No Planned 2025 Resistance Retreat

[Catholic Worker]

From: Catholic Worker School <catholicwo...@gmail.com>

Dear Friends,

Currently, there is not a plan for a community from the Midwest Catholic Worker to host a Faith and Resistance Retreat in 2025. While there were some strong ideas coming out of Sugar Creek, there just doesn't seem to be the capacity at this time to host the event, which requires a lot of planning and follow up from a local community and from the wider CW.

Given the recent election and now administration change, many CWers are even more deeply involved in organizing with their local areas than ever in order to respond to the threats posed to vulnerable people. At this time, it seems that the call of the Midwest CWers may be to collaborate with those in our local communities who are resisting injustice in creative and important ways - and to offer our skills, experience, and CW perspective. 

The Midwest CW Faith and Resistance Retreat has been an annual gathering since 2003 (missing a few years during the pandemic). The gathering brings together seasoned CW activists with activists and CWers of all ages and experiences to lend both moral and physical support to a local CW community who is working on resisting an injustice in their town, city, or region. Over the last 20+ years, F+R Retreats have focused on some of the following issues:

• Expansion of nuclear arms manufacturing (Kansas City)
• anti-black racism and police violence (in coalition with MN Black Lives Matter)
• drone warfare and militarism (Des Moines)
• Frac sand mining (Winona)
• unjust immigration policy
• and more

If your community would like immediate support from the wider CW network in your local resistance work, and you believe you have the local capacity to plan and host a gathering this spring, feel free to reach out. 

Otherwise, if you have an idea about hosting in 2026, please bring a proposal to Sugar Creek this fall. 

Until then, may we stay steady, courageous, and connected in the work ahead.

Brenna Cussen Anglada