International Catholic Movement for Peace
Latest news from Pax Christi
Feeling a presence that disturbs – Pentecost 
Our final Pax Christi Eastertide reflection comes from Sister Katrina Alton. Katrina is a Sister of St Joseph of Peace and a Pax Christi member from Nottingham.
Trusting the Pentecost promise can be made real through our prayers and actions for peace and justice, we acclaim: ‘Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.’ (Psalm 103)
Download here.
The 15th May 2019 is the 71st anniversary of the Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe). We commemorate the expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and the destruction of over 400 Palestinian towns and villages to make way for the State of Israel. Around the world there will be activities in support of the Palestinian people, especially those who, after more than seven decades, remain refugees. There will be a press release from Pax Christi International on 15th May and here in the office, we plan to have a ‘silent circle’ at 11 o’clock.
Download and share the Pax Christi International Press Release
Can you get involved? Sign the petition here
There are plenty of Actions and Ideas for Palestine to try – Let us know about your actions, and send a photo. It’s good to be able to report on our support for Palestinian people.
Sunday reflections from Easter – Pentecost : 4th Sunday Reflection
To deepen our understanding of Gospel nonviolence, we invited seven members of Pax Christi to explore the powerful readings for the Sundays after Easter – readings that tell us something of the struggle of the early Christian communities to create a life-path for themselves built on the life and witness of Jesus.
Their reflections are short and personal and each of them has something to offer on the vocation we all have to be people of nonviolence.
This Sunday our reflection comes from David McLoughlin. David is a member of Pax Christi’s Nonviolence Working Group and Emeritus Fellow of Christian Theology at Newman University, Birmingham.
We echo the words of Pope Francis regarding nuclear weapons: ‘The threat of their use as well as their very possession is to be firmly condemned’. Rather than the tired narrative that nuclear weapons are a necessary deterrent, we agree with Pope Francis that they ‘exist in the service of a mentality of fear that affects not only the parties in conflict but the entire human race’. The tense, fragile relationships between nuclear-weapons possessing nations and their unbalanced relationships with others must not be described as peace.” The full article from The Universe can be found here.
Pax Christi is now calling for the Service of Thanksgiving to either be cancelled or changed to a Service of Repentance. Join us on May 3rd
The full article can be found here
With a consideration and understanding of current situations of conflict and violence, participants engaged in dialogue about the roots of violence, the hope for peace and reconciliation, and reflected on paths to a conversion to nonviolence. They noted that nonviolence is not only a method but a way of life, a way to protect and care for the conditions of life for today and tomorrow.
Members of the CNI roundtable on the Power of Nonviolence, which was co-convened by Pat Gaffney and Rose Berger, were able to give testimony to the effectiveness of nonviolence – these included Pietro Ameglio from Mexico, Kanini Kimau from Kenya, Rania Murra from Palestine and Jean Baptiste Talla from Cameroon.
“Our conversations on nonviolence and peace filled our hearts and minds with a consideration of the dignity of each person – young people, women and men, people who are impoverished, citizens and leaders,” said Mons. Bruno Marie Duffé, Secretary of the Dicastery. “Nonviolence and peace call us to a conversion to receive and to give, to gather and to hope.”
“Pax Christi International deeply appreciates the support and participation of the Dicastery in this workshop, which has been a significant and positive step in the work of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative,” said Marie Dennis, Co-president of Pax Christi International. “We are touched by the interventions from all the participants, who reiterated the importance of nonviolence rooted in respect, patience and spiritual strength.”
Workshop participants hailed from Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Colombia, Honduras, Brazil, Canada, the United States, Uganda, Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Fiji, South Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Palestine, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, and included Bishops, Archbishops, peace practitioners, theologians, social scientists, educators and those in pastoral ministry. In addition, the Dicastery’s Prefect Cardinal Peter Turkson (Ghana) was present, as was Cardinal Joseph Tobin (Newark, New Jersey, USA).
Participants will continue their dialogue and research; their reflections will be shared with the Holy Father, with the hope for a possible encyclical that will address these issues and challenges and will promote nonviolent initiatives as a way for mediation, rights, hope and love.
“We need to be artisans of peace, for building peace that is a craft that demands serenity, creativity, sensitivity and skills.” (Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Gaudate et Exultate, 19 March 2018)