wfn.org | UCC President denounces removal of Vieques protestors

[powellb@ucc.org]

May 5, 2000
Office of Communication
United Church of Christ
Barb Powell, press contact
(216) 736-2217
powellb@ucc.org
On the web: <http://www.ucc.org>

United Church of Christ President denounces removal
of peaceful protestors in Vieques

     CLEVELAND -- The Rev. John H. Thomas, president
of the 1.4-million-member United Church of Christ, today
(May 5) joined the chorus of religious and social justice
leaders denouncing the U.S. military's forced removal of
peaceful protestors in Vieques, Puerto Rico.
     "It is with tremendous sorrow that I learned today of
the forcible removal of the people who have helped secure a
year of peace by occupying the restricted lands since the death
of David Sanes last April," said Thomas in his statement.
"These persons, including several members of the United
Church of Christ in Puerto Rico, have been a prayerful and
passionate witness to peace and justice in Vieques.  Their
presence, far from disturbing the peace, has led to the first
signs of a renewal of the land and the sea surrounding the
island in over six decades."
     Thomas and Bernice Powell Jackson, executive
director of the UCC's Commission for Racial Justice, were
two of more than a dozen UCC leaders who traveled to
Vieques in March to visit those who had been camped out in
the restricted areas of their own country for more than a year.
"We saw first-hand the damage wrought by sixty years of
military practice, especially the use of the military
bombardment of the eastern end of the island
without regard for the persons who once called this bombing
range home," said Thomas.  "We marveled at the natural
beauty of the island, grieved at the massive environmental
destruction and contamination of the island and surrounding
waters, and rejoiced both at the courage of the people and
signs of life which had begun to return after a year of peace.
Our visits with the residents of Vieques, and our
conversations with Puerto Rican religious and political
leaders who have been involved in the protest convinced us
that we must not let one more bomb be dropped on Vieques."
     The United Church of Christ, with national offices in
Cleveland, has some 6,000 local churches in the United States
and Puerto Rico.  It was formed by the 1957 union of the
Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and
Reformed Church.

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[EDITORS: Here is the statement released today (May 5) by
the Rev. John H. Thomas, President of the United Church of
Christ, on the removal of peaceful protestors from Vieques.]

     "A month and a half ago, over a dozen leaders of the
United Church of Christ and I traveled to the small island of
Vieques, Puerto Rico.  Led by our colleague, the Rev. Luis
Rosario, Pastor General of the Iglesia Evangelica Unida,
which is the United Church of Christ in Puerto Rico, we saw
first-hand the damage wrought by sixty years of military
practice, especially the use of the military bombardment of
the eastern end of the island without regard for the persons
who once called this bombing range home.  We marveled at
the natural beauty of the island, grieved at the massive
environmental destruction and contamination of the island
and surrounding waters, and rejoiced both at the courage of
the people and signs of life which had begun to return after a
year of peace.  Our visits with the residents of Vieques, and
our conversations with Puerto Rican religious and political
leaders who have been involved in the protest convinced us
that we must not let one more bomb be dropped on Vieques.
     "It is with tremendous sorrow that I learned today of
the forcible removal of the people who have helped secure a
year of peace by occupying the restricted lands since the death
of David Sanes last April.  These persons, including several
members of the United Church of Christ in Puerto Rico, have
been a prayerful and passionate witness to peace and justice in
Vieques.  Their presence, far from disturbing the peace, has
led to the first signs of a renewal of the land and the sea
surrounding the island in over six decades.
     "In 1981, nearly twenty years ago, our General Synod
spoke in favor of the cessation of bombing and the withdrawal
of the Navy from Vieques.  I continue to support the clearly-
expressed desire of the Protestant and Roman Catholic
churches in Puerto Rico which have called for an immediate
and permanent end to the bombing of this small island.  While
our sisters and brothers have been removed from restricted
areas of their own island, their determination, and ours,
continues.  I pray that God's wisdom and grace will move the
hearts and minds of President Clinton and our military and
elected leaders, that peace and justice may prevail in
Vieques."

# # #