The Thomas Merton Award 2005
honors
Fr. Roy
Bourgeois
"We who have a voice must speak for the voiceless" – Archbishop Óscar Romero
The Thomas Merton Center presents the 2005 Thomas Merton Award honoring Fr. Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of the Americas Watch, on Thursday, November 10, 2005. Come hear Fr. Bourgeois speak about the SOAW and its upcoming convergence on the School of the Americas/WHINSEC at Fort Benning, Georgia, from November 18-20.
The ceremony will be held at the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church Community Center in Oakland. The reception begins at 6:00pm, followed by dinner at 7:00 and the speaker at 7:45. The Greek-catered menu will feature vegetarian (some vegan) cuisine. Live Creole-style folk music (with a dance floor available!) will be performed by the Zydeco Dogs. Free parking is available on-site with additional parking for a fee at the Carnegie Museum across the street. The church is easily accessible by public transit.
Tickets for the dinner are $35, or $22 for students/low income. Please call the TMC at 412-361-3022 to make your reservation today. Or, simply mail in a check made payable to the "Thomas Merton Center" at 5125 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224.
This event is the major fundraiser of the Thomas Merton Center and helps make possible local peace and social justice projects done throughout the year. Please support us by helping to publicize the event, buying a ticket or table, or purchasing raffle tickets. This year's raffle features three prizes:
1) a weeklong vacation in a two bedroom condominium at Lakewood Resort in January (ski season!), valued at $1000;
2) a weeklong escape in a quiet cottage along the scenic Allegheny River, valued at $700; and
3) a premier package of tickets to local cultural and entertainment events, valued at $700.
Each raffle chance is $5 and can be purchased by calling or visiting the Thomas Merton Center. Remember - your support helps the TMC continue its many community and social justice projects.
Thank you!
Thomas Merton Center 2005 Annual Award Dinner Committee
About Fr. Roy Bourgeois
Roy
Bourgeois was born in Lutcher,
Louisiana in
1938. He attended the
University of Southwestern Louisiana
and graduated with a bachelor of science
degree in geology. Following
graduation, Bourgeois entered the United
States Navy and served as an officer
for four years. He spent two years at sea, one year at a station in Europe, and
one year in Vietnam, receiving the Purple
Heart after his final tour of duty.
Bourgeois then entered the seminary of the Maryknoll Missionary Order, where he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1972. Sent to Bolivia, Fr. Roy spent about five years working with the country’s poor, until he was arrested and deported for speaking out against Bolivian dictator General Hugo Banzer, an SOA graduate. In 1980, Fr. Roy became increasingly outspoken in his criticism of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America after four American churchwomen - Sister Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, Sister Ita Ford, and Sister Dorothy Kazel - were raped and killed by a death squad consisting of soldiers from the Salvadoran National Guard.
After another decade of brutality and oppression by US-sponsored regimes and SOA graduates in Latin America, Fr. Roy founded the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) in 1990. This organization, whose membership and influence has grown rapidly since its inception, seeks to close the School of the Americas (renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in 2001) through creative, nonviolent protest and education.
In addition to his receipt of the Thomas Merton Award this November, Fr. Roy in 1997 received the Pax Christi USA Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace Award.
Source: Wikipedia
- Purchase a Raffle
Ticket*
- History of the Annual Award
-
Western Pennsylvania School of
the Americas Watch website
*These web features will be added soon. For now, please call the Thomas
Merton Center at 412-361-3022 to make a reservation, purchase raffle tickets or
advertisements, or sponsor the dinner.