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News Bishop Gumbleton travels in Israel/Palestine; presents reflections at Sabeel Conference ( from Friends of Sabeel North America:) To further its mission of exploring a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is based on principles of justice and peace, Sabeel sponsored a major conference at Villanova University on April 25-26, 2008...This international gathering brought together hundreds of Jews, Christians, and Muslims to reflect on the concept of “homeland” as a central category of “The Quest for Place and Peace in the Middle East.”... Bishop Thomas Gumbleton offered a Catholic reframing of the conflict. Noting that Jesus lived in a Palestine under military occupation, Gumbleton insisted that Jesus “rejected violence for any reason whatsoever, and taught us how to die, not how to kill: by loving others, by forgiving even those putting you to death.” But nonviolence does not mean passivity or inaction, but “doing what we must do to break down unjust laws.” He praised the nonviolent resistance engaged in by the citizens of Bi’ilin, who gather each Friday to protest the devastating economic consequences of the Wall on their rural village in the West Bank. “Conversion to nonviolence takes courage,” he said, “but may be the only means to overcome the violence in which Israelis and Palestinians are trapped.” Gumbleton concluded his remarks with a citation of Dr. Martin Luther King that he said should energize the conference participants to resist the occupation and to bring it to an end: “Only a refusal to hate or kill can put an end to the chain of violence in the world and lead us toward a community where men [and women] can live together without fear. Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.” by Ed Gaffney, FOSNA
Iraqi Refugee Crisis Bishop Gumbleton traveled to Syria in 2007 to meet with Iraqis who have been displaced by the war. To learn more about the millions of Iraqi people who have been displaced and/or forced to leave Iraq, and how you can become involved, click here. Listen to a podcast in which Bishop Gumbleton talks with Tom Fox about the scripture readings for Sunday July 22, 2007. According to the NCR website: "He discusses hospitality in the Hebrew tradition and the Gospel story of Martha and Mary. He draws from these lessons implications for not only our individual spiritualities, but also our society's response to immigration and Iraqis displaced by war."
Franz Jaegerstaetter: In October of 2007, Bishop Gumbleton traveled to Linz, Austria for the beautification ceremony of the World War II anti-war hero and martyr, Franz Jaegerstatter. To read an earlier tribute by Bishop Gumbleton to Franz Jaegerstaetter (from 2003) click here. El Salvador:
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