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A word from the Secretary General...
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As we head into the final days of 2016, I want to share a few of the extraordinary events and projects which are happening within our movement. In early December, we’ll be convening our member organisations in Africa in Johannesburg for a conference aimed at strengthening regional ties and exploring the theme “Nonviolence in Africa: Creating a Future of Hope”. We’re also excitedly awaiting Pope Francis’s message on nonviolence for the World Day of Peace and strategising through the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative to take full advantage of this opportunity to place nonviolence at the center of Catholic teaching and practice.
You’ll also notice that we’re experimenting with new changes to the Pax Christi International newsletter. The newsletter will focus more on a few in-depth stories, exploring the people and organisations that make up our network in greater detail, while still providing you with an overview of the breadth of the work for peace being done by our worldwide movement. We’ll highlight some of the important work being done by our representatives at the UN as well as projects being coordinated by the International Secretariat, like the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative.
Together, we’re transforming the Catholic Church and communities all over the world, promoting and practicing active nonviolence and just peace everywhere we are. I hope you’ll find here stories that will both inspire you and make you proud to be part of such a diverse, effective and creative community of people.
In peace,
Greet Vanaerschot
Secretary General, Pax Christi International
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Catholic Nonviolence Initiative: November 2016 Update
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International accountability is ensured through a steering committee (the planning committee for the April conference), which includes representatives of the Unions of Superior Generals (USG/UISG) JPIC Commission, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM), the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), Columban Mission Institute, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service, as well as Pax Christi International. The Initiative’s executive committee includes Marie Dennis, co-president of Pax Christi International; Ken Butigan, director of Pace e Bene; Gerry Lee, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; Pax Christi International’s Secretary General Greet Vanaerschot; and project coordinator Judy Coode...
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Colombia: What we have won by losing
by Francisco de Roux, S.J.
De Roux was a participant in the “Nonviolence and Just Peace” conference co-hosted by Pax Christi International and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in Rome, April 2016. He has played an important role in the Colombian peace process, including persuading both sides to allow victims a voice at the negotiating table.
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Webinar #1: Introduction to the Nonviolence and Just Peace Conference
This is an introductory webinar about the ground-shifting conference on the topic of Gospel nonviolence and just peace, which was held in Rome this past April 2016. In this first webinar, you'll hear about the background, purpose, process, and basic outcomes of the conference.
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MEMBER ORGANISATION SPOTLIGHT: Pax Christi Philippines
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In each month's newsletter, we're going to be shining a spotlight on one of our 120 member organisations. This month, we’re getting to know Pax Christi Pilipinas. We've interviewed by email Jasmin Nario-Galace, President of Pax Christi Pilipinas:
"A story that stands out was the Elders Meeting in Davao in early 2016 where participants shared why they care about the network. It’s a beautiful story as the network had been sailing through rough times. Elders shared that the peace of Christ is very important alongside sharing the importance of secular peace; that they care because as Catholics, the work of Pax Christi is a calling of their faith and it is this faith that inspires them to work for justice, peace and reconciliation. The Elders shared their hope that Pax Christi Pilipinas continue to be a light in the midst of challenges in the peace and security situation in the Philippines and to shape the organisation to become a 'home' to aspiring peace-builders..."
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Member Profile: Cesar Villanueva of
Pax Christi Pilipinas
Over on the Peace Stories blog, we’ll be featuring something we’re calling the “I am Pax Christi” interview, a short conversation with the women and men who make up our movement. Our first profile is Cesar Villanueva of Pax Christi Pilipinas. The interview was conducted by communications intern Marie Just in October at the Pax Christi International offices in Brussels.
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Extrajudicial killings in the Philippines: Five urgent calls to action to the international community
Pax Christi International, with Franciscans International and members of Pax Christi Pilipinas, is concerned by the alarming human rights situation in the Philippines caused by the president’s ‘shoot to kill’ policy, which carries out extrajudicial executions of drugs users, dealers and other criminals. In the last three months, more than 3,600 people have been killed – 1,390 in police operations and 2,294 by purported vigilantes and death squads allegedly set up...
