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PCMA working group focused on peace in Palestine and an end to the genocide: update and invitation to join

June 15, 2025 in /by

After the Assembly in Nov. 2024, a small group of Pax Christi-ites began meeting to work for peace in Palestine and an end to the genocide. Many of us have already been doing that in other contexts, and with other groups, but we thought it was important that we, AS PAX CHRISTI, be speaking out. And so, we’ve been meeting virtually, and welcome more of you to join us.

First we reached out to the church hierarchy, asking Archbishop Henning to meet with us, make a strong statement demanding a ceasefire and instruct his priests to do the same. A meeting was denied, so some members rallied outside the church, but still the most response we got was to pray for “peace in the Middle East.” A second letter was sent, including a request that the statement on the archdiocesan website spoke about the genocide in Gaza that’s happening now, rather than just condemning the Oct. 7, 2023 events. Still no progress. You can read about this in the current issue of the newsletter.

Apparently there are only about a dozen bishops/archbishops/cardinals in the US who have made statements in support of Gaza and against the genocide. The late Pope Francis, however, was a major voice calling for an end to the genocide. Even during his hospitalization—to the very day before his death—he met virtually with a parish in Bethlehem every day, giving them spiritual sustenance. We ourselves (PCMA) sent a petition asking him to deliver humanitarian aid in person, thinking his presence might break the blockade. His illness prevented him from considering that.

Our group is considering where our next focus should be. Time is running out. The healthcare system in decimated. People are starving and hundreds have already died of starvation from the imposed famine. Homes, fields, schools, desalination plants are pure rubble. There are bombings every night. The war has spread to the West Bank. Israeli leaders have freely spoken of their intent to kill or eject all Palestinians from their homeland, and make the land itself unlivable. Our own president sees it as a real estate opportunity, and doesn’t care it is an erasure of an entire people. (We have already done that on our own continent, after all.)

Why Palestine, when there are so many other important social justice issues that need our nonviolent attention? We believe there is no other immediate issue requiring action. Immigration, gun control, and the death penalty affect hundreds, even thousands in the course of a year. Climate change and nuclearism are existential dangers, yes, but we have time to work on them. In Palestine there are over 100 deaths daily since Israel broke the ceasefire, thousands are facing starvation, and let’s face it—genocide is like extinction: once a people are gone, they are gone. In addition, as Americans we have a heavy responsibility here because it is our money and our weapons that are killing the Palestinians. But our group is not mainly political. We seek to address the situation through the lens of nonviolence.

We are thinking our next level of action might be in parishes, seeing if we can get some peace & justice committees to invite us to do education around the issue. This could be a one-night event, or a deeper dive, with a several-week curriculum available. We’d like to gain some allies among the pastors as well.

We are looking for more people to join us in our work.

  • The Task Force would welcome you and your insights. We meet virtually every 2-3 weeks, on Wednesdays evenings.
  • Can you commit to pray, even fast, for a just peace in Palestine?
  • We could provide links for several ways to educate yourself. But remember, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Step up, speak out, put your body where your prayers are. Join us.

Silence is complicity. Silence is death. Lord, have mercy.

Submitted by Jeanne Allen

For more information visit the Metro West section of our Local Chapters page and or contact Jan Leary at JanLeary@aol.com.

Retreat 2025 recap, survey wrap-up and Stations of the Cross at the Statehouse

April 29, 2025 in /by

Spring Retreat 2025

Pax Christi Massachusetts held its Spring Retreat on April 12, 2025, at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Palmer, MA. Presenter Brad Wolf, editor of Philip Berrigan’s work in Ministry of Risk: Writings on Peace and Nonviolence, guided us through Berrigan’s life and work, focusing on hope. For complete coverage, please visit our Past Events Page.

PCAN survey closes April 30

Thanks to all who responded. Keep watching the PCAN Survey Page for more information and for results when they are compiled!

Stations of the Cross at the Statehouse 2025

On April 18, 2025, Good Friday, a few dozen peacemakers gathered at the State House steps to commemorate the Lord’s Passion and Death, and our part in it. We repented not only our personal sins but also the sins of our society.  

As the organizers stated, “We gather as Christians and people of faith of all traditions to mourn our participation in the daily crucifixion of Jesus in our midst: reliance on war, weapons of war, human and ecological disasters in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and on.  We repent the revenge mentality of the current government, the trampling on rights of immigrants, the revenge doctrine ….  We repent the genocide in Gaza. We repent the cruel deportation of undocumented and documented sisters and brothers, who are not “aliens” but the beloved of Jesus, the Comforter.”

