Our activities of the past year include: Our Good Friday Pilgrimage of Peace was the 27th Annual Pilgrimage–quite a record– and the miserable weather did not diminish the number of participants.
	Father Bob Susa and S. Christine Vladimiroff lead the Good Friday Pilgrimage of Peace through the snowy streets.
Col. Ann Wright, Col., US Army (ret) Ann Wright, Col., US Army (ret), was the speaker at a gathering sponsored by BFP. Ann served 29 years in the US Army/Army Reserves and 16 years in the US diplomatic corps. She was one of the three US diplomats who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq.
BFP sponsors a Take Back the Site Vigil at the site of any murder in the city of Erie. The vigil is a simple prayer service during which we pray for the victim and the family and friends of the victim. We pray for the person accused of the crime and we reclaim the site for nonviolence. The vigils are powerful and very meaningful to the family and friends. We have held 3 since our last membership letter.
BFP sponsors Holy Hours–now integrated into Evening Praise. The themes were the School of the Americas, nuclear disarmament, with the next one built around the desperate situation in Darfur.   Oblates are assuming more responsibility for BFP activities. Three oblates are now members of the Steering Committee; oblates have planned Evening Praise several times at the Mount and the Stations for the Good Friday Pilgrimage of Peace have been compiled by oblates the past 3 years. On February 2, 2007 we began our eighth year of STOP EXECUTIONS IN PA vigiling at the local office of the governor of Pennsylvania.
S. Ellen Porter, Dorothea Reilly and S. Rosanne Lindal-Hynes at a First Friday STOP EXECUTIONS IN PA vigil.
BFP continues to coordinate the making of Peace Cranes. We now have over 500, one for each of our military killed in Iraq. The cranes have been used in 3 peace demonstrations here in Erie. Sisters Claire Marie Surmik and Lucia Surmik master the art of making paper cranes. S. Pat Lupo, S. Ellen Porter, S. Susan Doubet, Claire Creece, and S. Anne McCarthy (foreground) at the vigil at the time of the 2000th military death in Iraq.
The BFP banner was carried in the March 18, 2007 March for Peace in Erie, honoring the US and Iraqi victims of the war in Iraq. Six of us also took it to Latrobe, PA for a vigil asking the
St. Vincent Benedictine college to rescind the invitation extended to Pres. Bush to be commencement speaker there, May 11, 2007.   BFP banner carried by Sheila McLaughlin, S. Cecilia Sullivan and Sandy Sutton was followed by many Benedictines at the March 18, 2007 March for Peace in Erie.
We are deeply grateful for your support.
BFP Steering Committee Marlene Bertke, Sheila McLaughlin, Mary Ellen Plumb, Ellen Porter, Barb Roseborough, Marcia Sigler, Cecilia Sullivan, Marlene Trambley

Benedictines are the oldest religious order in the Roman Catholic Church. Born in late antiquity when marauding armies made all civilization vulnerable to violence, Benedictines adopted as their motto the Latin word pax (peace). The central teaching in the 1500 year-old Rule of Benedict is that everyone, including every stranger, is to be welcomed as a blessing and treated as Christ.

Benedictines for Peace (BFP) carries the ancient quest for peace into contemporary times. As the peace and justice outreach of the Erie Benedictine community, BFP members advocate for nonviolence, social change and justice by direct action, prayer and bearing witness.

Benedictines for Peace was organized nationally in 1980 to bring Benedictines to a fresh recognition of their charism of peace. Initially, Benedictines and Cistercian communities formed local groups to address the issues of nuclear disarmament. Today, Benedictines for Peace groups address social justice and peace issues that are of local, state, national and international concern.

Erie Benedictines for Peace works collaboratively with local peace and justice groups, religious communities and universities to address many social justice concerns. Benedictines for Peace also maintains membership in like-minded national organizations.

Advocacy
Members write letters, make phone calls, participate in public meetings and forums, circulate petitions, lobby elected officials and speak out on matters of justice and peace.

We invite you to join us in working to bring peace to our world by participating in activities and programs sponsored by Benedictines for Peace. Membership is $5.00 a year. Your membership dues help us to remain a viable voice for peace and justice in our community and our world.



The BFP Steering Committee meets regularly to coordinate and promote the social justice programs of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie. New committee members are always welcome.