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Holy Cross hosts ‘Remembrance
Day: A Christian Response to War’ The students are all from three Peterborough, Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board schools -- Holy Cross, St. Peter’s Catholic Secondary School and St. Thomas Aquinas. Dear has been arrested more than 75 times for acts of civil disobedience for peace. He spent nearly a year in prison for a disarmament action, served as executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an interfaith antiwar organization, and has worked in homeless shelters, soup kitchens and community centres around the county. He has also traveled to war zones around the world and currently lives in northeastern New Mexico where he is the pastor at churches in several communities. "John Dear has been expressing his passionate faith for many years through his numerous books, articles, countless talks, workshops and retreats," says John Mackle, director of education for the separate school board, in a press release. "We are fortunate that our school staff have arranged to have such a prominent person, with such a strong conviction, speak to our students about peace and social justice issues." After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Dear began volunteering as a Red Cross Chaplain and became one of the co-ordinators of the Whole Chaplain Program. He worked with some 1,500 family members who lost loved ones, as well as hundreds of firefighters and police officers, while at the same time he spoke out against the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan. A longtime practitioner and teacher of non-violence, Dear has written hundreds of articles and given many talks on non-violence. Trevor Digby, curriculum chair of social studies for the school board, says "speakers such as John Dear empower and educate individuals in issues of peace, human rights and social justice." "He has dedicated himself to peace activism and peace education. The most revolutionary thing we can do as teachers, is to produce good, honest and generous students who will question the answers of people who say the answer is violence. Our Catholic schools promote peaceful resolutions and non-violent solutions," he says in a press release. Members of the public are invited to hear Dear speak at St. Alphonsus Parish Hall on Clonsilla Avenue from 7 to 9 p.m. Peterborough Development and Peace and the Kawartha Ploughshares are sponsoring his appearance. |
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