Category: Peace Education

Thursday 21 May is the feast of Bl Franz Jägerstätter. Bl Franz, an Austrian peasant farmer, was executed for refusing to fight in Hitler’s army. A devout Catholic, Franz believed he could not be faithful to Jesus and fight for the Nazis.
Below are some resources to help celebrate the feast of Bl Franz in schools.

Assembly
The Importance of Disobedience is an assembly about Bl Franz as part of the Peace Education Network’s Teach Peace Pack.

Workshop
Franz Jägerstätter: A Story of Remarkable Faith explores Franz’s story, his witness, and what he can teach us about the Christian vocation to peacemaking.

Lesson
As part of our General RE scheme of work there is a lesson examining the life and witness of Franz Jägerstätter which considers whether there is a difference between neutrality and active nonviolence.

 

Prayer

Dear God
You filled the blessed martyr and father of a family,
Franz Jägerstätter, with a great love for you, his family, and all people.

In a time of violence and political contempt for humanity
he formed for himself an unerring and clear judgement.
You gave him the grace to resist evil.

In closeness to your Son, and by following his conscience,
he said a decisive ‘No’ to the denial of your presence,
to the disregard for human dignity, and to the unjust war.

Trusting in you, he sacrificed his life
because he loved you above everything.

With the power of your Spirit, and the intercession of blessed Franz,
strengthen our love for you and for all people.
Help us to stand up for justice, peace, and human dignity,
through Christ our Lord.
Amen

Dear friends,

Tomorrow (Friday 15 May) is International Conscientious Objectors’ Day. We have produced an assembly/short liturgy to help schools to commemorate this day.

On Thursday 21 May we celebrate the feast of Bl Franz Jägerstätter – our resource, Holy Disobedience, helps students to reflect on the life and witness of this great man of peace.

I have availability on Tuesday 23 June in North West England/North Wales. If you want to take advantage of this opportunity for Pax Christi peace education workshops in your school or college please get in touch before Friday 22 May.

I also have availability in the North East or Yorkshire on 7 and 9 July.

There is a little under a month to enter the CND Peace Education Creative writing competition

Exploring the reality of military life – a Peace Education Network skills share workshop led by Veterans for Peace UK. Thursday 18 June in Sheffield.
Full details and registration

The Pax Christi Annual General Meeting takes place in London on Saturday 6 June where Fr Ziad Hilal will speak about his experiences working for Jesuit Refugee Services in Syria.

In peace
Matt

15 May each year is designated International Conscientious Objectors’ Day. A day when people all over the world pay tribute to those who have resisted—and continue to resist—war.

100 years after the International Congress of Women in The Hague, the focus of commemorations in 2015 is on the role of women war resistors.

This assembly reflects on the story of the women peacemakers who assembled in The Hague a century ago, reflects on their efforts to bring an end to the carnage of the First World War, and invites students to think about how they can work for peace today.

Download the Assembly Script (pdf)

Download Assembly Slideshow (pptx)

Dear friends,

Today (Monday 13 April) is the Global Day of Action on Military Spending where peace campaigners around the world unite to protest the amount that is spent every year on war and preparations for war. In the UK our military budget is £38 billion – this while vital public services are subject to drastic cuts.
http://demilitarize.org.uk/

Our General RE scheme of work has a lesson plan to help students reflect critically on the issue of military spending.

We also have a new workshop, Peace, Faith,and Politics: Nuclear Weapons which encourages young people to think about nuclear weapons as an issue in the next month’s General Election.

 

School Workshops
We are currently taking bookings for our popular peace education workshops for this summer term. Details of what we offer are on our website – remember that we work with schools all over England and Wales.

I will be in the North West/North Wales area during the week beginning 22 June and in the North East/Yorkshire during the week beginning 6 July – if you are in these areas and are interested in booking some of our workshops please do get in touch.

 

Over the Top – A forum theatre performance

At Meadow Springs Academy battle lines are drawn between peace activist parent and pro military head.

Over the Top focuses on the dilemma created when two contrasting points of view over the role of the military in our schools clash and come to a head-on confrontation. This production promotes discussion and exchange of ideas – the show itself is there to prompt this debate. Details here

 

Upcoming Events
Climate Changes Everything: vigil of hope and solidarity – Friday 1 May, London

General Election – Thursday 7 May: Read our election briefing (pdf) here 

International Conscientious Objectors’ Day – Friday 15 May: Use our Should Christians fight in war resource from our General RE syllabus

There are more stories of conscientious objection in the First World War section of our website.

Feast of Bl Franz Jägerstätter – Thursday 21 May: Workshop resource

Yesterday (12 April) the Pope spoke about the Armenian genocide of 1915. Our friends at Facing History have a professional development workshop on 23 April exploring why the Armenian genocide is important and why we should teach it in Key Stage 3 history. Details here

Pax Christi AGM – Saturday 6 June: With guest speaker Ziad Hilal SJ. Fr Ziad works for Jesuit Refugee Service in Homs, Syria

In peace

Matt
Schools and Youth Outreach Worker