March for peace on Sunday

Long before the war in Iraq began, Pope John Paul II and our own U.S. Catholic Bishops spoke out strongly against both the wisdom and the morality of a pre-emptive attack.

Four years later we are embroiled in a war that has provided a training ground for terrorists and taken a disastrous toll in lives and suffering among our own young men and women as well as the Iraqi people.

There are no obvious solutions and, as people of faith, we will have differing opinions on the appropriate strategy for solving this quagmire. But the one unacceptable response is no response. We cannot go about our lives as if a war were not being fought on the premise of ensuring our safety and American way of life. A war in which all of the sacrifice is born by the combatants and the innocents who surround them, is the most immoral war of all. How will you and your parish commemorate this sad anniversary? A prayer service for peace? A community vigil?

We’ll be at the east side of the Capitol (facing the Hudson River) at 2 p.m. If you'd like to join us, here are the details:

We will meet on the sidewalk where Washington Avenue, State Street and Eagle Street come together. Picture yourself standing on the sidewalk next to the street directly east of the staircase and looking down State Street.

We'll carry 2 banners: Commission on Peace and Justice, and Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. We need 3 people for each banner, and replacements who will walk along with the banner bearers and will replace them when they get tired.

The march will end at the Federal Building on North Pearl Street.

There will be a special contingent for youth. They'll start at 1 PM at Townsend Park, the little triangle bounded by Henry Johnson Blvd., Washington Ave. and Central Ave. If you have teens in your family and/or neighborhood, please let them know about this.

We hope you can come.