12/02/05: Protesters Fast And Pray For Morlino
Protesters Fast And Pray For Morlino
The Bishop Is Criticized As He Attends A Meeting Of The Advisory Panel For A Controversial Army School
Wisconsin State Journal :: FRONT :: A1
Friday, December 2, 2005
DOUG ERICKSON derickson@madison.com 608-252-6149
Barbara Parsons bowed her head Thursday and began 25 hours of prayer and fasting at the headquarters of the Catholic Diocese of Madison.
A lifelong Catholic, she came to pray for Robert Morlino, bishop of the Madison Diocese and a new member of a federal advisory committee for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
The facility, operated by the U.S. Army in Columbus, Ga., trains Latin American military, civilian and government leaders.
Parsons, who just returned from her third protest trip to the institute, said she was filled with deep sorrow and would be praying for Morlino to renounce the school.
"There have been just a whole host of horrors that have come out of that school," said Parsons, 72, of Platteville, a retired college professor. "It just grieves me to think the bishop of our diocese would associate himself with that entity."
Morlino is attending his first two-day meeting of the board Thursday and today in Columbus. Since his September appointment, he has faced harsh criticism from some people, both within and outside his denomination. Critics say graduates of the facility, which once was known as the School of the Americas, go on to commit atrocious crimes of torture and murder.
Fifteen people began the fast at 5 p.m. in the chapel of the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, which diocese officials welcomed the group to use, said the Rev. Jim Murphy, priest of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Portage and the event's organizer. He declined further comment, saying he prefers to communicate directly with the bishop about his concerns.
The 13-member board of visitors is an independent watchdog group created by Congress in 2001 to review practices at the institute. Morlino is the first bishop to serve on the board, although there have always been clergy among its members, said institute spokesman Lee Rials.
Morlino declined to comment. Diocese spokesman Bill Brophy said he expects the bishop will talk with the media upon his return next week, when he can share his first impressions of board service.
In an October interview on Relevant Radio, a Catholic station at 1240 AM, Morlino stressed that the board of visitors is a group of outsiders whose role is to advise Congress on correcting any problems at the institute. Morlino said he has never spoken with anyone connected to the institute and that he is in no way becoming part of the institute's leadership.
"This was an opportunity to serve my country by providing expertise in terms of an evaluation of an institution in the areas of morality and justice."
Morlino said he did not volunteer for the position, but was appointed by the secretaries of Defense and the Army. He said he knew about the allegations against the School of the Americas.
"If I thought for a minute that someone were trying to manipulate me personally, I would not accept this," he said, adding that he appreciates that the Catholic perspective is so welcome.
Parsons said that while Morlino may feel he can improve the facility, the school is beyond reform. "This is going to sound very strong, but it's comparable to having a board of visitors for the Nazis dealing with the Jews," she said.
The Rev. Frederick Trost, 69, of Middleton, former president of the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ, said Morlino perhaps is not aware of "the enormity of the viciousness and treachery" the school has inspired.
"We pray that the school, by whatever name it is called, may die and be buried, never to return to haunt the Earth," said Trost, who is taking part in the vigil.
Sister Maureen McDonnell, a member of the campus ministry staff at Edgewood College in Madison, said Thursday she is more hopeful now about Morlino's service on the board than in October, when she called his acceptance of the appointment "a real betrayal."
Morlino's public statements since his appointment show his desire to bring the Catholic teachings of social justice to bear on the facility's operations, McDonnell said.
"I take him at his word that he sincerely will try to do that," she said.
\ Army school
The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation at Fort Benning is the U.S. Army's principal Spanish-language training facility for Latin American military and government personnel.
It instructs up to 1,000 students annually, with the goal of "strengthening democracy, instilling respect for the rule of law and honoring human rights," according to its Web site. The institute teaches leadership, disaster relief, military oversight and other courses.
It succeeded the School of the Americas, which operated from 1946 until it was shut down by Congress in 2001.
Critics draw little distinction between the two, saying graduates from both facilities have participated in some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America, including the rape and murder of four American churchwomen in El Salvador on Dec. 2, 1980.
However, Lee Rials, an institute spokesman, said Thursday "there is not even one example of anyone taking a course at the school or this institute and later using that information to commit a crime."