Click here to read the entire statement.
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UN UPDATE: Five reasons to ban nuclear weapons now
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by Jonathan Frerichs
Pax Christi International Representative to the UN in Geneva
How are terrible things abolished? Slavery? Torture? Trafficking? Waging war with poison gas or deadly viruses? Stopping an unacceptable thing usually involves banning it.
The United Nations has just taken an historic step towards banning that most terrible of things, nuclear weapons. After a key committee vote in late October, this year’s UN General Assembly is set to confirm that negotiations to ban nuclear weapons will take place next year. [i]
A local-global network of Pax Christi members has been lobbying all year for this result. The group is cooperating with the World Council of Churches and coordinating its advocacy with ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Participation is open to Pax Christi members in more countries. Real progress towards a world free of nuclear weapons lies ahead. It’s an excellent opportunity to put hope and faith to work for peace.
There are many good reasons to ban nuclear weapons. Here is a brief look at five reasons to do it now...
Click here to read the rest of this article.
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Young Peace Journalists: Giving a voice
to people seeking refuge
by Tabitha Redepenning
This September, the Young Peace Journalists project of Pax Christi International was initiated. The purpose of the project is to enable youth to conduct interviews with people who had to flee to the journalist’s home country, to listen to the stories of refugees, to get a better understanding of the situation, and to share and promote the interviews online to raise awareness of the plight of people seeking refuge.
Interested young adults applied from all over the world: the Netherlands, Croatia, Lebanon, UK, New Zealand, Ukraine, Italy and the USA. In real-time video conferences, the participants came together for the first time, got to know each other and received a virtual training for two days to be prepared for conducting interviews. During the training, it was clear that the participants have different backgrounds and motivations to join the journalist project...
Click here to read the full story.
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RESOURCE: Advent reflection booklet from Pax Christi USA
Pax Christi USA issues a reflection booklet each Advent season focusing on a particular theme. This year's booklet,
Journey Towards Justice: Reflections for Advent 2016, is now available for download as an electronic booklet. This year's focus is economic and interracial justice and is written by
Pax Christi USA National Council Chair Cathy Woodson and Pax Christi USA Program Director Sr. Anne-Louise Nadeau, SNDdeN.
The reflection booklets includes the daily readings with reflections and by the authors and questions for individual or small group reflection. The booklet can be ordered directly from the Pax Christi USA website.
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Pax Christi International activities around the world...
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Pax Christi International is excited to recognize the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace of Pakistan and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan with the 2016 Pax Christi International Peace Award ... One of the strategies developed by Cercle International pour la Promotion de la Création or CIPCRE (a Pax Christi member organisation in Cameroon) to work towards conflict prevention and the promotion of peace is the creation of committees for inter-religious cooperation in its areas of influence ... This short film on the consequences of war was sent to us by Pax Christi International Board member Elena Vilenskaya who has coordinated two of our member organisations, House of Peace and Non-violence and Soldiers' Mothers-St. Petersburg in Russia ... In a statement released last month, the South African Catholic Bishops Conference's Justice and Peace Commission, a Pax Christi International member organisation, called on the president "to consider downsizing the bloated cabinet and use the money to contribute to the realization of free tertiary education for the poor and other programs that can improve the lives of the poor" ... About 60 agents of Comissão Pastoral da Terra (Pastoral Land Commission, or CPT, a Pax Christi International member organisation) met last month to share stories about the struggles for land and territories in every region of the country, and the main conflicts and difficulties faced by the people in the fields ... Professor Joseph Camilleri, one of the founders of Pax Christi Australia, hosted an online forum exploring how a cosmopolitan ethic is central to Islamic thought and practice ... The president of Pax Christi Austria, Bishop Dr. Manfred Scheuer, gave a speech exploring how we should understand the correlation between religion and violence ... For more news articles about Pax Christi International activities around the world, visit our website by clicking here.
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