Fr. John Dear S.J. will lead a retreat on the themes of peace, justice and reconciliation from Friday, October 4-6 as part of the Merton Center’s 30th Anniversary Peace Series.

The retreat will be held at the Bethel Animation Center, 6230 Brush Run Road, Bethel Park, beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, and continuing through lunch on Sunday, Oct. 6. Cost for the retreat is $120. Reservations should be mailed to the Merton Center by Sept. 16.

The retreat is co-sponsored by Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi, The Association of Pittsburgh Priests, and Call to Action.

On Oct. 3, the evening before the retreat, Dear will give a lecture, "Living Peace," at Carlow College’s Interfaith Center, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Robinson Street, Oakland. The lecture is open to the public; no registration is needed.

Dear, a peace activist and author of 17 books, the most recent being "Living Peace," served as a Red Cross coordinator of chaplains in New York City for families who lost loved ones at the World Trade Center. He has served as executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation; worked in shelters, soup kitchens and community centers, and traveled in war zones around the world, most recently in Iraq. He has been arrested in acts of civil disobedience and spent time in prison for a Plowshares disarmament action.