Des Moines Catholic Worker
MARCH 15, SATURDAY RALLY NEWS RELEASE AND FLYER
*
MARCH 17, MONDAY ST. PATRICKS DAY WITNESS NEWS RELEASE (WITH LIST OF THOSE ARRESTED AND GROUP STATEMENT) PLUS INDICTMENT DELIVERED BY GROUP
*
2014 MIDWEST CATHOLIC WORKER FAITH AND RESISTANCE RETREAT REPORT, SCHEDULE, NONVIOLENCE GUIDELINES AND AUDIO LINKS OF PRESENTERS
The big news from this year’s Midwest Catholic Worker Sugar Creek gathering is that we were back at Sugar Creek and it looks like we will continue to have access to Sugar Creek for future gatherings—at least in the near-term.
Over 200 Catholic Workers from nine states and 26 cities and farms attended. IA: Ames, Des Moines, Dubuque, Waterloo, Maloy and La Motte. IL: Rock Island, Chicago, Bloomington and Peoria. IN: South Bend, Bloomington and Anderson. MI: Luck, Lake City, Milwaukee and Waukesha. MN: Duluth, Minneapolis, Lake City, Owatanna, Winona. MO: Kansas City, Columbia, St Louis and, in transition, White Rose Farm moving to northeast Missouri next to the Possibility Alliance. OH: Cleveland. SD: Yankton. TX: Austin.
Newest statistic: 70 tents were counted during the weekend. There were more people sleeping outside than inside. The weather was breathtaking the first two days. Sunday morning was a washout with rain but no one complained (much), given that Iowa is in the mist of a drought. Lots of workshops were offered.
The winner of this year’s Football Mary was Theodore Kayser, a Los Angeles Catholic Worker for the last five years. Theo and his partner Nicole are currently visiting Midwest CWers looking to relocate. Which raised a lot of questions regarding the validity of Theo’s winning the coveted Football Mary, since so many of us Midwest Catholic Worker communities are trying to recruit them. More later …
The big news for us here at the Des Moines Catholic Worker came from Julie Brown. She made our offer to host the 2014 Midwest Faith and Resistance Retreat in Des Moines with our incoming weaponized drone command center as our focus and it was accepted. Now we need to nail down a weekend in March/April and find space for over 100 CWers to come to Des Moines and do direct action at our drones command site. Lots more later. [more photos and videos after the jump]
Ben and Mike with members of Des Moines Veterans for Peace
(Top: Al Burney, DMCW, DM VFP; Mike Lyons, VFP UK; Ben Griffin, VFP UK; Bill Basinger, DM VFP, Korean War Vet. Bottom: Gil Landolt, DMCW, DM VFP; Eddie Bloomer, DMCW, DM VFP; Gene Krauss, DM VFP, WWII Vet)
This August, the Des Moines Catholic Worker was fortunate to host two distinguished guests from the United Kingdom—Ben Griffin and Mike Lyons, war resistors, conscientious objectors, and founding members of Veterans for Peace UK.
Ben and Mike joined us in Des Moines following their attendance at the National Veterans for Peace Convention in Madison, Wisconsin, which they attended with DMCW community members Gil Landolt, Al Burney and Eddie Bloomer.
Following the convention, Ben and Mike embarked on a Midwest speaking tour on the theme “I Will Not Fight for Queen and Country.”
http://warisacrime.org/content/i-will-not-fight-queen-and-country
Look for more on Ben and Mike in the upcoming issue of via pacis, the newsletter of the Des Moines Catholic Worker. http://vp.dmcatholicworker.org/
Read Ben’s report on their midwest tour.
More photos from Ben and Mike’s visit.
Ben and Mike with members of Veterans for Peace marching in the annual Veterans’ Parade at the state fairgrounds.
