Catholics join in efforts to close military prison at Guantanamo Bay

Published: 2007-01-12

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pax Christi members from four chapters of the Catholic peace group were among several hundred demonstrators at a federal courthouse in Washington Jan. 11 calling for the shutdown of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Jean Stokan, policy director for Pax Christi USA in Washington, said participants came from the Baltimore, metro Washington, Northern Virginia and Springfield, Ill., chapters to join in the protest. Pax Christi USA was among 16 sponsors of the demonstration, which marked the fifth anniversary of the detention of military prisoners at Guantanamo. Among the dozens of groups endorsing the demonstration were the Justice and Peace Office of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ in Red Bud, Ill.; various Catholic Worker houses; the Catholic Peace Ministry; the Anti-War Committee of the Thomas Merton Center in Pittsburgh; the Sisters of the Precious Blood in Dayton, Ohio; and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Scranton, Pa.

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