Newspaper Page Text
http://www.diosav.org
Vol. 81, No. 39 Thursday, November 8, 2001
$.75 per issue
Priests question
planned protest
By Father Douglas K. Clark
he priests of the Columbus
deanery have distanced them
selves from the annual protest of
the Western Hemisphere Institute
for Security Cooperation (formerly
called the School of the Americas),
planned for November 17 at nearby
Fort Benning.
The School of the Americas came
under severe criticism in the 1980s
and ’90s for the role played by
some of its graduates in alleged
atrocities committed in Latin
America in recent decades. The
school, sponsored by the U.S.
Army and located at Fort Benning,
offered courses in counter-terrorism
to soldiers from Latin American
countries. The instructors them
selves were often officers in Latin
American armies. It was later
admitted by the Department of
Defense that the Spanish-language
manual contained techniques of
torture and assassination contrary
to U.S. and international law.
Congress subsequently mandated
changes in the program and gave
the school a new name, the Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security
Cooperation, at the beginning of
this year.
The new legislation requires that
the institute’s curriculum from now
on include at least eight hours of
instruction “on human rights, the
rule of law, due process, civilian
control of the military and the role
of the military in a democratic soci
ety.”
On account of the state of high
alert in force at all U.S. military
institutions around the world,
Columbus Mayor Bobby Peters
offered the protestors an alternate
venue for this year’s protest, but
Maryknoll Father Roy A. Bour
geois, the protest’s leader, declined
the mayor’s offer.
On October 8, Father Lawrence
A. Lucree, pastor of Our Lady of
Lourdes Parish and Dean of the
Columbus Deanery, wrote a letter
on behalf of all the priests of the
Columbus Deanery to Mayor
Peters, regarding this year’s
protests.
The letter reads as follows:
“On behalf of the Columbus
Deanery of the Catholic Diocese of
Savannah, the priests of this dean
ery wish to relate to you our sup
port and admiration for your pati
ent approach to the planned pro
tests against the Western Hemi
sphere Institute for Security Co
operation, formerly known as the
School of the Americas. While all
of the priests of this deanery
strongly believe in the Constituti
onal right to assemble, we feel that
the planned protest would be better
served in a neutral location, such as
you graciously recommended. This
is a sensitive time for all Ameri
cans, and it would be our hope that
the School of the Americas Watch
would be in tune with that sensitiv
ity, and allow the armed forces of
Fort Benning to prepare themselves
as necessary without having to
busy themselves with policing the
front gates against possible in
fringement of military property.
“We as priests understand that
there are many denominations and
creeds and professions that come to
protest, and yet there is undeniably
a Catholic ‘face’ to the protest,
Flanked by Richard Kinane of Denver and Franciscan Sister Kathleen
McCabe of Philadelphia, 17-year-old Briana Binkerd-Dale of Ithaca, New
York, leads a procession of protesters onto the grounds of Fort Benning
in Columbus, home to the School of the Americas, in November 2000.
given its leadership by the
Maryknoll priest, Rev. Bourgeois.
Rev. Bourgeois is not associated
with the Catholic Diocese of
Savannah, and does not represent
the Catholic men of the cloth in
this area. We hope you understand
that we are with your efforts of
conciliation, and we hope you real
ize that some movements in the
Church are beyond our control.
You have been nothing but support
ive and present to the Catholic
churches in this area, and we com
mend your efforts to bring a peace
ful and reasonable solution to this
developing situation. May God
continue to bless you as you lead
the city of Columbus during these
troubled days, and be assured of
our prayers for you and our loving
support.”
Father Lucree told The Southern
Cross, “It is not a matter of taking
sides. It is, rather, a call to sensitiv
ity in view of the present needs in
our country and all its military
bases to be on around-the-clock
readiness without having to patrol
their main gates from protestors, no
matter how justified the protests
might be.”
Father J. Gerard Schreck, pastor
of Saint Anne Parish, Columbus,
said, “The protestors certainly have
a right to protest, but at this partic
ular time, they should be sensitive
to the state of alert at Fort Ben
ning.”
Father Timothy C. Donahue,
parochial vicar of Saint Anne’s,
said of the planned protest, “The
timing is wrong. The mayor has
offered an alternate spot for it to
take place and has been refused.
Part of what makes us Catholic is
the desire to negotiate peacefully.”
Historical calamities
—page 3
“Welcome to the jungle”
at Mount de Sales
-page 6
Anointing at Mass
draws hundreds
-page 7
CNS photo by Liz Quirin, The Messenger