The
Catholic Weekly
Online
Sydney
15 February 2004
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Birthday wishes for Aloysius
SA parishes merge
Focus on family
Gregorian Schola offers singers big chants
Gibson’s Passion ‘work of faith’, says cardinal
How to help create a ‘culture of peace’
Pregnant pause: The joy of showing our baby the way
There is a doctor in the house
Wollongong diocese buys site for high school
Boree log bush bash
Work in Catholic education brings honour for four
Bishop launches ‘significant’ new faith courses
$80,000 boost for drug fight
Editorial: Greatest story
Letters: Something special
Conversation: Fr Aiden Kelly, prison chaplain - Helping souls in a captive Congregation
On a walk with God ...
A credible Jesus
A biblical-based Mary
A life of Mercy with music
Care, prayer still very much in order
The Polding legacy
‘Catholic-only’ order denied
US-bound on the pitcher’s mound
How to help create a ‘culture of peace’
By Chris Lindsay
Catholics can individually help create a culture of peace in the world by such activities as affirming life and promoting human rights, according to the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council.
The council’s national executive officer, John Ferguson, says in a briefing paper that campaigning for fair wages, resolving personal or community conflict and striving for indigenous justice are also likely to enhance a culture of peace.
“The culture of peace is also a culture of human rights,” he says. “Human rights build on a culture of life, affirming and promoting civil and political rights (such as the right to life, physical integrity and freedom from discrimination) as well as economic, social and cultural rights (such as access to food, housing, shelter and health).”
He says a culture of peace “includes a range of values, attitudes and beliefs such as respect for human dignity, rejection of violence, valuing diversity, sharing, listening and seeking understanding”.
It is “a spiritual quest that for us involves applying the Church’s social teachings and living the values of the Gospel in our world”.
Mr Ferguson added: “This understanding of a culture of peace is really helpful in identifying where our individual and local efforts can fit into the global picture.
“Affirming life is part of a culture of peace. Promoting human rights is working for peace. So is working for fair wages, resolving personal or community conflict, and striv ing for indigenous justice.
“Writing letters to the editor, calling talkback radio or participating in a public rally can be also.
“Prayer, reconciliation and participation in the life of the local Church are by no means an afterthought to this work.
“We are called to start where we can.”
Last year, he said, Pope John Paul II had emphasised the importance of ‘gestures of peace’ made by women and men who live in hope as essential to world peace.
“The Pope had said: ‘Gestures of peace are possible when people appreciate fully the community dimensions of their lives, so that they grasp the meaning and consequences of events in their own communities and in the world. Gestures of peace create a tradition and a culture of peace.’
“But the question of how to influence world issues in the context of our daily lives can sometimes feel like a challenge. What difference can the individual make for world peace?
“A culture of peace is a culture of life. It is about affirming and defending the sanctity of life – of the unborn, the sick and elderly, the criminal sentenced to death, and communities ravaged by poverty, famine or war.”
Mr Ferguson said the Pope dedicates the first day of each year to praying for peace.
In this year’s message he had said the appeal for peace “is more urgent than ever, because men and women, in the face of tragedies which continue to afflict humanity, are tempted to yield to fatalism, as if peace were an unattainable ideal”.
“The Church,” he added, “has always taught and continues today to teach a very simple axiom: ‘Peace is possible’. Indeed, the Church does not tire of repeating that peace is a duty.”
Mr Ferguson said: “In the face of world events that can appear beyond the hope of peace, it is reassuring to hear those words, ‘Peace is possible’. As Christians we are called to action – to work for peace.”