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On November 23, Srs Meny, Mary and Beth attended a seminar organized to commemorate
the 50th year of Pacem in Terris.
The speaker, Prof. Alejandro Crosthwaite, OP, presented the historical context (the Cold War between the United States of America and the Russian Soviet Union and the Cuban Missile Crisis) of this prophetic document which was signed by Pope John XXIII on April 11, 1963, two months before he died of cancer. Addressed to the Catholic world and to all men and women of goodwill, it is also called a “document of hope and optimism on peace.” The document, the speaker recalled, enumerates the four pillars of lasting peace: truth, justice, love and freedom.
On January 1, 2003, in his message entitled Pacem in Terris: a Permanent Commitment,
Pope John Paul II said :
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"Truth will build peace if every individual sincerely acknowledges not only his rights but also his own duties towards justice; justice will build peace if everyone respects the rights of others and actually fulfills his duties towards them; love will build peace if people feel the needs of others as their own and share what they have with others; freedom will build peace and make it thrive, if in the choice of the means to that end, people act according to reason and assume responsibility for their own actions.”
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Professor Alejandro challenged the religious men and women present to be peace-builders and not just peace-makers. The goal of peace-makers is to end conflict. Peace-builders make peace real. He described three kinds of peace. The first two are peace as a simple absence of warfare and peace because war is avoided due to the supremacy of one party. The third kind of peace, which “Christians should aspire to living out, is
‘Shalom’ which is about the right relationship
with one another, with God, with self and with creation.”
Religious communities are called to embody right relationships built on trust. Concretely, we can start building peace in our very own communities by intentionally creating a space of gathering where every member can express themselves and even share their differences in the spirit of dialogue.
He emphasized LISTENING as fundamental in response to the call to be Peace-Builders.