VIGIL PLANNED TOMORROW
For immediate release December 8, 2005
headed SPECIAL FRIDAY VIGIL FOR PEACE ACTIVISTS KIDNAPPED IN IRAQ
sub-headed KINGSTONIANS ASKED TO REMEMBER THE WORDS OF JOHN LENNON
The Justice and Peace Office of the Sisters of Providence will be holding a special vigil tomorrow to focus on the call to free the Christian Peacemaker hostages in Iraq, end the occupation and stop torture.
Their signs will carry the words “Give Peace a Chance.”
“People of faith can say a prayer for the captives,” said vigil organizer Sister Pauline Lally. “And we can all remember the words of John Lennon, who was killed twenty-five years ago today.”
Kingstonians who cannot join the 12:15 PM vigil at City Hall are invited to pause for a moment to reflect on both the plight of the captives and the tragedy of war.
The deadline for the release of Jim Loney, Harmeet Sooden, Norman Kember and Tom Fox has been extended to Saturday. Their kidnappers threaten to kill them unless the thousands of prisoners held by the US and the UK in Iraq are released.
The kidnappings have renewed the focus on the detentions of these prisoners. Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq were pointing to rampant prisoner abuse even before media revelations of the shocking events at Abu Ghraib prison.
“We’ll feel enormous grief if any of these brave peacemakers die, just as we should for the countless other victims of this brutal and illegal war,” added Sr. Lally. “But that doesn’t mean non-violence has failed. It just means that it’s all the more urgent to stop the war and end the torture.”
The Friday vigil for peace and justice is entering its eleventh year.
A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now
-John Lennon, October 9, 1940 - December 8, 1980
For further information contact
Sr. Pauline Lally, 544-4525
Christine Tripp, Communications Director, 544-4525