WASHINGTON, DC - March 27, 2003 - In response to "An Urgent Appeal to the Churches," a statement endorsed by Sojourners calling for widespread nonviolent dissent among the religious community, two Sojourners employees were arrested yesterday in front of the White House. Rose Marie Berger, 39, and Ryan Beiler, 27, were both charged with 'crossing a police line' along with 66 religious leaders arrested yesterday in Washington, D.C. Berger and Beiler were released and told to appear in court to face charges on April 18 (Good Friday).

"I want the people of Iraq to know that every day they suffer in war, there are people in the United States who will risk their freedom to stop Iraqi suffering," said Rose Marie Berger, Sojourners associate editor. "Perhaps this is naïve, but in times like these it is necessary for people of faith to act boldly in hope."

"It takes courage to wage peace, to declare that war is not the answer to the problem of Saddam Hussein," said Karen Lattea Kline, Sojourners managing director, in an interview with Channel 7, D.C.'s ABC affiliate. "We're here to convey this message publicly and nonviolently to President Bush, and to Americans and people around the world who are asking questions about this war."

Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Jody Williams, two winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, and dozens of religious leaders crossed police barricades close to the White House to protest the Bush administration's war against Iraq. The group also included United Methodist Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, Roman Catholic bishop Thomas Gumbleton, and former Defense Department official Daniel Ellsberg. It was the largest number of arrests that have taken place in downtown Washington since the war against Iraq began last week.

The leaders of the action marched to Lafayette Park at the corner of Madison and H Street, where U.S. Park Police had closed and barricaded the park. Individually and in small groups, protesters began climbing over the barricades in order to gain access to the park, where they held a solemn prayer service mourning the victims of this war and challenging the Bush administration to put an end to the violence. Protest organizers, anticipating the park closure, had earlier instructed a separate group of demonstrators to enter the park, well before the planned action. As the first group of protesters began to breach barricades at Madison and H Street, the unrecognized protesters already inside the park crossed barricades onto Pennsylvania Avenue and led a prayerful witness directly in front of the White House.

The prayer witness was sponsored by Pax Christi USA, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Sojourners, the Shalom Center, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, the United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries, and the Washington, D.C.-area Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

To read the complete text of "An Urgent Appeal to the Churches," please visit http://www.sojo.net/action

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Christians for justice and peace.
Sojourners - publisher of a bimonthly magazine of the same name - is a voice and vision for social change. Founded in 1971 as a faith-based organization, Sojourners provides an alternative perspective on faith, politics, and culture through its magazine, Web site, e-mail services, media commentaries, and public events. Ecumenical and progressive, Sojourners lifts up the biblical connection between social justice and spiritual renewal. Sojourners nurtures community by bringing together people from the various traditions and streams of the church and also hosts an annual program of voluntary service.

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