PeaceChain 18

Willie” is Sr. William Julie Hurley
in memoriam

“Willie” is Sr. William Julie Hurley, a sixty-something Sister of Notre Dame who has devoted her life to work with the poor and marginalized of society.  Whether it is teaching in southern Africa, serving in prison ministry, or coordinating hospice support for people living with AIDS, she brings a large measure of compassion, caring, and impish good humor to her work.  Today she teaches seniors at Lowell Catholic High, a poor school trying to provide quality education for inner-city youth.

So what was it that brought her to trial on May 20^th, and had the rest of us in the Atlantic New England Region of the O Beautiful Gaia Project worried that one of our best “bass” singers would be unable to join us in the recording studio later this month?  In March, a few days after the beginning of the most recent US-Iraq war, the Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts, organized a demonstration at the U.S. Army Soldier Biological and Chemical Command in Natick, MA.  Willie, along with seventeen other committed people of faith, knelt in front of the gate of this high-security installation, recited prayers for peace representing twelve major faith groups world-wide, and then joined themselves together with short lengths of chain link, symbolically blocking the entrance to what is believed to be the coordination center for the United States’ chemical and biological weapons program.  They were immediately arrested and charged with trespassing on federal property.

One of the reasons the Peace Chain 18, as they came to be called, insisted on a trial was their determination to give public witness to their beliefs and motives for opposing the war and the US weapons industry.  Having chosen to represent themselves rather than having legal counsel present, each was permitted five minutes to make a statement to the court.

“Willie” is Sr. William Julie Hurley, a sixty-something Sister of Notre Dame who has devoted her life to work with the poor and marginalized of society.  Whether it is teaching in southern Africa, serving in prison ministry, or coordinating hospice support for people living with AIDS, she brings a large measure of compassion, caring, and impish good humor to her work.  Today she teaches seniors at Lowell Catholic High, a poor school trying to provide quality education for inner-city youth.

So what was it that brought her to trial on May 20^th, and had the rest of us in the Atlantic New England Region of the O Beautiful Gaia Project worried that one of our best “bass” singers would be unable to join us in the recording studio later this month?  In March, a few days after the beginning of the most recent US-Iraq war, the Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts, organized a demonstration at the U.S. Army Soldier Biological and Chemical Command in Natick, MA.  Willie, along with seventeen other committed people of faith, knelt in front of the gate of this high-security installation, recited prayers for peace representing twelve major faith groups world-wide, and then joined themselves together with short lengths of chain link, symbolically blocking the entrance to what is believed to be the coordination center for the United States’ chemical and biological weapons program.  They were immediately arrested and charged with trespassing on federal property.

One of the reasons the Peace Chain 18, as they came to be called, insisted on a trial was their determination to give public witness to their beliefs and motives for opposing the war and the US weapons industry.  Having chosen to represent themselves rather than having legal counsel present, each was permitted five minutes to make a statement to the court.

THE SPECIAL PEACE CORPS
Learn about the Special Peace Corps
at The Life Experience School
which is under the care of the
Peace Abbey Foundation.

PeaceChain 18

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