March said to signal more unified faith-based voice in opposing war

Published: 2005-09-26

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With all major faith groups represented, the Sept. 24 protest march in Washington against the war in Iraq marked a new step in the effort to bring a more unified religious voice to the anti-war movement, according to a representative of Pax Christi USA. Michael Jones, director of communications for the Catholic peace movement based in Erie, Pa., said at least 500 Pax Christi members and thousands of other Catholics participated in the demonstration, which drew an estimated 100,000 people for a march past the White House to the National Mall. Other Catholic participants included members of the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Catholic Worker movement, as well as individual Catholics such as 1976 Nobel Peace Prize-winner Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, whose vigil outside President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, drew national attention during the summer. "We believe our presence was required," Jones said, adding that his organization's opposition to the war in Iraq is built upon the late Pope John Paul II's statement that war is "always a defeat for humanity."

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