With times for prayer, song, silence, and reflections, we performed public theology in the form of the traditional 14 Stations.  From Pilate to burial each Station addressed an aspect of Jesus’ suffering today in the homeless, hungry, refugees, militarism, war, damage to the earth, Gaza. We stood in solidarity with all the oppressed, domestic and international, who matter because they are human beings, made in God’s likeness. We also lifted up the brave women who consoled Jesus as he trod the road to Calvary, and those who continue in brave resistance today. We considered the role of Simon of Cyrene—did he help Jesus out of compassion, collaboration with the Empire, or out of fear and his own oppression?  As we reflected on the times Jesus fell on his trek up Golgotha, we were shown they we too, can fall, get up and continue on our paths.  

We remembered Jesus’ unbearable suffering as he was nailed to the cross and then hoisted up, calling to His Abba.  Yet, Jesus forgave them, “They know not what they do.”  Today, many leaders DO know what they are doing, and DO IT ANYWAY.  We lament and we repent.

PCMA Board Members Sr. Rita Raboin, SNDdeN, Jeanne Allen and Pat Ferrone prayed the Stations of the Cross at the statehouse on Good Friday.

Recalling Station 13, “Jesus is taken down from the Cross,” we were shown images of that moment in traditional art and in contemporary life, in a photograph of a Palestinian woman wailing over her shrouded dead child.  We were reminded to give over our powerless rage to the loving and merciful God of all, and urged to respond instead with nonviolent love.  We have agency in resurrecting of the spirit of Jesus, peace and dignity.

This 34th Stations at the State House was sponsored by Agape Community, House of Peace in Ipswich, Pax Christi Massachusetts, and Just Faith, Springfield, MA. It was attended by Catholics, former Catholics, Quakers, other Christians, non-affiliated people. A retired Baptist minister who struck up a conversation with Pat Ferrone about the sign she was carrying on the T found her way.  God reaches out in many ways to shed the light of nonviolent love and inspire us to repent and resist.  We repent the evil we do in the world; we resist the call to participate in it.

—Jeanne Allen

Mourning Pope Francis

April 23, 2025 in /by

Our Joyous Easter Monday turned bittersweet as we woke to learn of the passing of Pope Francis. Because of Easter, we believe our humble, gentle and pastoral leader has been called to an eternal reward more glorious than we can comprehend, but his absence here on Earth leaves us grieving.

As we look around, Catholic and secular media are extolling the blessings he brought to the papacy: his emphasis on Catholic Social Teaching, on peacemaking and peacekeeping, on welcoming the stranger, on caring for the Earth, on embracing voluntary poverty, on synodality, and on prayer. These are indeed the hallmarks of his time in the Chair of St. Peter.

The members of Pax Christi Massachusetts will miss his joy and his encouragement in our work. May the memory of his teaching guide us forward.

Pax Christi USA’s Statement on the Passing of Pope Francis

PCAN is collecting thoughts/actions on nuclear weapons

March 17, 2025 in /by

Take our nuclear weapons survey today!

The group that brought us last year’s virtual forum “Building a World Without Nuclear Weapons” has a new name and a timely new initiative. We are now called the Pax Christi New England Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (PCAN).

During 2025, the Jubilee Year of Hope and the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings in Japan, PCAN opened up an opportunity to create a survey with the support of the Vatican Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development. We have produced a survey on North Americans’ thoughts, feelings and work on the issue of nuclear weapons. We hope to have results to share with the Dicastery very soon.

To that end, we are asking as many people as possible to take the survey. It’s open to all–catholic with a “small c”–but we urge Catholics to take it so the dicastery can have a picture of how Catholics think and act on the issue.

We thank Pax Christi Massachusetts for hosting us on their website! Please go to the PCAN survey page and take the survey. The deadline is April 17, but we urge you to complete it at your earliest opportunity!

PCMA Winter-Spring 2025 Newsletter now available

March 7, 2025 in /by

Spring-Winter newsletter offers deep dive on Gaza, introduction to PCAN and local chapter updates

Published this week, the Winter-Spring newsletter offers several articles on the Gaza debacle, including an in-depth essay, rooted in the Pax Christi model of Study/Pray/Act, by Board of Directors Co-Coordinator Philip J. Harak, Ed.D. 

Other articles include a Gaza reflection from Jeanne Allen, coverage of the Gaza witness at Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston in December by Jeanne Connerney and an introduction to a newly expanded and renamed campaign to 

abolish nuclear weapons, by Newsletter Editor Mike Moran.

Rounding out the issue are updates from local chapters, a recap of the Fall Assembly, and the flyer for the upcoming April 12 Spring Retreat. (Register Now!)

Click here for a PDF copy of the Winter-Spring newsletter.

For past newsletters, please visit our Newsletters Archive page.

PCMA supports Smith College SJP Rally for Gaza and Free Speech

March 5, 2025 in /by

Smith College students and community partners who protested the Israel-Hamas war last spring rallied again on Thursday, February 27, to urge divestment from genocide, to condemn “scholasticide” (the destruction of the education system) in Palestine, and to relax restrictions on free speech on campus.

