Fr Carl Kabat's Golden Jubilee celebration July 18th Kabat house CW, St Louis MO
Frank Cordaro
From: Carolyn Griffeth <cdgri...@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, Jun 19, 2009
Dear friends,
On July 18th Kabat house CW will be hosting a jubilee potluck (6pm) to
celebrate Carl Kabat's, fiftieth year as a priest in the Oblate order.
Carl is seventy-five and still actively plotting a nonviolent end to
this violent, nuclear empire. When not in the pen he resides at Carl
Kabat house, so named to give recognition to this prophet without
honor.
Please bring a dish to share and if you like a swim suit. In Carl's
honor we will be supplying the meat, lots of meat. Unless it is
raining we will be at 1441 Monroe Street St. Louis MO 63106. Otherwise
at 1450 Monroe.
You can also send well-wishes to this email address and I will share
them with Carl.
Call for details,
Carolyn Griffeth
314-588-8351
<cdgri...@yahoo.com>
--------------------------------
Below is an article on Carl written by his friend Patrick O'Neill
Sept 29, 2000
National Catholic Reporter
"Fr. Carl Kabat faces prison, ouster from order" by Patrick O'Neill
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_42_36/ai_66680680/
Peace activist, `illegitimately absent,' in trouble again
Oblate Fr. Carl Kabat has spent more than 14 years in jails and
prisons for acts of nonviolent civil protest against nuclear weapons.
In addition to possibly facing another long prison sentence for his
most recent protest, Kabat is also facing dismissal from the religious
community he's been a member of for nearly half a century.
Kabat, 66, was arrested Aug. 6 at a nuclear missile silo in Weld
County, Colo., where he had climbed a security fence and stood atop
the silo wearing a clown suit. He and another man, former Denver
diocesan priest Bill Sulzman, who stood outside the fence with a
placard, were arrested. Kabat was charged with entering a fenced
military site without permission, a federal misdemeanor that carries
up to a year in prison. Kabat has a November trial date in Denver.
"We are fools and clowns for God and humanity's sake," Kabat wrote in
a statement. "We bring bread and wine and a hammer as symbols of life
in this damnable place of death."
The date of the action was the 55th anniversary of the United States'
atomic bombing of Hiroshima. In addition to any sentence he receives
in his current case, Kabat also faces charges of federal probation
violation that could result in an additional five-year sentence.
Kabat's problems with the Oblates stem from his failure to follow the
order's "Guidelines on Civil Disobedience," which were put in place
last year. The guidelines, which were adapted from the Detroit Jesuit
Province, require Oblates who participate in acts of civil
disobedience to receive prior approval from their superiors.
The guidelines' opening paragraph states: "While the United States
Province of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate wants to give
wide latitude to members in exercising personal freedom of conscience,
it insists upon union with the superior through the vow of obedience.
These guidelines call for an open dialogue in resolving matters of
conscience."
He left a note
In July, Kabat, who was then residing at St. Henry's Oblate Community
in Belleville. Ill., left a note informing his local superior of his
plans to participate in an "action" that would probably result in his
being sent back to prison. Kabat said he didn't share details of his
plans to protect his Oblate brothers from the risk of a conspiracy
charge. In a letter to Kabat, dated Aug. 2, the Oblate Provincial, Fr.
David Kalert wrote: "This letter is to officially notify you that you
do not have permission to participate in any action of civil
disobedience and that you do not have permission to reside outside
your designated Oblate community.
"Because you are illegitimately absent from the community, and in
light of the province policy on civil disobedience that was carefully
explained to you ... I must remind you that this new action on your
part constitutes cause for dismissal from the congregation. Therefore,
unless you return to St. Henry's immediately, I will have to begin the
formal process of dismissal."
Kabat did not receive Kalert's letter until late August, after the two
had spoken by telephone. In a second letter dated Aug. 22, Kalert
wrote in part: "As I mentioned on the phone, I am pursuing your
dismissal from the congregation. It is very important that you have a
chance to respond. Obviously, without your address, things will
proceed."
After years of being essentially cut off from his community, Kabat
says his brother Oblates don't understand him. Kabat said his current
problems have more to do with the dynamic between him and Kalert than
they do with the greater community of Oblates.
In December 1998, following his release after more than four years in
prison in North Dakota, Kabat, a balding man with an easy laugh,
received a letter from Kalert assigning him to reside at St. Henry's,
a community of about 20 mostly elderly Oblate brothers and priests.
Kabat said he received no specific duties but did volunteer work in
his community and at a Catholic Worker House in nearby St. Louis.
Another note
"It is very important at this time that you live in an Oblate
community, and prolonged absences, even overnight, would not be
acceptable without my approval or the approval of the vicar
provincial," Kalert wrote to Kabat in a Dec. 16, 1998, letter.
After abiding by Kalert's orders for "a month or two," Kabat said he
rebelled. Before leaving for a week-long trip to Wisconsin to do part
of his court-ordered community service at another Catholic Worker
House, Kabat left a note saying that requiring him to get the
provincial's permission to leave the house overnight was "evil," and
that he should not be treated as if he were 13 years old. Kabat said
he made copies of the note, put them in the appropriate mailboxes and
left, having done "a nonviolent public resistance" against an evil
restriction. Kabat said Kalert later rescinded the restriction.
While he calls the effort to dismiss him "sad," Kabat says he's not
really interested in putting up a fight to stop the process.
