St. Victricious (d 407)
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Author Archives: Cammy
Fr. George Zabelka
Don’t miss the latest CAM podcast: Episode 50!
I know, I know — it’s almost three hours long! But it is the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and this episode provides a great “behind the scenes” oral history that you won’t hear elsewhere; not to mention it acts as a great testimony to the way God works in human lives and human history, carrying out his plans in ways we can’t even see or could ever possibly plan.
God had a plan for George’s life. Find out more about:
- What he did as a Catholic chaplain in 1945 at Tinian Island
- Why he “blessed the bombs” of the 509th composite group, the group that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan
- How belligerent Fr. Zabelka was when he first showed up at Fr. McCarthy’s retreats in the mid-70s. (“Are you telling me Jesus wouldn’t enjoy a good boxing match?!”)
- His eventual conversion.
- How his story came to be known around the world, despite Catholic media having no interest in it whatsoever.
- How his story helped to spark the movement on the part of the U.S. bishops that eventually led to the writing and publishing of their 1983 pastoral “The Challenge of Peace” (which was a really big deal back in its day)
- Why Zabelka is “considered a saint” in some circles of Japanese Christianity
To me, the story of George is unimaginably important. The story of why there are hardly any Catholics who know about George is equally important. It’s a great story, one about conversation, repentance, peace. Why were so few media outlets in the United States, both American and Catholic, so disinterested in telling it?
Don’t forget to watch the documentary about George as well, “The Reluctant Prophet”:
Fr George Zabelka, The Reluctant Prophet from GNV Team on Vimeo.
Army Recruiters Infiltrate Gaming
A friend of CAM in Denmark
I was honored to be interviewed this week about CAM by Jacob Munck, a Danish man who considers himself a fellow “Catholic against militarism.” I wish I’d had time to ask him questions about Poland, the EU, and Greenland, not to mention his saintly mother. Maybe next time he can be on my show!
Afghanistan War Exposed: An Imperial Conspiracy
Covert military recruiting aimed at kids
Major General Frank Muth, head of Army recruiting & the Army eSports project, openly explains how their sinister strategy of having recruiters on Twitch—in a clandestine and subversive manner—groom teens into joining pic.twitter.com/rie8Xafy7l
— Eyes Left (@EyesLeftPod) July 16, 2020
Eric Defends Fr. (Ted) Rothrock
Eric, a CAM blogger and member of Catholics for Unity and Peace (CUP), was interviewed by Church Militant about the suspension of Fr. Theodore Rothrock and CUP’s counter-protesting efforts and attempts to stand by their priest.
July 16
July 16, 2020
On July 16, 1251, Our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared to St. Simon Stock and gave him the brown scapular, a symbol of protection and a sign of trust in God. On July 16, 1858, in the final apparition at Lourdes, Mary appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel. On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb, code-named Trinity was detonated at White Sands Missile Site in New Mexico.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the second and third atomic weapons were detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, killing half a million people.
Every year since 1990, a small group of people have gathered just outside the original Trinity Test Site in the desert of New Mexico. From sunset on the 15th of July through sunset on the 16th, they keep vigil in prayer in repentance for the bombing and in petition for protection from all of the effects of our nuclear development and deployment.
Just before dawn on the 16th, at 5:25 A.M., silence, song, and tears mark the exact time of detonation.
Refusing to believe that faith and love are powerless over hate, our vigil continues into the day as the sun bakes the desert. Hour after hour people kneel or sit in the presence of God, as we each understand God, for the 24 hours. Rosaries are said by those who pray rosaries, but every prayer of every attendee is welcomed.
Just before sunset, a final service is offered: the nonviolent prayer of the nonviolent Jesus. Trinity is not merely a code name; it is a sacred word of a Father who embraces all, of a Son who loves all and of a Spirit who is the breath of life for all. We abide in union with each other. It is who we are. It is why we are in a desert of destruction praying.
–Excerpted from an essay by Sr. Patricia McCarthy, CND
Human Experimentation
“I can hire half the working class to kill the other half.” Jay Gould
“Half the scientists in the world, Christian or otherwise, can be hired to kill the other half.” ECM
“All our talks about peace and the weapons of the spirit are meaningless unless we try in every way to not work in any position, any job, that contributes to war, not to take any job whose pay comes from fear or war. We wish the workers would lay down their tools and refuse to make the instruments of death. One can withdraw from the factory, refuse to make munitions, airplanes, atom bombs As you come to know the seriousness of our situation—the war, the racism, the poverty in the world—you come to realize it is not going to be changed just by words or demonstrations. It’s a question of risking your life somewhere other than on the battlefields of war. It’s a question of living your life in drastically different ways.” Dorothy Day
“Am I my brother’s keeper? Oh no! I am my brother’s killer! It is a wonder that anyone employed in the making of these munitions, from the president of the company to the scientists down to the man who sweeps up at night, can look at their faces in the mirror or go to church on Sundays. Do we want to preach the Gospel of Christ or our own gospel? Which shall it be?” —Catherine de Heck Doherty, The Gospel Without Compromise, 1976
“We’re not made by God to mass kill one another, and that’s backed up by the Gospels. Lying and war are always associated. Pay attention to war-makers when they try to defend their current actions; if they’re moving their lips they’re lying.” – Phil Berrigan
“Why would anyone believe that those who would lie to them about war would not lie to them about anything else that it served their interests to lie about?” -Emmanuel Charles McCarthy
Foreign Policy Alliance
From a reader. Maybe another CAM reader will want to get involved!
*******
Hello,
I work with the Foreign Policy Alliance, a five year old Houston group working to remake national security policy.
See: www.foreignpolicyalliance.org.(note, our resolution is endorsed by Andrew Bacevich).
I would like to show you an activist strategy to rein in militarism. The foundational concept is an update of the teach-in model. Activists will hold sessions at home to show short videos posted on You Tube to small groups. “Graduates” of these one evening schools will hold their own teach-ins. Quickly hundreds of new volunteers could become active in all major metro areas. Exponentially growth is an amazing thing.
This strategy can be affordably managed by as few as six activists per urbanized region. The intent is to pressure US officials to ratchet back on nuclear weapons, war making, and domestic surveillance. (In truth, only ONE person per city is necessary to launch the project.)
This plan is based on two successful tactics … house parties, that can function as 21st century “teach-ins”, and citizen lawmaking, which is used to reset local policies in Texas and elsewhere. An anti-corruption group, Represent.Us, is already having remarkable success with the latter tactic.
The plan can quickly scale-up to the 50 states. I estimate 900 new volunteers could be on board in six months. In every major city! But, even if only 300 per city sign up that is more than enough.
The web has a few articles about past projects. A search on Barry Klein Houston should turn up several. One of the shortest is titled: Barry Klein: Property Rights Protectorhttps://texasscorecard.com/citizen-profiles/barry-klein-property-rights-protector/
Please let me know if you would like to see details.
Yours in peace,
Barry Klein
Houston,Texas
713-224-4144
gov.reform.pro@gmail.com
P.S. To learn more about the power of the Represent.Us game plan look for this brief video on their website: “The Strategy to End Corruption”https://act.represent.us/sign/our-strategy/