The Smith College chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and Demilitarize Western Massachusetts organized the rally, which featured speakers from various community organizers throughout the region. Pax Christi Massachusetts co-sponsored the event, along with Demilitarize Western Massachusetts, Western Massachusetts CODEPINK, River Valley DSA, Hampshire College SJP, Liyang Western Massachusetts, River Valley for Gaza Healthcare, Leahy Fast for Palestine, River Valley PSL, Western Massachusetts SURJ, Valley Families for Palestine, Massachusetts Peace Action (MAPA), and Western Massachusetts Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

Showing steadfast support in spite of the rain, Smith College SJP and community supporters rallied on campus Thursday, February 27, 2025. At right is Rev Dr. Peter Kakos, from First Churches Northampton Peace and Justice Committee. Dr. Kakos served as emcee and spoke for the First Churches Peace and Justice Committee.

Standout for Palestine at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston

January 6, 2025 in /by

Peace Group Urges New Archbishop to Call for Ceasefire in Palestine

Pax Christi Members and others gathered at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston to urge Archbishop Henning to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. 

Handout/flyer shared at the event

Also, the PCMA Taskforce to End the Palestinian Genocide will meet virtually on Wednesday, January 8 from 7:00 to 8:00 pm.

Link for the Google meeting 

New Archbishop of Boston Refuses to Call for a Ceasefire in the Middle East after Urgent Request from Pax Christi Massachusetts

December 23, 2024 in /by

Press Release: 12/23/2024

On December 13, the Massachusetts chapter of Pax Christi, the international Catholic peace movement, issued a letter to Reverend Richard Henning, Archbishop of Boston, requesting he join both Pope Francis and Pax Christi by standing in solidarity with victims of violence in Gaza and Lebanon. Specifically, the group requested that the new archbishop:

  • Call publicly for an immediate ceasefire;
  • Direct priests within the archdiocese to do the same in their weekly sermons;
  • Instruct parishes to include a call for a ceasefire in the Middle East in the prayers of the faithful.

In a conversation on December 20, Monsignor Bryan Hehir, a high ranking advisor to the archbishop, told Jeanne Connerney, the letter’s lead author, that while the archbishop appreciates the letter, he is not prepared to heed Pax Christi’s requests. When asked if Henning would be willing to meet with Pax Christi members to discuss the issue further, she was told that he was extremely busy and that it’s almost impossible for anyone to get time on his calendar.
Conversely, Pope Francis has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza during the past year, has condemned attacks by Israel as “immoral and disproportionate,” and has endorsed a genocide investigation in his recently published book.
After 76 years of conflict, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas attacked a music festival in Israel on October 7, 2023, where 1,139 people were killed and approximately 250 taken hostage. Israel responded by beginning a bombing campaign in Gaza, which since then has slaughtered at least 45,000 people, 70% of whom are women, children, and the elderly.
Although a purported ceasefire agreement was signed by Lebanon and Israel in November of 2024, both sides have accused each other of violating the truce, and the violence continues. Israeli bombing has resulted in at least 2,700 deaths in Lebanon, and many more inhabitants have been displaced and/or injured. Israeli aggression continues to expand into Syria, the West Bank, and Yemen.
Pax Christi MA hoped Archbishop Henning would be more willing than his predecessor to publicly condemn ongoing violence in the Middle East. Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who led the Boston Archdiocese until August 2024, issued a statement on October 11, 2023, which is available on the archdiocese website. In it, he condemns the attacks by Hamas on October 7, offers solidarity to the American Jewish community, and states, “There is no room for moral ambiguity on this issue. Resisting such terrorism and aggression is the moral duty of states to be carried out within moral limits.”
Despite a request from Pax Christi last March, the Cardinal refused to call for a ceasefire after 31,000 Palestinians had been killed. The group hoped the new leadership would break the silence, use their voices to stand up against ongoing death and suffering, and show that the archdiocese believes Palestinian lives matter as much as Israeli lives.
“By justifying Israel’s murder of civilians, the Boston Archdiocese seems to be saying that Jesus was wrong when He commanded His followers to love their enemies,” asserts Dr. Philip Harak, Co-Coordinator of Pax Christi MA. “Rather than justifying killing under certain circumstances, Jesus modeled nonviolent, creative, and courageous direct confrontation of evil. Jesus commands His followers in John 13:34 to love everyone as He loves us. The silence of our local Church leaders in the face of this slaughter implies complicity. During this season when we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, we are reminded that creating peace requires direct action. Although local Church leadership refuses to follow the Pope’s direction, Pax Christi MA will continue to join with others and proceed nonviolently in our strong opposition to this evil. We will continue to urge Archbishop Henning to join us in condemning violence, and we remain open to dialogue with him.”

Letter sent 12/13/2024 from Pax Christi Massachusetts to Archbishop Henning

Pax Christi Massachusetts Prays with the Pope in Hope of Effectively Acting to Save
Modern-Day Palestinian Slaughter of the Innocents.