Catholic peacemakers plan Ash Wednesday service at White House

Salt shakers
February 5 , 2007

Catholic peacemakers plan Ash Wednesday service at White House
On Ash Wednesday, February 6 Catholics for an End to the War in Iraq (CEWI), the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker, TASSC and Jonah House will commemorate the day by praying for forgiveness and depositing ashes at the White House. Organizers say the service will be "a sign of atonement for President Bush’s war in Iraq, his continued support of torture and for his squandering of our nation’s moral leadership in the world."

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, a time when Catholics pray for forgiveness in preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Catholics believe that Jesus’ death was an act of atonement for personal and social sins.

Father Joe Nangle OFM, a Catholic priest serving at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington, will be present to bless the ashes. “The use of ashes is an ancient and sacred sign that we are ultimately accountable to a higher power. If anyone needs this pastoral advice, it is President Bush,” Nangle said.

In his final year in office, Americans are evaluating President Bush’s moral legacy. “President Bush’s standing in the Catholic community is compromised by his decision to wage war in Iraq,” said James Salt, Organizing Director of Catholics for an End to the War in Iraq. “The Catholic community is very clearly against war and torture. On this day of fasting, our nation must make amends by ending the war and speaking out against torture.”

The event at the White House is part of a broader effort in the Catholic community to organize against the Iraq war during the Lenten season. CEWI is inviting Catholics to pray for peace while working to bring more Catholics into the anti-war movement. In the past six months, CEWI has collected 20,000 signatures from American Catholics calling for an end to the war. Organizers have a goal of collecting 30,000 signatures by Easter.

A procession to the White House will begin at St. Matthews Cathedral at noon and arrive at 12:30. Ash Wednesday prayer service will be conducted at the north entrance of the White House near Lafayette Park.

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