Richard Rohr joined pilgrimage

Richard Rohr, Catholic priest and well-known writer and speaker, joined the annual Marcellus Day pilgrimage of Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. Each year, AMBS commemorates the martyr death of Marcellus, a third-century Roman soldier, with a walk through the neighborhoods of Mishawaka and South Bend, Ind., ending at the University of Notre Dame, where the relics of Marcellus lie in the university’s basilica.

Rohr, who is founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, was the featured speaker at an evening prayer service in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. His visit and presentation, “A new consciousness for peacemaking,” were coordinated by a local group of Mennonites, Brethren, Missionary Baptists and Quakers.

Marcellus is known as one of the earliest Christian martyrs who died because of his commitment to nonviolence. At his trial, he declared that it is “not right for a Christian man, who serves the Lord Christ, to serve in the armies of the world.”

The pilgrimage that marked his death on October 30, 298, followed the Saint Joseph River with stops on the way to pray and to hear stories of other conscientious objectors. In downtown South Bend, the walkers joined a larger group that had gathered for a reenactment of the death of Marcellus. “Marcellus laid down his sword in order to follow Jesus Christ. He laid down his life in order to be faithful,” one of the actors said in introducing the dramatic presentation.

Mary E. Klassen / November 2008