Posted on 03/23/2008 6:41:16 PM PDT by Straight Vermonter
As they listened to the gospel during mass Sunday, few parishioners at Holy Name parish could have imagined the bloodshed about to taint both the holiday service and their Easter finery.
Six protesters disrupted the beginning of Cardinal Francis George's homily to shout their opposition to the Iraq war. The demonstrators, who call themselves "Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War" despite their male and female membership, squirted fake blood on themselves and nearby worshipers as security guards tried to usher them from the parish's auditorium, where mass is being said during repairs of the cathedral in downtown Chicago.
The syrupy red substance _ which one protester later described as "stage blood" _ initially drew horrified gasps and a few shrieks from the 600 worshipers at the mass. The shock, however, quickly gave way to anger as people booed the demonstrators while they were being removed from the hall.
Several churchgoers then rushed to the bathroom to wash off the sticky liquid. Others cried openly. A few livid parents followed the protesters into the lobby and berated them for scaring children at mass.
"Are you happy with yourselves?" Mike Wainscott of Chicago shouted at the demonstrators as they were being handcuffed by police. "There were kids in there. You scared little kids with your selfish act. Are you happy now?"
The protesters were all charged with felony criminal damage to property and two counts of simple battery for defacing church property and the worshiper's clothes with the fake blood. Chicago police identified the six arrested as: Donte D. Smith, 18, of Chicago; Ephran Ramirez Jr., 22, of Chicago; Ryne Ziemba, 25, of Chicago; Mercedes Phinaih, 18, of Bloomington; Regan Maher, 25, of Chicago; and Angela Haban, 20, of Prospect Heights, Ill..
Mike Harding, a friend of the protesters, described the so-called Schoolgirls as a group of students and local activists who do good deeds for their community, such as teach classes, plant gardens and distribute food to the poor. If the demonstrators' actions ruined someone's Easter, then perhaps they'll have more empathy for Iraqi citizens who have seen their holiest days marred by violence, said Harding, 21.
"The idea is to bring that back here, not necessarily in a brutal way, but in a peaceful way," said Harding, who went to the Near North District police station after the arrest to find out information about his friends.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Harding said officers were being verbally abusive toward the Schoolgirls and denying one of them medical treatment for his asthma and hyperglycemia. He called the accusations against them as "trumped-up" charges.
Protests aren't uncommon at Holy Name, the home parish to Cardinal Francis George and the epicenter of Chicago's large Catholic community. Some parishioners, however, said the faux bloodshed, which the protesters described as a "die-in," ventured into frighteningly unacceptable territory.
"The fact that people have to come to Easter mass and do something like that is disturbing," said Carroll Baker, whose face was splattered with red syrup during the fracas. "It's very sad, and it's very irritating."
Bob Gowrylow, a 70-year-old Holy Name usher who is battling cancer, wept in the lobby as he tried to clean the fake blood from his blazer. Gowrylow said he blames himself for not rushing down the aisle quick enough to prevent the protesters from frightening parishioners.
Gowrylow, who said he had been recently released from the hospital, worried the worshipers missed an important Easter Sunday message because of the disruption. He missed the cardinal's homily himself because one of the demonstrators had squirted the fake blood in his ear and damaged his hearing aid.
"I've been an usher for 40 years, and something like this has never happened," he said. "I wish I could have done something to stop it."
The protest erupted as the cardinal began his Easter homily, a sermon that celebrates the Christian belief Jesus rose from the dead three days after his crucifixion. Dressed in their Sunday best _ shirts and ties on the men and the women in skirts _ the six demonstrators moved into the auditorium aisles from their center-row seats and shouted their opposition to the war.
They decried the deaths of more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers and thousands of Iraqi citizens, drawing angry heckles and shouts of "sit down!" from churchgoers. As ushers and security guards rushed down the aisle, the group denounced the cardinal for having lunch with President Bush and Mayor Richard Daley in January.
They then discharged packets of fake blood, spurting it over themselves and hitting those seated nearby. The ushers pleaded with them to stop disrupting mass, while security guards threatened arrest.
"Even the pope calls for peace," they chanted as they were escorted from the auditorium hall. "Even the pope calls for peace."
"And so should we all call for peace," said George, drawing strong applause from the parish.
The cardinal returned easily to his Easter homily, but Connie Gallegos found herself staring at disbelief at her husband's blood-splattered khaki pants and his light-blue Polo shirt. The scene seemed so surreal, she said, she didn't register what was happening until after the protesters had left the auditorium.
