Three thousand Catholics from across the country spent the weekend in Milwaukee for the annual Call to Action conference at the Midwest Airlines Center.

Call to Action is a national movement of the Catholic Church to bring more lay participation to the church, and to promote equality and justice in society. The conference is the largest gathering of progressive Catholics in the country.

The first Call to Action conference took place 30 years ago when U.S. Catholic Bishops convened in Detroit to discuss issues regarding social justice and equality for women in the church.

According to Nicole Soleto, acting co-director of Call to Action, this year's theme was "I AM: Rise up People of God," calling people to rise up for issues of social justice.

"During the conference, we had workshops on issues of equality for gay Catholics, women's equality in the church, for women becoming priests, immigration and poverty," she said.

After workshops had closed on Saturday, attendees filed out of the Midwest Airlines Center, and into the street to participate in a peace rally.

According to Sister Virgine Miller of the Dominican Sisters of Racine, the main goal of the rally was to mount pressure to end the war at the earliest point where it would be safe to start reconstruction of Iraq.

The rally, which began at 5 p.m. and lasted an hour, was organized by Peace Action Wisconsin, an activist group, for the Call to Action conference.

Ken Butigan, a board member of Call to Action and Cindy Sheehan, a peace activist, were speakers at the rally sponsored by Call to Action.

Butigan drafted the declaration of peace petition in September of this year that called on the government for a comprehensive plan for getting out of Iraq. The petition was signed by 500 national organizations and caused protests in front of the White House at the end of September.

Other speakers sponsored by Peace Action included George Martin, national co-chair of United for Peace and Justice, Rae Vogeler, the Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate, Bob Watada, father of Lt. Ehren Watada, the first U.S. officer to refuse to serve in Iraq and Will Williams, spokesman for Veterans for Peace, which is based in Madison.

Many exhibitors had displays on the third floor of the Midwest Airlines Center that went along with the theme of the conference.

One such exhibition was from Friends of the Third World, a non-profit based in Fort Wayne, Ind., that sells a variety of products from Third World countries.

"We are all about building up realistic alternatives so war becomes unnecessary," said treasurer Marian Waltz.

Friends of the Third World educates consumers about Fair Trade.

"Fair Trade implies that farmers are paid a decent wage, they do not have to work in dangerous conditions, the farmers cultural identities are respected and companies provide a long-term stable relationship with the producer," Waltz said.

The exhibit fits in with the Call to Action conference because of its support of peace.

"The general theme is poverty and self-help," she said. "We educate the American public that there is something an individual can do to help address the issues of poverty."