"I never want to be in anyone's presence who doesn't want me," Kabat
said. "I know it's a kind of personal thing with Dave Kalert. I don't
know what the hell is going to happen. I kind of feel sorry for the
poor guy. I've been trying to do what I think God wants, and I guess
[Kalert] seems to think that I'm doing the opposite."
Kalert, in an e-mail, said the dismissal process can be "quite
lengthy, involving several levels within the congregation. The person
in consideration has plenty of opportunities for involvement, and
appeals are built into the process. Dismissal cannot and should not be
the decision of one person."
In the 18 months he spent living at St. Henry's, Kabat said he was
never asked by his housemates to speak about his work for peace. I
couldn't basically talk with anybody about anything of real substance
and I can understand that. I'm 66, and I was the third youngest of
about 20 in the house, and so in a certain sense you can't teach old
dogs new tricks."
Kabat's sense of estrangement from the Oblates -- and U.S. culture in
general -- began back in 1965 when he accepted a missionary assignment
in the Philippines. It was there Kabat said he became aware of the
negative effect U.S. foreign policy was having on many poor nations.
The United States supported the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos for
25 years, while the Filipino people suffered in abject poverty, Kabat
said.
Didn't fit in
When he returned to the United States in 1968, Kabat was asked to
deliver guest homilies about his work in the Philippines to raise
money for the Oblate missions. He was quickly criticized for "making
people feel guilty."
"When I came back from the Philippines in '68 I realized I really
didn't fit in anymore here in the States," he said.
In 1969, Kabat left for a four-year stint as a missionary in Brazil.
Again he saw a nation with limited resources that spent millions
buying weapons from the United States while its people suffered.
In 1976 Kabat finally found his niche. When he went to Washington for
a conference, a friend suggested he visit Jonah House, a Baltimore
resistance community founded by Philip Berrigan and his wife,
Elizabeth McAlister. Kabat ended up staying and participating in acts
of civil disobedience. He was arrested for throwing blood on the
Pentagon and the White House. He was arrested at an arms bazaar in
Chicago and in an anti-nuclear protest in Plains, Ga., shortly before
Jimmy Carter was sworn in as president.
In 1980, Kabat, Philip Berrigan, Jesuit Fr. Daniel Berrigan and five
others were arrested in King of Prussia, Pa., for hammering on nuclear
missile nose cones at a General Electric plant, the first so-called
"Plow-shares action."
On Nov. 12, 1984, Kabat's life took a dramatic turn. Kabat, his
brother, the late Oblate Fr. Paul Kabat, Helen Woodson and the late
Larry Cloud Morgan rented a jackhammer and drove to an isolated
Minuteman II missile silo in Missouri. Calling themselves the Silo
Pruning Hooks, a reference to "beating spears into pruning hooks"
(Isaiah 2:4), they damaged the silo lid and were arrested on various
federal charges. On March 27, 1985, the four received stiff prison
sentences ranging from eight years for Morgan to 18 years for Woodson
and Carl Kabat.
Kabat spent more than six years in prison. Today, Kabat -- like his
former codefendant, Philip Berrigan, who is also serving a prison
sentence for a plowshares action -- still risks prison to oppose
nuclear weapons. "Arms," said Kabat, "kill even when not used, by
causing people to starve."
Although he is not personally taking his case to the news media,
Kabat's former seminary friend Bill Strabala, who was never ordained
and is a retired journalist, issued a five-page statement about
Kabat's situation.
Hero and model
Strabala, who has maintained close ties to the Oblates, wrote that
Kabat "is regarded as a prophet and a hero by a dwindling number of
fellow Oblates and by pacifists of all faiths." Oblate Fr. Darrell
Rupiper, Kabat's longtime colleague and friend, said Kabat has been an
inspiration to many people.
"There are lots of people for whom Carl is a real hero and a model,"
Rupiper said. "People have a high respect for this. He has been a
persistent faithful witness to our Christian faith, certainly a
witness against the nuclear policies of our government. I know he's
driven and he is a man of conscience. He may not have been into
sacramental ministries for quite some time, but in a sense he is
sacrament to the rest of us."
Both Strabala and Rupiper said they have intervened on Kabat's behalf
in telephone calls to Kalert. Rupiper, who has suggested a mediator be
brought in, said he'd like to see a resolution that would allow Kabat
to remain in the community. Rupiper, however, said he's not hopeful a
compromise will happen.
In an e-mail message to NCR about Kabat's case, Kalert wrote: "The
discussions with Carl and the Oblates have been going on for many
years. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate have had a long
history of concern about the reality of the nuclear threat and a
Christian response to it. However, I believe this is the time to look
at the basic issues of Carl's belonging to a religious community.
Certainly, at his age, we will not abandon him."
The decision to dismiss Kabat will have to be presented to a canon
lawyer. One Oblate who asked that his name not be used in this report,
said the decision to expel Kabat will be divisive for the community,
and he expects the matter to be opened up for discussion when the
Oblates meet in November in Albuquerque, N.M, for a national
convocation.
"I don't see any upside to this for the community," he said.
For Kabat, who always writes the letters OMI after his name when he
sends his trademark postcards from prison, life will go on -- with or
without his association to the Oblates. "Jim Douglas [another longtime
nuclear weapons protester] said the future monasteries of the Catholic
church should be the prisons," Kabat said, "and that's true."
Patrick O'Neill "Fr. Carl Kabat faces prison, ouster from order".
National Catholic Reporter. FindArticles.com. 19 Jun, 2009.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_42_36/ai_66680680/