Rosalie Riegle
Rosalie with Des Moines Catholic Workers and friends
Yesterday, the Des Moines Catholic Worker was blessed by a visit from author Rosalie Riegle, the “Studs Terkel of the Catholic Worker movement.” Ms. Riegle read from two recent books: Crossing the Line: Nonviolent Resisters Speak Out for Peace and Doing Time for Peace: Resistance, Family, and Community.
Consisting of more than 150 interviews–including many Catholic Workers, several of whom were in the audience–these books explore through oral history the work of activists from the Vietnam War years up to the 2000s.
Rosalie herself has a long history of personal involvement with the Catholic Worker Movement, having started two houses of hospitality in Saginaw, Michigan, and living in these communities for 10 years.
As she related stories of nonviolent resistance, Rosalie spoke movingly of the ever-present need to “Say No” to war and empire. Mike Miles, in his book review published in the April 2013 Via Pacis, described her own sense “mission,” with regards to her books:
“Her desire to collect and share these stories … is not meant to be merely an academic exercise. She admits to being on a ‘mission’ to present her findings to a broader public to test what she perceives to be the truth contained in the lives and actions of her friends and cohorts.”
This truth was felt powerfully last night as we listened to excerpts from Rosalie’s books and personal stories from some of those present.
Rosalie’s previous books include Dorothy Day: Portraits by Those Who Knew Her and Voices from the Catholic Worker. To learn more about Rosalie and to purchase her books, please visit her author page on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Rosalie-G.-Riegle/e/B001K8HRB6
Portrait of Norman Searah by Frank Cordaro
Download Our Brochure (PDF, 613 KB)
Download Our Newsletter (PDF, 5.6 MB)
Hospitality and Services
We open the Bishop Dingman House - 1310 7th St. - five days a week and welcome others as guests in our home.
Dingman House Schedule:
Monday: closed
Tuesday: snack at 3 p.m. to dinner at 6 p.m.
Wednesday: closed
Thursday: snack at 3 p.m. to dinner at 6 p.m.
Friday: snack at 3 p.m. to dinner at 6 p.m.
Saturday: snack from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Sunday: snack at 3 p.m. to dinner at 6 p.m.
Besides the meals served:
Free Food Store: For more than 20 years the Des Moines Catholic Worker has been doing a produce giveaway. We give away donated produce on Saturday at 10am at Trinity United Methodist church at 8th and College.
Alcoholics Anonymous meets every Friday at 4pm at the Phil Berrigan House, located at 713 Indiana.
Contact Info
For more information about the Catholic Worker or to be added to our mailing list, please contact us.
Mailing Address: Des Moines Catholic Worker PO Box 4551 Des Moines, IA 50305 E-mail: dmcatholicworker@gmail.com Phone: 515 214-1030
The four community houses:
Bishop Dingman house - Drop-in Center 1310 7th St. Des Moines, IA 50314 515 214-1030
Phil Berrigan House - autonomous sister house with the DMCW. Houses a Peace & Justice Library and meeting place. 713 Indiana Ave. Des Moines, IA 50314 515 282-4781frank.cordaro@gmail.com
Rachel Corrie House 1301 8th St. Des Moines, IA 50314 515 330-2172
Chelsea Manning House 1317 8th St. Des Moines, IA 50314 515 777-2180
History
The Des Moines Catholic Worker community, founded in 1976, is a response to the Gospel call to compassionate action as summarized by the Sermon on the Mount. In the spirit of the Catholic Worker tradition, we are committed to a simple, nonviolent lifestyle as we live and work among the poor. We directly serve others by opening our home for those in need of food, clothing, bedding, a shower, or a cup of coffee and conversation. We also engage in activities that foster social justice.
The Catholic Worker movement was founded in 1933 by Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day in New York City to implement the teachings of the Gospels and to promote the biblical promise of mercy, compassion, justice and love. Grounded in the firm belief in the God-given dignity of every person, the movement is committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, and the Works of Mercy as a way of life. The movement has spread far and wide; over 150 Catholic Worker communities, from Idaho to Australia, serve those in need in their neighborhoods.