It has become an annual tradition. Scores of CTA members, including national staff members Don Wedd and Kevin Horan-Bussey, were among the 7,000 who marched, prayed and demonstrated Nov. 22 at the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Ga. Organized by SOA Watch, the annual outpouring of protesters seeks the closure of the school which trains 900 to 2,000 Latin American military personnel each year at U.S. taxpayer expense. SOA Watch has determined that SOA graduates are responsible for decades of atrocities and human rights violations against the citizenry in Latin countries. Roughly half the participants were under 30, including many from Catholic campuses -- a heartening sign of social conscience among youth.

The protest marks the anniversary of the martyrdom of six Jesuits and two women employees in San Salvador in 1989. In 1997 about 2,000 gathered, of whom 601 "crossed the line," committed civil disobedience, and were arrested. This year, with 7,000 in attendance, the number crossing the line was 2,370 -- including Horan-Bussey and film actor Martin Sheen. Authorities surprised the protest organizers by arresting no one. Police simply loaded the marchers onto buses and dropped them off a mile away.

Maryknoll Fr. Roy Bourgeois, leader of SOA Watch, spoke at the CTA conference three weeks earlier. He chided U.S. bishops for failing to confront elected leaders about closing SOA. But he also warned liberal Catholics not to be consumed by anger. "We've got to have joy in our hearts," he said. "Peacemaking is joyful work."

Bourgeois has learned in his personal career of non-violent protest that focus and balance can be sustained, as Dorothy Day once noted, only "through a connection with a living community." Bourgeois has paid heavily for his own focus on the SOA. For his 1997 protest, he recently completed a six-month prison sentence, which included 38 days in solitary confinement. "I know why I was in prison," he said, "and I'd do it again."

Legislation to slash funding for SOA missed passage in the U.S. House by only a few votes in 1998, so the lobbying campaign continues intensively. To get involved, check in with SOA Watch at 202 234-3440. On the Web: www.soaw.org