“Leap of Faith” screening May 6 in Springfield

/in /by

Film: “Leap of Faith,” directed by Nicholas Ma

When: Wednesday, May 6, 6:00pm

Where: Pope Francis Preparatory School, 99 Wendover Road, Springfield

Pax Christi Massachusetts is sponsoring a showing of Nicholas Ma’s film, “Leap of Faith” on Wednesday, May 6th @ 6:30 PM in the auditorium of Pope Francis Preparatory School, 99 Wendover Road in Springfield. Director Nicholas Ma, the son of violinist YoYo Ma, is best known for his award-winning documentary, “Won’t you be my Neighbor?” about Fred Rogers.

The film documents 12 diverse Christian leaders who find hope and fellowship at a series of boundary-breaking retreats in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Brought together by Michael Gulker of the Colossian Forum, five women and seven men struggle with some of today’s most contentious issues. The divisions between them become apparent and test both their common belief in the universal importance of love and kindness and the bonds they build over the course of a year.

Inspiring and provocative, “Leap of Faith” explores whether we can disagree and still belong to each other in a divided world.

All are welcome!

Check out the latest issue of the Pax Christi Massachusetts newsletter!

/in /by

PCMA Newsletter Winter-Spring 2026

Features in this issue:

  • Fr. Rocco Puopolo, s.x., PCMA Coordinator, covers the “depth and wisdom” of Pope Leo’s most recent messages on peace.
  • Mike Moran outlines the initiatives of the Pax Christi New England Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (PCAN), including the publication of their recent survey on a Vatican webpage.
  • Drawing on her recent pilgrimage to Palestine, Linden Jenkins connects parallels of colonial violence and displacement in the treatment of the Palestinian people and United States indigenous peoples.
  • Pat Ferrone reflects on various responses to the 2025 Christmas Creche message at St. Susanna’s Parish, Dedham.
  • Jeanne Allen recaps the PCMA Assembly, held in October at St. Susanna’s Parish.

The issue also features coverage of Greater Springfield Nonviolence’s MLK Day Program, a letter to USCCB President Archbishop Coakley from Priests Against Genocide, the 36th Annual St. Francis Day gathering of the Agape Community, book reviews, a poem by Peter Kakos, updates from local chapters, introductions to our new BOD members, the nomination form for the 2026 PCMA Peacemaker Awards AND the flyer for the PCMA Spring Retreat, featuring Marie Dennis of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative.

The retreat is coming right up on April 11! For details and online registration, click here.

Pax Christi Massachusetts 2026 Spring Retreat, April 11: Gospel Nonviolence in a Perilous Time, with Marie Dennis

/in /by

Pax Christi Massachusetts welcomes Marie Dennis to return to us and lead us in our Spring Retreat entitled “Gospel Nonviolence in a Perilous Time.”

Marie is the senior program director of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative. She was a member of the Pax Christi International board from 1999 to 2019 and co-president from 2007 to 2019. She is a Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace and was named a Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace in 2022.

Marie worked for the Maryknoll Missioners from 1989 to 2012, including 15 years as director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. She holds a master’s degree in moral theology from Washington Theological Union and honorary doctorates from Trinity Washington University and Alvernia University. She is a Secular Franciscan and author or co-author of seven books, including Oscar Romero: Reflections on His Life and Writings and St. Francis and the Foolishness of God; editor of Choosing Peace: The Catholic Church Returns to Gospel Nonviolence; and co-editor of Advancing Nonviolence and Just Peace in the Church and the World. She is a lay woman, a mother of six, a grandmother and a great-grandmother.

She is a board member of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners and was the National Catholic Reporter’s Person of the Year in 2016.

We could not have found a better person to lead us in this very timely topic. Come and Join us!

Details below

Printable PDF and Registration Opportunities on the Upcoming Events Page

Direct link to Online Registration

Resources to Resist ICE Immigration Violence

/in /by

Watching ICE’s actions against immigrants, and now nearly any person in the U.S., can leave us feeling overwhelmed and powerless. In the spirit of Gospel Nonviolence, we offer the following resources to suggest actions to resist ICE and all it stands for. 

We are encouraged in this by the recent Special Pastoral Message on Immigration by the Bishops of the United States.

The ICE OUT of Minnesota organization helped organize the strike/boycott on Friday, January 23rd and the targeting of businesses complicit in ICE’s violent actions in Minnesota and elsewhere. Learn more about how to support this resistance: https://www.iceoutnowmn.com/

This toolkit, offered by the same organization, has more details and ideas for economic boycott/pressure campaigns: 

Here also is a link to the Boycott Citizens Bank campaign, as the bank is helping invest/fund companies involved with ICE and private prisons, etc. There’s info on letter writing, closing accounts, changing your own investments, etc.

PCMA Supports Parish Dialogue about St. Susanna Creche

/in /by

The Pax Christi Massachusetts board of directors stands with St. Susanna Parish, in Dedham, MA, and their pastor, Fr. Stephen Josoma, in replacing the Holy Family with the sign ICE WAS HERE* (full text below) in their outdoor creche this Christmas, while giving Jesus, Mary and Joseph sanctuary in a traditional manger at the altar inside the church. We affirm the parish’s intention to confront consciences with a window into the here and now, to be prophetic rather than partisan or divisive.

