Pax Christi Florida

Pax Christi Resources

• Gathered in Peace: Forming Pax Christi Communities – this free downloadable resources is designed to assist forming/newly formed local groups with their initial five meetings.  This guide provides a basic methodology for a peacemaking group and should be a resource for on-going, regularly scheduled meetings.  The contents include an introduction to Pax Christi, it history, priorities and peace education materials.  (49 pages in pdf format)
• Vow of Nonviolence – an invitation to people of faith and conscience to signify a break with violence in all of its forms.  Groups and individuals taking this vow are commiting themselves to striving to live a life of nonviolence for a period of one year.  For a copy of the Vow of Nonviolence click here.  Spanish version, click here.
• What Is Pax Christi? (pdf format)  Spanish version, click here.
•  Brothers and Sisters All – an information brochure about Pax Christi USA’s 20-year initiative to transform Pax Christi USA into an anti-racist, multi-cultural peace and justice movement. (brochure in pdf format)

Resources on Conscientious Objection

• Conscientious Objection and Catholic Teaching (brochure in pdf format)
• Conscientious Objection and the Military (brochure in pdf format)
• Selective Conscientious Objection and Catholic Teaching (brochure in pdf format)

Resources on Immigration

• What does the Catholic Church say about Immigration? – The Florida Catholic Conference
• Hear the Immigrants’ Cries for Justice
• Honoring the Dignity of Work:  A Call for Solidarity with Florida’s Farmworkers and Other Vulnerable Workers – a 16 page document in pdf format from the Florida Catholic Conference of Bishops 

Resources on the Death Penalty

Resources from Pax Christi USA

• Death Penalty Prayer Service
• Death Penalty Prayer-Study-Action Packet
• Death Penalty Prayer Card

Resources from The Florida Catholic Conference

• Florida Bishops Asking to Close Down Death Row by Karna Swanson (Feb. 11, 2009 – Zenit: The World Seen From Rome) 
• Ending the Death Penalty: What one Catholic Supreme Court Justice could do – Part I by Dale Recinella
• Ending the Death Penalty: What one Catholic Supreme Court Jusice could do – Part II by Dale Recinella

Resources from the Florida Catholic Conference

• Florida Bishops’ Statements on Death Penalty
• Death Penalty Position Paper – January 2002
• Written Testimony to Commission on the Administration of Lethal Injection (February 8, 2007)
• Death Penalty Facts and Catholic Church Teaching, November 2011
• Video: Talking About the Death Penalty 2003 National Telly Award Recipient (English) / (Spanish); Death Penalty Video Study Guide
• Powerpoint Presentation – The Death Penalty: Working for Concensus Against It

Resources from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

• Catholic Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty Web site

Other Death Penalty Resources

• Death Penalty Information Center – up to date reports of all state and national news relating to death penalty
• I Was In Prison – faith-filled articles on life in prison; especially helpful for those in prison ministry of working on death penalty issues
• What should we do about Florida’s death penalty? from Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Environmental Resources

• NEW!  Mary Ann Holtz (March1, 2011): My 4 and 1/2 years of research supporting my commitment to Transition (inner and outer) as a response to the converging environmental and economic crises.

• Challenge and Hope at this Kairos Moment – handout prepared by Mary Ann Holtz and shared at PCF’s 09 Assembly. 

• Listening to Earth: Faith and Action in a Time of Global Climate Crisis published by Pax Christi USA.  This is 5-session series available as a downloadable pdf resource.  $5.00 for copyright permission for 1-5 copies and $10.oo if you intend to print more.  To learn more or to order, click here.

• Summary of Study of Resources Related to Current Global Environmental Crises by Mary Ann Holtz, St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. Written July 2007 with Additions April 2008.

• U.S. Bishops Call for Moral Focus on Global Climate Change; New Report Demands Urgent Attention.  

Resources for ChildrenPowerPoint Presentation

• Peace Books for Kids! (Resource List) prepared by PCF Council Member, Kitty Smith

Books, Brochures, and Peaceweavings

• A New Moment: An Invitation to Nonviolence – compiled by the Erie Benedictines for Peace, this is an important resource for those who want to learn more about nonviolence and disarming one’s heart.  Also a great resource for those who may be discerning, or have taken, Pax Christi USA’s Vow of Nonviolence.  (43 pages – pdf format)
• A Prophetic Church – A Pax Christi USA Peaceweavings written by Bishop Gabino Zavala, Bishop President of Pax Christi USA.  As the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures spoke to the inhumanity of the “Empire” and called God’s people to a new vision and hope for humanity, so must the Church today. (brochure in pdf format)
• Embracing Our Principles Instead of Our Fears: What a Mosque at Ground Zero Really Proclaims – a Pax Christi USA Peaceweavings written by Ronaldo Cruz.  Catholic Social Teaching tells us that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. However, attacks on Muslims – and on dark-skinned people mistaken for Muslims—started almost immediately after the events of 9/11.  This behavior is contrary to our Christian values.
•  Living Unafraid: A Spiritual Path to Freedom  – a Pax Christi USA Peaceweavings written by Tom Cordaro.  If we believe that God does not intend us to live in fear, how do we make the conscious decision to live unafraid? Perhaps a new spiritual discipline based in mindfulness, compassion, humility, and solidarity can move us from fear to freedom.
• Nonviolence and Dialogue with Iran – a Pax Christi USA Peaceweavings written by Dave Robinson.  Today, the stand-off between the United States and Iran over a range of current as well as long-standing disagreements offers an opportunity to employ nonviolence at the pre-confrontation stage – before great violence is unleashed.
• Keeping Vigil – a Pax Christi USA Peaceweavings written by Nancy Small.   Amidst the darkness of these times, the words of Jesus cry out to us with the urgent desire that resonated in his voice that long-ago night. “Remain here, and watch with me.”
• Spirituality And Globalization: In Whose Image? – a Pax Christi USA Peaceweavings written by Tony Vento.  Globalization will affect every aspect of our lives positively or negatively – even the basic shape of our spirituality.