Hans Kuhn, American theologian Anthony Padovano, author James Carroll, long time Dominican and activist, mystic Matthew Fox, and Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, all fired our spirits as they brought us back to our authentic Catholic roots and updated us on numerous issues plaguing today’s church, including an inexcusable bias against both women’s ordination and full membership of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.

How glorious to hear again voices we can believe in, this Voice of Catholic Inclusion – an expression of glaring redundancy if ever there was! The gathering was only a beginning.

As Detroit’s own late Cardinal Deardon once remarked, “We are trying to begin a new way of doing the work of the Church in America. We may fail, but let us try and let the people say, ‘They cared enough to try!’

For more information about the American Catholic Council, click here.

Next Year’s Wars – 10 Conflicts to Watch in 2012

by

Louise Arbour, Foreign Policy

To read, click here.

________________________________

Issues to Watch in 2012

Nine Topics that will shape debate in state legislatures in 2012

Governing magazine, January 2012

To read, click here.

Latest Pax Christi Newsletters

NOTE:  Due to the size of some of the e-newsletter, they may take a few minutes to download.

Pax Christi Florida’s January 2012 e-newsletter

Pax Christi USA’s Dec 2011/Jan 2012 e-newsletter

Pax Christi International’s February 2012 e-newsletter

For additional Pax Christi and news items of interest, click here.

she moves me

blogging for mother earth

by 

PCF Council Member, Jim Rucquoi

i want to sit on this rock with you awhile, friend, think out loud a bit. first up, these new readings i’ve bumped into that continue to shake me awake. ever since starting out on my bike three years ago for mother earth, mother’s been whispering in my ear something fierce. after climate ride california last year i can think of little else. scattered news of old that held me in its addictive clutches fails to move me anymore. you move me, mother, front & center at last.

Please click here to enter.

Photos from Pax Christi Events

In right column, you will find photos of  Pax Christi Florida’s 2011 Assembly, God, Country, and the Common Good led by Jean Sammon of NETWORK – Catholic Social Justice Lobby in Washington, DC.  This event was held October 15 and 16 at the Life Enrichment Center in Fruitland Park, Florida.   For additional Pax Christi Florida event photos, click here.