[imc-st.louis] Frank Cordaro coming to St. Louis

[Cheech42 at aol.com]

Hello Friends - 

Longtime peace and justice activist Frank Cordaro will be in the St. Louis area November 9-15. He is looking for places to speak, have roundtable discussions, give presentations, etc. Included at the bottom of this e-mail is a biography for Frank. If you would like to invite Frank to be with your organization, neighborhood, community, friends, etc. e-mail me ( cheech42 at aol.com ) and we'll set it up. 
peace, 
rj sak 

___________________________________________________________
Frank Cordaro Available to speak:
Frank Cordaro, a 27 yr. vet of the Catholic Worker movement,
former Catholic priest, nonviolent peace activist, outlaw
and follower of Dorothy Day and the Berrigan brothers, is
available to gives talks to high school, universities and
community groups.

Arrested three times in March and November of 2003 and in
March of 2004 with other anti war demonstrators at the STARC
Armory, the Iowa National Guard Headquarters - Pentagon IA
building, in Johnston IA. Cordaro can talk about the the
current USA occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and the need
to nonviolently resist both. And why local state wide
anti-war movements need to focus on state national guard
headquarters to bring opposition to the war and occupations
of Iraq and Afghanistan to the home front.

Cordaro has also spent the last 25 years nonviolently
protesting at Offutt Air Force Base. Using the tools of
nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, Cordaro and
his fellow Catholic Workers have consistently keep the work
and mission of STRATCom and the US Space Command, stationed
at Offutt in the public eye. Cordaro can talk about the
necessity to keep returning to Offutt to protest the
missions of STRATCom and the US Space Command and why more
local and state wide peace activist in Neb. need to turn
their attention to Offutt Air Force Base.

Some of his favorite topics are; "Jesus the Nonviolent
Resister", "A Call for a Resistance Church" and "Why More
Christians Should Be In Jail". He can speak from first-hand
experience about the Federal judicial system and the Federal
Bureau of Prisons. Other topics in which he can speak are;
the Catholic Worker movement, Catholic social teachings,
bible and scripture studies, civil disobedience and
nonviolent resistance, the Plowshares movement, Liberation
Theology, the need for Church reform and renewal.

Biographical Information:
Educational Background: Cordaro is 52 years old. He was born
and raised in Des Moines, IA. B.A in Physical Education &
Health from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls,
IA, in 1973; Masters of Divinity from Aquinas Institute of
Theology in Dubuque, IA, in 1976; and two years of continued
seminary formation at St. John’s in Collegeville, MN, in
1983 -85.

Twenty seven years a Catholic Worker (1976 - 2004)
Co-founded Des Moines Catholic Worker (DMCW) in 1976. Lived
and worked at the DMCW until 1983 before becoming a priest.
Through out his priesthood Cordaro continued his close
association with the DMCW. In Spring of 1999, after his
release from prison for his participation in the Gods of
Metal Plowshares, Cordaro returned to the DMCW where he
currently lives and works.

In Dec 2003 Cordaro moved into the newly named Phil Berrigan
Catholic Worker House in Des Moines. The Phil Berrigan CW
House will focus more directly on on going direct action
efforts by the Des Moines Catholic Worker community.

Eighteen Years Catholic Priest (1985 - 3003) Ordained by
Bishop Dingman to the Diocese of Des Moines in June 1985,
Cordaro served the SW Iowa Catholic communities of Logan,
Mondamin, Woodbine, Missouri Valley, Dunlap, Council Bluffs,
Lacona, Rosemount, Milo, Walnut, Avoca, Grand River,
Osceola, Stuart, Adair, Cumming, Panora and Guthrie Center.
On Aug 1, 2003 Bishop Charron accepted Cordaro’s request
for a leave of absence from the priesthood.

While serving as a parish priest, Cordaro continued his
association with the DMCW community and to resistance work.
He was arrested numerous times in non-violent acts of civil
disobedience for a wide range of issues, including nuclear
weapons, the arms race, US foreign policies, nuclear power,
the farm crisis, hopelessness, abortion and the death
penalty. He served five different six-month prison terms
while a parish priest for "crossing the line" at the
Strategic Air Command, now the Strategic Nuclear Command, at
Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, NE. Cordaro has served a
total of 44 months of jail time for his nonviolent
resistance efforts.

Gods of Metal Plowshares (1998 - 1999) Cordaro participate
in the May 17, 1998 Gods of Metal Plowshares witness at the
annual Military Open House at Andrews Air Force Base in
southern MD. Cordaro and four others took hammers and blood
to a B-52 Bomber in a modest effort to disarm this weapon of
mass destruction. All five plowshares activist were found
guilty of destruction of government property in a two-day
trial in Greenbelt MD, Cordaro was given a six month
sentence and was released from the Federal Prison Camp in
Yankton SD March 19, 1998.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Frank Cordaro, Des Moines Catholic Worker
Phil Berrigan Catholic Worker House
713 Indiana St, Des Moines IA 50314
Ph: (515) 282-4781, E-mail: <cordaro at mchsi.com>
Des Moines Catholic Worker web page:
http://www.desmoinescatholicworker.org

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