"Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God." Matt 5:9 NRSVCE

6 lessons coronavirus can teach us about climate change

Earth Day 2020                                                                                                       March 29, 2020
                                                                                                                    Photo credit for image at top: Robert A. Jonas.
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If there was ever a time in which humanity should finally recognize that we belong to one connected family on Earth, this should be it. We share a single planet, drink from the same water and breathe the same air.   
So whether hunkered down at home or hospital, or working on the front lines, we are all doing our part to face a common enemy together. When COVID-19 is finally behind us, instead of returning to normal life, we must hold on to these lessons in the fight against climate change.
Here are 6 lessons the coronavirus pandemic can teach us about our response to climate change.
             .....LEARN MORE HERE

​The Franciscan who stayed in war-torn Syria

December 27, 2019 - Vatican News
Syrian Fr. Firas Lufti is a Franciscan working in the Holy Land. He is Minister of the Region of St. Paul, which includes Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. In this story, he describes nine years of violence, destruction and death during the war in Syria: how he stayed there with his people, and how today he helps children rediscover their smiles.   READ THE STORY

Chew on This! 
October 17, 2019
October 17 - International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
October 17th is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Chew on This! marks this important day each year with our nation-wide event, drawing attention to poverty in Canada and calling for action through a national plan to end poverty.           LEARN MORE

Climate Action for Peace

October 1, 2019

​“Justice is not enough…” - the Bishop Romero story

April 20, 2019 - OFM JPIC
Both documents say that peace is not the absence of war. (Vatican II documents (GS 78) as well those as from the conference of the Latin American Bishops in “Medellín” in 1968 (M 2, 14)).  That is a totally negative notion. Nor can we say that we have peace just because there is no war. Currently, there is no war in many countries; in fact, most of the world is not at war, and yet, there is true peace in very few places.  It is not enough to not have war.  Nor is true peace the balance of two adversaries’ forces, claiming to be in harmony. Russia and the United States continue to be threats, even if there is civility between them. What remains though is fear, fear from all of the flexing as to who is more powerful. That it is not peace.  If two boys or two men threaten a lawsuit against each other, but that lawsuit does not get to litigation, it cannot be considered peace either. There is still fear between two powers or the two parties.  As the Pope has shared, nobody can talk about peace with a  
gun or a rifle in his hand; that is fear. There can be no peace either, says the Second Vatican Council, from the horrific quests for domination and wanting to subdue, whether it be a Nation or a single person. That would be like saying peace comes from death or repression. Neither of them is peace.[2]  
What Bishop Romero was trying to say is that the presence of fear is actually a manifestation that peace cannot yet exist, and much less so when coupled with a power source that is categorically only looking for repression or death. Christian peace goes much further, much more profound.

....So, what, then, is peace?

Fight for peace, but without violence

Never Again - Support for the people of Myanmar

November 13, 2018 - CCCB
With heavy hearts and deep sorrow, we see once again the pain and sufferings of the twentieth century manifesting themselves, this time in Myanmar. We recognize again the same horrific themes: the systematic dehumanization of peoples, the indifference of many, and the all too frequent display of moral cowardliness. As Canadians we ask ourselves how to respond to such a faraway conflict. There are indeed a number of ways to help. Financial contributions can be made 
through a host of aid agencies. We can speak out to our elected officials. Both of these are praiseworthy endeavours. There is another option as well. Each of us can redouble our efforts to become agents of peace and reconciliation in our own families, workplaces and communities, to be bridges of understanding in a time of deep division and discord. Peace starts in our own hearts and our local communities as does the fomenting of division and conflict. Let us work together to sow the seeds of peace! As faith leaders, we implore our faithful to turn towards the power of prayer and pray for justice, reconciliation and peace for the people of Myanmar!       
        Read More  (Click on the link at the bottom of their page for the full public statement)
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             Development & Peace is one Canadian agency working to help their plight.

​MESSAGE FOR THE MONTH OF RAMADAN 2018 OFM

May 13, 2018 - OFM - A message of hope and solidarity.
To our Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the World:
As-salaamu ‘alaykum! Peace be upon you!
On behalf of the Special Commission for Dialogue with Islam of the Order of Friars Minor, it gives me great pleasure once again to extend our greetings to you as you begin the observance of Ramadan. In this holy month you truly hunger and thirst for God (swt)as reflected by your rigorous daily fasting. As it is written in the Holy Qur’an, first revealed to you in this month: “Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you might be conscious of God (tattaqūna)…” (al-Baqara 2.183).
By becoming more conscious of God’s eternal presence and becoming more grateful to God the Most Generous (al-Karīm), we may all become more sensitive to the needs of others, particularly those who lack who lack adequate food and access to clean water – and there are many.  According to the World Health Organization, more than 800 million people, or 11 per cent of the global population, do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life.[1]  Nearly half of all deaths in children under the age of five are due to inadequate nutrition. The WHO also reports that some 844 million people lack a basic supply of drinking water, and at least 2 billion people worldwide drink water from contaminated sources that cause disease and death.[2]  ........READ MORE

Together for PEACE:
​SHARE LENT 2018

"This Lenten season, Development and Peace proposes that you partake in dialogue as a way to promote and share a culture of peace, tolerance, respect, and dignity. Lent is an opportune time to show our interest in others through a concrete gesture, however small, of our participation in building a world of peace. We invite Canadians to be generous in supporting the urgent and necessary work that Development and Peace is doing to improve the lives of local communities in the Global South," says Serge Langlois, Executive Director of Development and Peace.

                       READ MORE & SHARE
Development and Peace


​February 6, 2018 
Women Peacebuilders - Women and Peacebuilding
​In this short video of two and a half minutes, look and listen to three women from Colombia, Afghanistan and Lebanon as they offer their views on how to build peace.

Peace

Conflict resolution and active non-violence

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Prayer for Peace - Ukrainian Catholic Church

Following the crisis in the Ukraine, the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg has forwarded a prayer for Peace to the Reverend Clergy, Consecrated Religious, Seminarians, Faithful and Friends of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada!

“For peace throughout the world, for the well-being of God’s holy churches and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.”

They appeal for prayers for peace in the Ukraine, an end to violence there, for the well-being of God's churches and unity among the people of the Ukraine.

Read the full prayer appeal here.
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