WASHINGTON (RNS) — About 100 Christian protesters from several denominations praying for a cease-fire in Israel and Gaza gathered outside the White House on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 14) for a Catholic Mass and ecumenical Christian witness.“The intention was to pray for our fellow Catholic, Joe Biden,” said Judy Coode, communications director for the Catholic peace advocacy group Pax Christi USA, explaining the choice to hold a Catholic Mass during what was planned as an ecumenical event. “We pray for him and his conversion of heart.”
The Rev. Joe Nangle, the 2023 winner of Pax Christi USA’s teacher of peace award, celebrated the Catholic Mass on a folding table in Lafayette Park, instructing protesters in how to distribute ashes to each other. Catholics among the group also received Communion from Eucharistic ministers.
The Rev. Graylan Hagler, pastor emeritus of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, marked protesters’ hands with a cross of red liquid. He said that while the ashes “represent women and men and children that have been killed by bombs in Gaza,” the red liquid represented “blood on our hands because we cannot exempt ourselves from what this country is doing,” he said.
The Rev. Graylan Hagler, second left, marks h …
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The Rev. Joe Nangle, the 2023 winner of Pax Christi USA’s teacher of peace award, celebrated the Catholic Mass on a folding table in Lafayette Park, instructing protesters in how to distribute ashes to each other. Catholics among the group also received Communion from Eucharistic ministers.
The Rev. Graylan Hagler, pastor emeritus of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, marked protesters’ hands with a cross of red liquid. He said that while the ashes “represent women and men and children that have been killed by bombs in Gaza,” the red liquid represented “blood on our hands because we cannot exempt ourselves from what this country is doing,” he said.
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