Los Angeles Catholic Worker

On May 15, 2013, the LACW was honored and proudly officiated at the baptism of baby Hazel Flora Pilolla, daughter of former community member Alecia Stuchlik and longtime friend, Ed Pilolla, at our Wednesday evening liturgy. Catherine and Martha officiated. It was a special and memorable evening. View photos HERE.

Jeff currently is in Europe for a dual purpose: to promote his book, Broken and Shared, and attend and speak at the European Catholic Worker Gathering in Cudham, England (south of London), from May 16 to 20.

On Friday, May 3, and Wednesday, May 8, The LAPD and Department of Public Works arrived at the place where we have served breakfast to over 100 people for the past 18 years (corner of 4th St. and Merrick Ave., right by the 4th Street Bridge) and issued citations for “Obstructing Public Right of Way” (both sidewalk and street) for the way we set up tables to serve the oatmeal, hardboiled eggs, oranges, pastries and coffee to our friends on the street. Catherine and Jeff attended a hearing on Thursday, May 9, in an attempt to stave off a complete disbanding of our breakfast operation and the confiscation of all our supplies and van (which was threatened). What was agreed upon at the hearing is that we can no longer use tables or any objects (chairs, milk crates, shopping carts etc) to serve from. We only can serve from the back of our van and truck, and must prevent our guests from crossing the street except by the marked cross walk. We will attempt to accommodate their demands. However, the people living in the upper middle class lofts near our serving spot have filed a complaint with the City Council, which prompted the new attempt to eliminate our right to practice our religious obligation. We suspect the arrangement agreed upon will eventually again bring in the Health Department, which already issued a citation to us nearly two years ago for serving out of our van, and again attempt to shut down our operation. Please keep this situation and all concerned in prayer. Thank you. We will keep you updated as events unfold. UPDATE: Friday, May 10, Although several city vehicles with about 12 officials arrived as we were setting up, all went fairly smoothly. LAPD officers again interjected that a few people were still crossing outside the crosswalk, but no J-Walking tickets were issued and nothing more was said or done. They also stipulated that our line watchers had to remain on the sidewalk, not standing in the street next to the curb.

Effective immediately, all posts relating to resistance and other topics not directly related to the LACW community now are posted under the category: On The Line. Other navigational changes can be found in “Categories” in the left column on this page. Other changes are forthcoming, including a new redesigned home page. Stay in touch.

Please be advised that we no longer are accepting applications for this year’s Summer Program. If you have an interest, please consider coming after August 11. See our Internship Opportunities page for further info. Thank you. Many blessings.

On Sunday, April 14, we celebrated our 39th annual Seder of Liberation. It was a huge success with one of the largest and liveliest crowds in history. We shared a great meal after the Seder with plenty of food and tasty desserts. All had a great time. HERE are this year’s photos. Plan ahead for next year. The Sunday after Easter. You will not regret it.

HERE are photos from this year’s Anti-War Stations of the Cross. This year had an added theme of: “Free Guantanamo Prisoners.” The weather was perfect; more than 100 people joined with us; and Donald Nollar did an EXCELLENT job on this year’s script. We thank all who attended. For everyone who could not attend this year, plan to attend to next year. You will not regret it.

Former LACW community members Alecia Stuchlik [far left] (with husband Ed Pilolla) and Rev. Elizabeth Griswold [left] (with Husband Rabbi Seth Castleman) recently gave birth to beautiful daughters. Alecia and Ed gave birth to “Hazel Flora” on February 27, who came into the world weighing slightly over 6 pounds, while Elizabeth and Seth gave birth to “Lilah” on March 15, who came into the world weighing nearly eight pounds. All are doing well. We wish them the best of health, much happiness, along with many blessings.

LACW community members Mike Wisniewski and Nicole Linsmeier traveled by train (along with several other California Catholic Workers) to Tacoma, Washington to attend the 2013 Pacific Life Community (PLC) Faith and Resistance retreat and nonviolent direct action at Kitsap-Bangor Naval Base, in Silverdale, Washington, home to the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the U.S. and possibly the world, as well as 8 of the Navy’s 14 nuclear-powered Trident (Ohio Class) submarines that carry the Trident II missile system, the most diabolical, deadliest, and destructive first strike weapon in the U.S. arsenal–indeed the world. Each Trident submarine can carry 24 Trident II missiles; each missile has a payload of 4 – W88 (475 kiloton) or 8 – W76 (100 kiloton) warheads. By comparison, the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 64 kiloton, while the bomb dropped on Nagasaki was 23 kiloton.

The retreat theme was “A Nonviolent Future Without Nuclear Weapons?” and was held from March 1 to 4 at a retreat center on Raft Island in Gig Harbor/Puget Sound, ten miles from Tacoma and 20 miles from the Navy’s Bangor Trident submarine base. Speakers at Saturdays forum held at the University of Puget Sound included: Jack Cohen-Joppa, Master of Ceremonies, who along with his wife Felice, have published The Nuclear Resister, a publication dedicated to supporting imprisoned anti-nuclear and anti-war activists, for 30 years.

Other presenters included Michael Honey, Professor of Labor and Ethnic Studies and American History at University of Washington, Tacoma. Honey’s rich, personal history includes southern civil rights and civil liberties organizing from 1970-1976. His most recent book is: Going Down the Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King’s Last Campaign. The evening’s two main speakers are with Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington. Tom Rogers is a retired U.S. Navy Captain. A career submariner, he commanded a nuclear attack submarine during the Cold War and now is an anti-nuclear activist and speaker. Elizabeth Murray is an ex-CIA analyst and former Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East at the National Intelligence Council, and served for 27 years with the agency.  She currently is an anti-nuclear activist and speaker. Ground Zero Center, located adjacent to the Bangor ballistic missile submarine base, works for the abolition of nuclear weapons with a primary focus on resisting Trident.

Closing the evening was Father William “Bix” Bichsel, who lives and works at the Tacoma Catholic Worker and is a member of the Disarm Now Plowshares, a group of activists who entered the nuclear weapons storage bunker area of the Strategic Weapons Facility, Pacific, in November 2009, to make a plea for the U.S. government to meet its obligations to work with other nations toward global nuclear disarmament. He also received the 2012 Greater Tacoma Peace Prize. Bix recently returned from Europe where he attended the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies and met with many anti-nuclear activists in an effort to work together in efforts to abolish nuclear weapons.

It was a wonderful and exciting weekend with powerful testimonies given by Saturday’s speakers and a memorial to Sr. Anne Montgomery, a longtime peace activist and anti-nuclear resister who participated in nine “Plowshares” actions since 1982, her last in 2009, who late last summer died and joined the great Cloud of Witnesses. Anne spent many years in prison for her “Plowshares” actions. She and her courage and steadfast witness will be missed. Photos of the weekend and nonviolent direct action, where 20 people were arrested, can be viewed HERE.

On Thursday, February 21, Theo appeared in Federal Court in Santa Barbara and pleaded guilty to the trespass charge for his October 22 witness at Vandenberg AFB whereby immediately he was sentenced to 10 days in federal custody. He will self surrender on Friday, February 22, at 3pm at the downtown Federal Building. It is not yet known where he will serve his time. Please keep Theo in thought and prayer during his time incarcerated. Thank you.

Feb. 22 UPDATE:  When Theo self surrendered it was learned that the Marshal’s office did not have Theo’s paperwork, therefore could not take him into custody. Theo was instructed to return on Monday at 11am. Here is the STATEMENT Theo read in court.

March 7 UPDATE:  Theo served his ten day sentence and was released on Wednesday, March 6, at 12:30 pm.