We are happy to announce that the U.S. Province has approved the following stance against the war in Iraq: 

We, the Religious of the Sacred Heart, United States Province, publicly state our opposition to the ongoing war in Iraq, and we call on our government to adopt a plan for the responsible withdrawal of U.S. troops. 

As of April 25, we received a total of 223 votes: 212 RSCJ voted in favor of the corporate stance;  6 RSCJ voted against; and 5 RSCJ abstained from voting. The number of votes in favor surpassed the number needed for the province to adopt the corporate stance. 

We thank the San Francisco/East Bay Area for their efforts in researching, presenting and revising the corporate stance. We thank all the members of the province for their time and effort in considering this important issue. 

Included in the proposal were various action steps recommended for implementation. Besides the communication of the corporate stance, some of the action steps included were:  

1. Pray/fast for a peaceful end of the war and for the many victims and their families who have suffered from this conflict.
2. Be aware of personal opportunities to grow in a non-violent way of life.
3. Write letters to Congress people about the Province Corporate Response and encourage them to stand firm on the side of justice and compassion.
4. Support all efforts that demand negotiation rather than military confrontation, and join others in protesting the latter.
5. Support all efforts to rebuild Iraq quickly and restore dignity and power to the people.
6. Support programs that will help returning U.S. military who have been scarred physically, mentally or emotionally by war.
7. Congratulate persons around the world who have been instrumental in maintaining peace.
8.  Support handing over to the UN the future handling of Iraq and the Middle East. 
   

We invite the members of the province to think and pray about these ways of supporting this corporate stance. We ask that you share with the province actions that are taken.