Yearly Archives: 2025

Newsletter May 2025

Dear Friends

Important date: 23 June

As you know, Ray was in court on 22 April.  The conversation with the Judge clarified a few things.

The Crown Prosecution Service wants to proceed and Ray is charged with Criminal Damage (ref Criminal Damage Act 1971).

He is required to appear on 23 June 2025 at Westminster Magistrates Court, 181 Marylebone Road, London NW1. 

The trial begins at 10 a.m. courtroom 9 and is given two hours to complete.

“My defence will be that I acted out of “necessity” to prevent a serious evil, nuclear war, which is a real possibility in our continued commitment to the nuclear weapon system of Trident.  The Trident program is a planned crime against humanity as can be understood from Natural Law, Reason, military ethics, medical and public health principles and Christian morality.“

Do come along if you can and/or send a letter of support.

From our last mailing we received many letters of support, which are helpful.  We share three with you below.

With all God’s blessings and peace

Catholic Peace Action

Ray, Carmel and Dan

—————————————————

Letters

Thank you very much for sending this amazing picture of the courageous Ray standing up for peace. It was most inspiring. I hope that he gets a great deal of support. I hope he doesn’t suffer too much in prison, but having lived in Africa he has probably done much suffering there and is probably able to sustain it. Certainly he needs our prayers, not only for himself but even more for his cause. Please be assured of our prayers.
May Our Blessed Mother Queen of Peace pour out abundant blessings on Ray, his family and friends at this time.

Lots of love and prayers from Sr Clara Retired Franciscan missionary

—

Dear Friends,

Thank you for this – and thank you, Ray, for your witness. We have become so blasé about nuclear weapons, our own, those probably now stored at Lakenheath by the Americans, Putin’s sabre-rattling references to his own…

Thank you for refusing to accept the unacceptable.

Rob

Fr Rob Esdaile 

—

Excellent work Ray! Still standing up for the truth which most do not want to know. 

Roger Ruston

———————————————————————————————–

Speaking up for Life at the end of Life

By Ray Towey

My MP, Helen Hayes asked me to attend a meeting on 26 November 2024.  She wanted me to comment on the ‘The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Kim Leadbeater.  When it came to the vote, three days later, she voted against the Bill.  This is my input:

“My name is Raymond Towey and I qualified in medicine in 1967, I have been a medical doctor for 57 years. I am a specialist in anaesthesia and did much of my post graduate training in St. Thomas’ Hospital just a few hundred yards across the river.  I was appointed a consultant in anaesthesia to Guy’s Hospital in 1983. I am a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists.  In 1995 after about 10 years in Guy’s Hospital I resigned to work in East Africa as a volunteer doctor and I currently have a license to practice medicine in Uganda.  I do not practice in UK.

I am asking you to oppose this end of life bill for these reasons:

A flourishing and virtuous life is lived in a society with an ethical structure that promotes and encourages these principles. This bill will destroy these principles.

Let me quote from the Hippocratic oath formulated some 400 years before the birth of Christ:

  • For the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.
  • I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.

This is the best the ancient Greek physicians and philosophers could formulate as the principle of medicine some 2,400 years ago. We dismantle these principles at our peril.

If the problem is the pain, do your best to eliminate the pain not the patient.

I don’t think it was an accident that anaesthesia, giving us painless surgery, was discovered in the 19th century in a society that strove to abide by these principles.

I don’t think it was an accident that the concept of “hospital care” was developed in Western Europe, which adhered to these principles for centuries and has been copied throughout the world.

I don’t think it was an accident that Dr. Cicely Saunders the founder of “hospice care” started her movement in a society that lived by these principles.“

—

 Ray also attended a protest of the Assisted Killing bill.

At a protest of the Bill on 30 November 2024, Ray is quoted as saying:

“Physician Dr Ray Towey told ICN: ” I’ve been a doctor for 50 years. I can’t believe it’s come to this. On the one hand people are selling second hand clothes and holding raffles to fund hospices. Then the government comes forward with a proposal to simply kill very frail or sick patients.  The Hippocratic Oath, which was drawn up 400 years before the birth of Christ, formulated an ethical structure for doctors never to harm patients. This has underpinned our work for more than 2,400 years. This bill just throws that out!”  (https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/51206)

Dr Ray Towey and campaigners Image ICN/JS

(The Bill received its Second Reading on 29 November 2024. After five hours of debate, a majority of MPs voted for the Bill to progress to Committee Stage, with 330 MPs voting in favour and 275 voting against.  The Bill is now due to have its report stage and third reading on Friday 16 May. Amendments can be made to the Bill at Report Stage.  Amendments to be considered are selected by the Speaker.)