For the rest of the mass, she sat and thought about the Northern Illinois University students who were seated in a lecture hall on Feb. 14 when a gunman opened fire, killing five people before taking his own life. She wondered if those students sat frozen like she did, muted by the confusion and emotions swirling around her.
"I have a son who goes to NIU," she said. "I keep thinking about how those students must have reacted."
Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War, however, may have been preaching to the choir _ literally. Both Pope Benedict XVI and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have opposed the war since its inception, with the pope using his own Easter homily Sunday to renew calls for an Iraq resolution that would "safeguard peace and the common good."
Following the service, the cardinal reiterated the Catholic Church's opposition to the war, but he said mass is not the place to protest the U.S.-led invasion.
"We should all work for peace," George said, "but not by interrupting the worship of God. It's an act of violence to come among a group of believers and try to manipulate worship to your own purposes, no matter how noble and good they are."
In a statement issued Sunday afternoon by Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War, the group said it protested at the Cathedral "to reach both Holy Name's large Easter audience _ including Chicago's most prominent Catholic citizens, who commonly attend Easter Mass at the church _ and the many more viewers and readers of the local press, which usually extensively covers their services."
The statement lauded the protesters' efforts to remind the churchgoers that George and Daley met two months ago with President Bush, who they described as the "principal public figure responsible for initiating the carnage in Iraq."
While the group may have intended to do that, the jeers from an annoyed congregation and the security's teams swift response made it difficult for them to deliver a succinct explanation for their disruption.
"If Cardinal George is a man of peace and is walking the walk and talking the talk, he should have confronted George Bush and demanded an immediate end to the war," said Kevin Clark of International Solidarity Movement, who attended the service to serve as a witness for the protesters.
The cardinal defended his meeting with the president, saying it's important for church leaders to have open dialogue with world leaders. The pope also plans to meet with Bush when he makes his first visit to the United States next month.
"We work as best we can for all those who are working for peace," the cardinal said. "But people work for peace in very different ways, as we all know."
The six protesters are expected to appear in bond court Monday morning.
Ping
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have opposed the war since its inception, with the pope using his own Easter homily Sunday to renew calls for an Iraq resolution that would “safeguard peace and the common good.”
Only the marines can do that.
There is bright side to this: being charged with two felonies is automatic bond, no ROR for them. They be spending a couple days in the Cook County slammer, with bulldykes, child molesters, bull queers, underpaid and overworked corrections staff, and that godawful "nutraloaf"..
Did yall notice that people are starting to express a fear of helplessness. These disrupters better be glad no one shot them.
Actually, the Iraqi army now outnumbers the US forces by about 4 to 1. The Marines are first in publicity, as always.
Well said.
I’m sure this action will win over supporters to the anti war side.
Kevin Clark of International Solidarity Movement, who attended the service to serve as a witness for the protesters.
Then he and that guy mike should have been charged with conspiracy before the fact.
Apologizes for not capitalizing Marines!!
Some people have no respect for anything or anybody.
“Some people have no respect for anything or anybody.”
Especially the smug, arrogant, self-righteous, vast hard left wing conspiracy.
This one gets a CW2 ping. This crosses a bright red "no-go" line.
These insane morons will stop at nothing, repect nothing, hold nothing sacred.
They might want to be praying that none of these elderly that they scared so bad, end up at the hosital.
The protesters were all charged with felony criminal damage to property and two counts of simple battery for defacing church property and the worshiper's clothes with the fake blood. Chicago police identified the six arrested as: Donte D. Smith, 18, of Chicago; Ephran Ramirez Jr., 22, of Chicago; Ryne Ziemba, 25, of Chicago; Mercedes Phinaih, 18, of Bloomington; Regan Maher, 25, of Chicago; and Angela Haban, 20, of Prospect Heights, Ill..
Mike Harding, a friend of the protesters, described the so-called Schoolgirls as a group of students and local activists who do good deeds for their community, such as teach classes, plant gardens and distribute food to the poor. If the demonstrators' actions ruined someone's Easter, then perhaps they'll have more empathy for Iraqi citizens who have seen their holiest days marred by violence, said Harding, 21.
Despicable. More young people with heads full of mush no doubt influenced by a "liberal" education paid for by their parents.
This nations twits seem to think this is funny or condoned by the masses (no pun intended)........time to take back America.
Never re-elect anyone. Never !
These disrupters better be glad no one shot them.
Tut tut. This the the (theoretically) Gun Free Utopia of Chicago.
That's probably what would have happened to them in Texas. Rules against carrying in church or not.
They should be charged with hate crimes and locked up for 700 years.
Won't be long now, till this is a common thing. Maybe time to re institute an old tradition of armed ushers guarding the church.
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