If you are following the news, you might know that sometime this week, Fr. Roy Bourgeois is going to be expelled from the Maryknoll order after more than 40 years as one of its leading members. Later, the Vatican is undoubtedly going to defrock – the word is “laicize” — him as a Catholic priest.

Father Roy Bourgeois. Flickrcc/peaceworker46

This rupture comes two years after Fr. Roy participated in an unapproved ordination of a Catholic woman as a priest. At the time, he was excommunicated as a Catholic but not expelled. Since then, some kind of unacknowledged truce seemed to prevail between Fr. Roy and the Maryknolls, even though I know Fr. Roy sent a letter last year to other Maryknoll priests asking them to come forward publicly and support the ordination of women.

On Sunday December 5th, Afghan children and a U.S. combat veteran shared their experiences of the war with each other and people across the world. Their stories were heart-breaking, their mutual calls for an end to the war powerful and clear, and their gift to anyone willing to truly listen and learn about the situation in Afghanistan is priceless. You can take part in the next two conversations on Sunday December 12th and 19th.

The hypocrisy of Veteran’s Day in the United States is stunning.

It is mind-numbing, mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, stomach-churning-turning astonishing. On Veteran’s Day, we talk about the heroism of the women and the men who serve in our military. We talk about how much we honor them. Yet, the other 364 days of the year, we seem to forget our veterans. Veterans are homeless in the United States of America. Many need to be in rehab programs for drug and alcohol abuse, and they are not because of a lack of space. They suffer from physical, psychic and moral injury. On Veteran’s Day, we say we care. The facts say we do not care.

Founder of Faith Voices for the Common Good and long-time anti-war activist, Rev. Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock has dedicated much of her scholarship and activism to inter-religious education. As chair of the planning team for the Truth Commission on Conscience in War, to be launched this Sunday, March 21 in New York City, she has turned her attention to Conscientious Objection regulations and the realities of military service during times of war.

To create the Truth Commission, Brock has worked with the filmmakers behind “Soldiers of Conscience,” an Emmy-winning documentary film that follows several soldiers through their moral decision-making on whether to fight in the war in Iraq or apply to be Conscientious Objectors. In her piece, “Moral Conscience in War: Small Acts of Repair,” Brock tells the stories of her father’s US Army service, including two tours in Vietnam. She explains how her father’s stories and the influence of veterans she has grown to respect have shown her how opportunities for repair and healing during war can come in many sizes.

Moral Conscience In War: Small Acts Of Repair

By Rita Nakashima Brock

My father Roy, from rural Mississippi, was barely 18 and had an eighth grade education when he joined the U.S. Army in 1941. He was captured in North Africa and spent the rest of the war as a POW. A career enlisted man, he served two tours in Vietnam as a medic who ran a battlefield aide station.

In the days before cell phones and email, my father sent us cassette tapes and letters. As the oldest child of three, I received my own tape.