We also commend Boston Archbishop Henning and Cardinal O’Malley, together with the overwhelming majority of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, for their leadership in delivering a strong message last month in defense of the human dignity and right to due process of every immigrant. We believe that both actions uphold Jesus’ command, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13: 34-35) and Pope Leo’s call for us to “Open our arms and hearts to [immigrants], welcoming them as brothers and sisters, and being for them a presence of consolation and hope” (Vatican, October 5, 2025). We join all who see this as a major moral issue of our times. 

Pax Christi Massachusetts is a state chapter of Pax Christi USA, a section of Pax Christi International.
Fr. Rocco Puopolo, s.x., Coordinator of Pax Christi MA Board

*The full sign reads as follows: “ICE WAS HERE. The Holy Family is safe inside our church. If you see
ICE please call LUCE at 617-370-5023”

The Creche at St. Susanna’s Parish, Dedham, Christmas 2025

Protect Our Kids: Youth, Suicide and Guns: a breakout session from the PCUSA National Conference

/in /by

Pax Christi USA (PCUSA) has working groups addressing various issues; one is the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group. Pax Christi Massachusetts (PCMA) Secretary Jeanne Allen serves on this working group, along with Madeline Labriola (Pax Christi Rhode Island; Mary Ellen Quinn (Pax Christi Maine), and Sherry Simon (PC Little Rock Arkansas). With input from Mary Gagnon of the National Association of the Mentally Ill, Maine Chapter, this subgroup presented a breakout session entitled “Protect Our Kids: Youth, Suicide and Guns” at PCUSA’s National Conference held in July 2025. Jeanne has shared the notes from this session, and we linked them below and also on our “Action Resources” page.

Protect Our Kids: Youth, Suicide and Guns: breakout session notes

For more resources, please visit the PCUSA page on Gun Violence Prevention.

Agape Community Gathering October 4: “A Call to Resistance”

/in /by
Haley House Community, photo by Teagan Mustone
Iona University Students, photo by Jim Robinson
Edgar Hayes speaking, photo by Jim Robinson
Agape’s 36th annual St. Francis Day gathering on October 4, 2025, “A Call to Resistance,” attracted a large. enthusiastic, multi-generational crowd on a perfect weather day.

Featuring prayer, music, and a few speakers, the program, planned and mostly presented by the young generation of Agape leaders, focused on two breakout sessions for all attendees. In the first, we discussed how we process our inner feelings about the current turmoil in our divided society. In the second, we channeled those feelings into options for nonviolent action to heal that divide.
 
Members of 15 breakout groups resolved to build a “community of communities” by staying in touch and taking inspiration from each other’s initiatives. We ended the day feeling energized, encouraged, and empowered. 
 

Update: Greater Springfield Peace Fair recap and reminder to register for Fall Assembly

/in /by
Sr. Jane Morrissey, SSJ, and Mike Moran, PCMA BOD, at the Peace Fair in Springfield, MA. Photo courtesy of Mike Moran.
May Peace Prevail

On September 21, 2025, Greater Springfield (MA) Campaign Nonviolence hosted a peace fair on the International Day of Peace. Around 100 people attended May Peace Prevail, the name of the annual peace fair held outdoors. Twelve local organizations working for peace and justice set up tables on the lawn of Foster Memorial Church, UCC to share resources about their work.

The organizations included Roca, Rise Up Western Mass Indivisible, the Baha’i Faith, Western Massachusetts Just Faith Community, Grassroots4GVP, and others.

Full details and photos are available on the Campaign Nonviolence website.

Fall Assembly October 18, 2025 — Register Now!

The PCMA Fall Assembly, featuring artist Brother Mickey McGrath, will be held October 18 at St. Susanna’s Parish in Dedham. For full details and the flyer, please visit our Upcoming Events Page.

All are welcome! Please register ahead of time to help us plan the day.

 
 

Pax Christi Massachusetts Summer-Fall Newsletter overflows with content

/in /by

So many things happened since our Winter-Spring Newsletter came out last March, we had to add a supplement to the Summer-Fall Edition, just published this week. 

PCMA Summer-Fall 2025 newsletter
PCMA Summer Fall 2025 newsletter supplement

The newsletter brings us up to date on our new pope, a recent nuclear weapons survey, and keeping hope alive in the West Bank, along with coverage of PCUSA’s National Conference in July and PCMA’s spring retreat in April. The supplement focuses on the various ways PCMA chapters and individuals recognized the 80th anniversary of the 1945 nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August.

Many thanks to our editor Mike Moran and to our many contributors!

PCMA Fall Assembly 2025, October 18: “Peacemaking Through Turbulent Times”

/in /by

Pax Christi Massachusetts is pleased to welcome Artist Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS for our Fall Assembly 2025. Brother Mickey’s topic is “Peacemaking through Turbulent Times: Art, Passion and Purpose.”

The day-long assembly will be held on Saturday, October 18, at St. Susanna’s Parish in Dedham. Coffee and Registration begin at 8:30am, and the program runs from 9:00am to 3:30pm. Donation is $40. More details are on the flyer, below.

Please register by October 3!

Upcoming Events Page

PDF version of flyer