IOWA,
USA
(2003
World Peace Prayer Society Report)
CLINTON,
IOWA, USA
The Sisters of St. Francis of Clinton, Iowa, commemorated the United
Nations International Day of Peace with a 24-hour prayer vigil last
weekend in Clinton. Sisters and visitors prayed continuously in the
chapel of The Canticle from noon Sat. through noon Sun. About 40 people
came Saturday to hear Chicagoan John Farrell speak about a recent
three-week visit to Iraq. Farrell is a native of Delmar, IA.
Sister Jan Cebula of Kansas City, Mo., coordinator of the Clinton
Franciscan Center for Active Nonviolence, invited Farrell to talk
about his work with Voices in the Wilderness. Since 1996, the organization
has worked to end UN economic sanctions, to oppose military warfare
against Iraq and to raise awareness of the plight of ordinary Iraqis.
It was Farrell's first trip to Iraq, but Voices director Kathy Kelly,
a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, has been there several times.
With Saddam Hussein out of power, it was the first time Iraqi people
could speak freely, Farrell said. Security, reliable electricity,
clean water and adequate medical care are their most pressing needs.
Farrell and Kelly distributed Arabic-language copies of a videotape
based on a PBS series to Iraqis. The tape, "A Force More Powerful:
A Century of Nonviolent Conflict," tells of successful nonviolent
uprisings of the 20th Century.
"Our
culture, our country, our way of life, is as much in need of rebuilding
as Iraq is," Farrell stated.
Anne Dorpinghaus
Voices in the Wilderness
Chicago
2003
World Peace Prayer Society Compilation
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