|
Veronica and Maura welcome Vinnie, the Jonah House donkey.
With Mary, Joseph and the boy Jesus, Vinnie will lead refugees who,
like the Holy Family, must flee the violencc of empires and wars.. |
|
Gaby, Sophie, Kate, Veronica, a woman from DC and
Josh are with Vinnie as she eats grass. |
|
Tourists are interested in Vinnie, the Biblical symbol of nonviolence.
We remember the story of Balaam, and that Jesus, the servant-leader,
rode a donkey instead of a horse, the symbol of military empire. |
|
Mary, Joseph and the donkey begin the
procession of refugees to the White House.
|
 |
There are few, if any, demonstrations in which this message is not appropriate.
At the White House, this banner: " The US is the World's Number One Terrorist" is
carried by Jorge, Tom and Peter. |
 |
We celebrate the Feast of the Innocents in this retreat each year knowing, as this sign tells, that the massacres not only continue but, we fear, multiply as
resource wars and wars of domination multiply.
|
|
Small groups took responsibility to stand for refugees from some of the myriad catastrophes in our world. Teresa Rose, Clare Grady, Wendy and Sophie Leitener-Sieber represent the victims of Katrina and the "Shock Doctrine" mismanagement of our Government on all levels. |
|
Anne Montgomery, Margaret McKenna and Bill Offenloch walk with Palestinians.
|
|
Mary, Joseph and Jesus and their donkey were clearly refugees fleeing Herod's massacre. The violence of kings and empires usually comes down hardest of the dispossessed and marginalized.. |
 |
Arriving at the White House, the "Holy Family" circles in solidarity
with all the dispossessed and poor. |
|
As each refugee group entered the tent, a representative spoke out about their situation. Art Laffin holds the bull horn and Matt and Jorge from the Erie Catholic Worker share the story of Central American refugees under war. |
 |
The refugee center (tent) begins to overflow the victims. |
|
Bernadette Ryder-O'Neil speaks out for all of creation groaning
under human destructiveness and mis-use.
|
 |
3 Million Iraqis are now refugees of our war and occupation; that does not count all still inside the country who cannot return to their own homes because of the continuing violence and bombing. Uncounted, and probably uncountable, the numbers and their suffering swell.
|
|
Liz McAlister explains to Peter DeMott that the Park Police have effectivelly given Vinnie, the donkey, a Ban and Bar from the District of Columbia.
They are making plans to take her back to Jonah House. |
|
Cathy Breen from the N.Y. Catholic Worker shared a reflection at the retreat on the plight of Iraqi refugees in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. At the White House she shares our leaflet with tourists.
|
 |
A wider look at the White House presence as it unfolded. |
|
Members of New Jerusalem, a recovery community in Philadelphia, are keenly aware of the plight of addicts in our cities. Many of them know the jails from the inside; most understand that addiction is a consequence as well as a cause of their exile from society. |
|
After each set of refugees went into the tent, Gary read this refrain: We are mindful of the massacre of the most innocent on the planet today. We grieve over the state of war in our world and the proliferation of more and more destructive weapons of war.
Wars over the world's last resources proliferate. They victimize the most vulnerable who bear the burden first. All Creation cries out like Rachel under the strain of “progress.” Animals and vegetation suffer the consequences of our indifference, racing towards death in what scientists call the 6 th mass extinction. It is clear - all these rivers of blood start at the White House, the Pentagon, the Congress and the Department of Energy. |
|
Sophie holds a sign she made "Stop the War."
|
|
Sophie thought that Jesus should have a sister, and she joined the holy family.
What a prayerful time for all of us.
|
|
Kathy Boylan is talking to the police, telling them that we
plan to leave after we've been there an hour. |
|
Patrick O'Neil and Eve Tetaz are arrested in front of the White House.
They have court on January 22.
|
|
Sr. Margaret says a closing prayer. |
