On Christmas Day 1917, Ben Salmon, a young Catholic husband and father in Denver, refused the draft into World War I. He was consequently arrested, placed in military prison, and held for three years, despite the war ending a year later. By the time he was set free in November 1920, he was a nationally known voice for peace and conscientious objection to war. Almost a century to the day later, our speaker Michael J. Baxter tells Ben's story, reviews the manifesto for conscience he wrote while in prison, and reflects on the significance of this remarkable figure who followed Christ at all costs, disturbing church and state authorities alike with his simple, direct declaration: "I am in the Army of Peace."
Learn more about Ben—and the petition to promote his sainthood within the Catholic Church—at www.BenSalmon.org.
About the Speaker
Michael J. Baxter teaches Catholic studies at Regis University in Denver and served as director (2001-12) of the Catholic Peace Fellowship, which supports conscientious objectors to war through education, counseling, and advocacy. He is currently completing a collection of essays for Cascade Books, Blowing the Dynamite of the Church: Radicalism against Americanism in Catholic Social Ethics.
Petition for Ben Salmon's Sainthood
Many people see Ben's life, faith, and suffering as those of a saint and are actively working to petition the Catholic Church to "open a cause" to formally recognize him as such. The National Council of Pax Christi USA has sent a petition to Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago to open this cause for Ben Salmon. Learn more here and, if so moved, please sign the online petition to add your support.
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