FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2014
Contact: Samantha Friedman, West End Strategy Team
Office: (202) 776-7700 or cell: (202) 215-9260 or
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Interfaith Prayer Vigil at U.S. Capitol on Eve of State of the Union
Vigil to Mark Obama’s Five-Year Promise to Close Guantanamo
WASHINGTON – In commemoration of the 5th anniversary of President Obama’s Executive Order directing the closure of Guantanamo, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, an organization representing thousands of people of faith from diverse religious groups across the country, will sponsor an “Interfaith Prayer Vigil” on Monday, January 27. On the eve of President Obama’s State of the Union Address, people of faith will gather outside the U.S. Capitol in candlelight prayer and call for Guantanamo’s closure. The fifth anniversary of the executive order was January 21.
NRCAT will join fellow faith-based organizations and human rights groups at 5:30 p.m. Monday in front of the Capitol, after first gathering at 110 Maryland Ave., NE (details below). Participants will illuminate the night with prayers, candles, glow sticks, and courtesy of the Maryland Light Brigade, huge lights that will illuminate the message, “CLOSE GITMO NOW.” United in light, the group’s mission is to remind the President and Congress of the President’s five-year promise to close the detention facility as well as to call attention for policymakers that 155 men are still detained at Guantanamo.
“We raise our voices to acknowledge that our nation’s use of torture has come with a moral toll,” said Rev. Ron Stief, Executive Director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. “I can’t think of a better time for the President to live up to his promise to close Guantanamo than to announce it in his State of the Union address to Congress and the nation Tuesday night. Our prayers are with the President – closing Guantanamo and the sordid chapter of American history it represents may not be the easiest path, but it is the right path.”
*Note: The gathering will start at 5:15 p.m. at 110 Maryland Ave., NE, in the National Council of Churches Conference Room. At 5:30 p.m., attendees will walk in a procession a half-block to gather in front of the Capitol for the prayer vigil.
Members of the press are asked to RSVP to Samantha Friedman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are planning to attend to confirm details – pending any changes due to weather.
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) is a membership organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Since its formation in January 2006, more than 325 religious organizations have joined NRCAT, including representatives from the Catholic, evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Unitarian Universalist, Quaker, Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Baha’i, Buddhist, and Sikh communities. Members include national denominations and faith groups, regional organizations and local congregations.
www.nrcat.org
Follow NRCAT on Twitter at @NRCATtweets and on Facebook at facebook.com/nrcat
###
