U.S. Anti-War Resister, Frank Cordaro, Released from Prison!

by Solidarity Wed Aug 30, 2006 09:07 USA

Yanton Press & Dakotan, Yanton SD

http://yankton.net/stories/082406/community_20060824013...shtml

Peace Activist Leaves Prison For Eighth Time

By: Nathan Johnson
nathan.johnson(at)yankton.net

Emerging from Yankton's Federal Prison Camp Wednesday, peace activist Frank Cordaro knows better than most how demanding journeys of faith can be.

This week's release marked the eighth time the former priest has served a six-month sentence related to peaceful protests against the tools of American warfare. Seven of those arrests came after trespassing at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

"Over the years, in anybody's life, decisions bring consequences," Cordaro said. "I can say that my effort to be faithful to following the nonviolent Jesus has enriched me beyond anything I could have done otherwise. My time in jail has always been a great spiritual journey. I've always had rich opportunities to pray and enhance my own spiritual disciplines."

Spending the last 100 days of his sentence at the YFPC, Cordaro noted it's the fourth time he's stayed at the facility over the years. While it's grown more crowded since his first stay -- and the quality of the food has declined, he said -- it is the best environment one can hope for when serving time, he noted.

"I'm pretty well-known by all the guards and administration there," he said. "It was a rather pleasant experience this time for me because of the familiarity. The guys, once they figured out who I was and what I was about, showed me a great deal of respect."

Cordaro is the co-founder of the Des Moines chapter of the Catholic Worker movement, which has more than 185 communities committed to nonviolence, hospitality for the homeless and others, voluntary poverty and prayer. The chapter's 30th anniversary happened to coincide with Cordaro's Wednesday release.

The talkative 55-year-old spoke with the Press & Dakotan at Yankton's Emmaus House of Hospitality, a member of the Catholic Worker community that provides shelter for women and children visiting loved ones in prison or experiencing hospitalization.

Leaving the priesthood in 2003, Cordaro said the experience was reconciliatory. He said he always had a problem with his promise of celibacy even though he loved being a priest.

"The lesson from my life as a priest and my life as a resigned priest is, if you can't be true to yourself, your personal integrity is destroyed," he said. "You can't live well and fulfill what you're meant to fulfill."

That lesson applies to America in general regarding its role in world affairs, Cordaro added.

"We need to start being honest with ourselves and stop lying to ourselves," he said. "It's not that our enemies are not controlled by violence and fear and do terrible things. We know the sins of our enemies -- bin Laden, Hezbollah and others. Our problem is, we don't see our contribution to the cycle of violence and fear. We don't see the sins that we commit. Because we're blind to our own sins, we are contributing to a global fearfest of war and destruction."

Cordaro said the United States' policies in the Middle East are not only devastating to places like Iraq and Afghanistan but are, ultimately, self-destructive. Religious leaders in that part of the world -- whether they are Christian, Islamic, Jewish or otherwise -- must tell their followers to stop killing in the name of faith, he said.

"If there's common ground that all three of these religions have, it's the common ground of a God that loves people and life," Cordaro said. "He's not a death-dealing, war-mongering God."

Especially disappointing to Cordaro has been the response of Christians in the United States to the nation's violent policies. If Muslims are expected to demand life-affirming leadership, Christians should, too, he said.

"Our degenerated fundamentalist fear-mongers are not the ones living in the hills of Afghanistan -- they're the people who are running this country," Cordaro said. "They are the evangelicals who are pro-Bush, pro-war, pro-torture. That's an awful degeneration of Christianity, and it needs to stop."

He added that very few Catholics realize that Pope John Paul II said the Iraq war is immoral, unjust and illegal.

"Catholics have an obligation to speak out about this because this is where our Church has been telling us to move," Cordaro said. "However, our bishops and priests have been timid ... intimidated ... and cowardly, at best."

While he admitted he may see the inside of a jail cell again, Cordaro said he is more interested in figuring out ways to get more people involved in protesting Offutt Air Force Base, which is an integral part of America's military system.

Ending America's militarism is a high priority, Cordaro added, but it's not the top priority.

"What we're about is acts of faith," he said. "I'd love to see the arms race stop, and I work for that. But it's not my primary issue. Why do I do what I do? It's mostly about being faithful."

by Solidarity Wed Aug 30, 2006 23:52

If you didn't get around to dropping Frank a line during his past 6 months of incarceration...don't get guilty, get writing!

Send him a welcome out letter
Frank Cordaro
c/- Des Moines Catholic Worker
P.O. Box 4551
Des Moines
Iowa 50306
USA

Check out Frank's writings on following link......
http://www.desmoinescatholicworker.org/frankcordarowrit...s.htm