Catholic sisters speak out against war

Public service announcements on some eastern Iowa radio stations urge people to consider alternatives to war. The message doesn’t come from a politician, college group or fringe peace movement, but from Iowa’s Catholic sisters. Spokeswoman SallyAnn McCarthy says Catholic sisters in abbeys in eastern Iowa, western Illinois, northeast Missouri and southwestern Wisconsin are praying for peace. To be narrow about it, she points out these are Catholic women — and the Pope has come out strongly for peace. Quite a few sisters have gone to jail for their beliefs, about ending terrorism and training terrorist training in this country, and ending nuclear weapons manufacture and testing in this country. McCarthy says though they’re from only 13 congregations, many of the sisters have traveled to the Holy Land and to Iraq in gestures of peace, and she says while they pray for the well-being of US troops, they think there must be better ways than war to settle the conflict.