—

See also Carmel’s letter here

https://catholicpeaceaction.org/assisted-killing-suicide-sanctioned-by-parliament/

Dan and Carmel at a protest in April 2024

Lenten Resistance at the Ministry of Defence

April 2nd 2025

Dear Friend

Here is what we have been up to this Lent!

After moments of prayer and reflection, under the beautiful, sparkling blue spring sky, Ray, Dan and Carmel approached the front entrance of the Ministry of Defence.

It was unguarded, with only a trickle of workers entering and leaving. Ray climbed the steps and onto the plinth under the sign labelling the building.

He wrote everything he had planned to write in charcoal under the mark of a cross. ‘Trident is genocide, choose life not terror’.

He stood with his arms out and palms open indicating his non-violence and waited.

Three bemused young men stopped and one asked to take a picture with Ray for the project he was working on.  Ray told this man to not climb the steps as it would put him at risk of arrest.

After a few minutes a group of three heavily armed MoD police officers swiftly approached. ‘Good afternoon Mr Towey!’ called the lady officer whom we have encountered on previous days of marking the building. 

‘Good afternoon Mr Towey!’
called the lady MoD police officer.

More MoD officers arrived and we waited to see the outcome.

Another man stopped and asked what was happening. He was Russian from Moscow.  Dan asked him what would happen if a similar protest were to take place in Russia.  ‘We know what would happen – one can only imagine,’ he said: governments are the problem it isn’t the people.  Dan noted that Putin seems to regularly talk about using nuclear weapons; He replied: but we have to, in order to defend ourselves!  And then off he went.

Ray was thoroughly searched and relieved of his possessions.

He was cautioned and arrested for criminal damage. Over the past several years he was either not arrested or arrested and then de-arrested for doing this witness. It leaves us to wonder what the change in policy is and why now.

There was a time of waiting for the transport to arrive to convey Ray to Charing Cross Police Station, a short walk away. Ray offered to walk but that was against regulations! (As was explained to Dan several years ago: To protect the dignity of the prisoner.)

After some time of waiting in the cold wind that is always present in front of that building, the van arrived and three new officers locked Ray into the safety of the armoured vehicle.

At the police station Ray was finger printed, photographed, DNA tested and his phone examined, and was then locked in a cell for some hours.  He was offered food and drink frequently and after about 5 hours was given a formal and recorded interview by one Met officer.  The MoD police did not interview him.  He stated that he did not deny the marking of the wall but that it was a Christian witness against nuclear weapons using the Catholic Church’s symbols relating to the season of Lent.  (The ashes used during Ash Wednesday Services replaced by charcoal.)  The interviewing police officer was keen to release Ray if he would agree to a position relating to his contrition for the action and guilt.  Ray refused to sign any document and said that his defence was the charcoal could never have caused any criminal damage and that he had legal excuse to do the marking of the wall because of the criminality of nuclear weapons and that as a Christian it was his mission to make public opposition to this prepared crime of genocide.  

The interview lasted about 30 minutes and was courteous on both sides.  Ray was then returned to the cells.  After another two hours Ray was given a letter to attend the Court for bail conditions to be imposed.  The Met police were keen that he would promise to attend the court as requested on 22 April and Ray promised to do so.  The police officers were curious to find an elderly doctor in their custody and it gave Ray some minutes to explain what his motives were.  One exchange after the legal formalities had concluded included if he worked with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Africa and he replied, no he doesn’t do abortions. (MSF requires their staff to do abortions.)  He was pleased to be given this time to explain his motives; the police and surrounding people in the police station appeared to listen respectfully.

So after 7 hours in the Station, Ray refused to sign anything but did verbally promise to not return to the scene of the crime and mark the MoD again at that time and to attend Westminster Magistrate’s court (181 Marylebone Road) on 22 April at 2 pm.  We note that the ‘MG4A Bail to Court – Post Charge’ sheet does not mention a charge.  So it looks like we will find that out on the 22nd.  However at the time of the arrest Ray was cautioned and told he was being arrested for Criminal Damage.  But it is possible that the CPS will not press charges. 

If you are free please come to support Ray on 22 April.  Or send a message of support to him, either privately or marked for publication.

In God’s blessings and peace,

Ray Towey
Carmel and Dan Martin
CPA.at.MOD@gmail.com
https://catholicpeaceaction.org