by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
CCSJ wishes each of you abundant blessings and peace for the new year. In the past, Pope Francis has asked us to engage in an annual examination of conscience: “Have we used [the past year] mostly for ourselves, for our own interests or did we know to spend it for others, too? How much time did we set aside for being with God, in prayer, in silence, in adoration?” he said.
In looking towards the new year, he has encouraged us to be “grateful for what we have received, repentant for our failings and be resolute to work with God’s grace to better our lives, our communities and ourselves.”
Today we also observe the 50th World Day of Peace – instituted by Blessed Pope Paul VI in 1968. It is celebrated on January 1, the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. The theme of Pope Francis’ Peace Message for 2017 is Nonviolence: a style of politics for peace, which, he says, is a strategy “based on the primacy of law”. He invites us to build peace through active non-violence and reminds us that Jesus offers “a manual for this strategy of peacemaking in the Sermon on the Mount”.
Peacebuilding, he says, is not the sole domain of Catholics “but is typical of many religious traditions for which compassion and nonviolence are essential elements pointing to the way of life”.
He calls on political and religious leaders, the heads of international institutions, business and media executives, families, faith communities, and the international community to adopt this style as a way of building a just peace globally, and to act as peacemakers – showing “mercy by refusing to discard people, harm the environment, or seek to win at any cost”. He sees this strategy as “a path of hope”. He has said in the past, “violence is not the cure for our broken world”.
Peacemaking, he says, “means to choose solidarity as a way of making history and building friendship in society. Active nonviolence is a way of showing that unity is truly more powerful and more fruitful than conflict. Everything in the world is inter-connected. Certainly, differences can cause frictions. But let us face them constructively and nonviolently, so that tensions and oppositions can achieve a diversified and life-giving unity, preserving what is valid and useful on both sides.”
His theme is believed to be a response to the Nonviolence and Just Peace Conference held in Rome April 11–13, 2016 which was co-sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Pax Christi International, and other international bodies (see https://nonviolencejustpeace.net/ ).
We are all aware that our country and our world are caught up in a maelstrom of violence. The Holy Father often refers to the violence across the world as a “piecemeal World War III”.
In his message, he stresses that “peacemaking through active nonviolence is a natural and necessary complement to the Church’s continuing efforts to limit the use of force by the application of moral norms. Non-violence and a commitment to building a just peace are at the heart of the Gospel.”
The US bishops have pointed out: “Gospel nonviolence is not passive… Rather, it entails active strategies such as peacebuilding, conflict transformation, restorative justice, and unarmed civilian protection. Seeking a just peace means preventing conflict by addressing its causes, building relationships, and facilitating healing and restoration.”
Catholic News Agency reports that in speaking to some ambassadors three days after the release of his statement on December 12, Pope Francis “stressed that despite the various conflicts raging throughout the world, peace is achievable, as seen in the examples and efforts of some national and international leaders in the world.”
As he does in his message, he cites to the ambassadors specific peacebuilders such as St Teresa of Kolkata, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr among others. He reminded them that peace cannot be achieved merely through words alone, but must be pursued through the refusal to participate in a politics of domination and in arms trafficking.
This is especially true, he said, when many people in the country may be lacking in the basic necessities for life. “This is the path to pursue now and in the future. This is the way of peace… Nothing is impossible if we turn to God in prayer. Everyone can be an artisan of peace.”
Let us commit to embrace Jesus’ teaching on non-violence and, as Pope Francis stresses, let us make “active nonviolence our way of life…dedicate ourselves prayerfully and actively to banishing violence from our hearts, words and deeds, and to becoming nonviolent communities that care for our common home.”
