Bishops Lead Peace Mass at the Pentagon
Diocesan Press Service. May 31, 1972 [72066]
Barbara Rathell, Editor, Washington Diocese
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Three Episcopal bishops concelebrated a mass for the war dead and for peace on April 20 in the Pentagon public concourse in a service sponsored by the Episcopal Peace Fellowship.
The three bishops were: the Rt. Rev. Jose Antonio Ramos, Bishop of Costa Rica; the Rt. Rev. C. Edward Crowther, Assistant Bishop of California, and the Rt. Rev. Robert L. DeWitt of Pennsylvania.
According to Bishop Crowther, "we have returned inside the Pentagon to complete what we began -- the celebration of the Church's meal of peace in the Cathedral which our society has dedicated to war."
The service was attended by over 200 members and friends of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship from as far away as Washington state, from several parishes in the Diocese of Washington and by some Pentagon military and civilian personnel.
The service began with a procession which included 44 clergymen and the three bishops. In the opening address Bishop Crowther vigorously condemned escalation of the war in Indochina by both sides with special criticism of the Pentagon's role. Bishop Ramos condemned not only the American fighting in Vietnam, but the use of violence by both the Communists and military dictatorships in the Americas.
The service included folk mass music led by the Rev. Ian Mitchell and local musicians from St. Stephen and the Incarnation. The homilies were preached by Ms. Tran-Khanh-Tuyet, from South Vietnam and the Rev. Dr. Frederick Shriver, professor at the General Theological Seminary in New York.
The offering was given to the Episcopal Peace Fellowship to use for its continuing efforts for peace. Communion elements were distributed to all the people present, including the Pentagon personnel in the area, quite a few of whom elected to receive Communion with the group.
Previous attempts to hold a Peace Mass in the Pentagon Concourse in 1969 and 1970 had been terminated by the U.S. Government before their completion and resulted in the arrest and conviction of 286. The EPF, through its lawyer, Lawrence E. Freedman of the American Civil Liberties Union, appealed the convictions.
In March 1972, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed these convictions and declared, in the words of Judge J. Braxton Craven, "What the government has done here is to undertake to suppress a viewpoint it does not wish to hear, under the guise of endorsing a general regulation prohibiting disturbances on government property." He added that the government "may not permit public meetings in support of government policy and at the same time forbid public meetings that are opposed to that policy. "