World Peace Initiatives: 20, 21 & 24 September 2016

September 20, 2016

There are a number of efforts for World Peace this week which invite our involvement in prayer and action:

Pope Francis has called for the observance of a ‘Day of Prayer for Peace’ on Tuesday, 20 September.

The day of prayer coincides with his visit to Assisi, Italy and occurs 30 years since the first such event. The day will centre around the theme, ‘Thirst for peace: faiths and cultures in dialogue’.

The moment of prayer for peace will take place at 4 p.m (Rome time) in the lower Basilica of St. Francis’ Church. Check the local time for your area here.
There will be an ecumenical prayer for Christians in the presence of representatives from other religions. All of the participants will gather at St. Francis’ Square for a closing ceremony.

Pope Francis will deliver an address followed by an appeal for peace. There will be a moment of silence in memory of the victims of war, an appeal for peace will be signed with the representatives from other religions. Two candles will be lit and followed by the sign of peace. Pope Francis will then return to the Vatican.

We are each invited to take a moment to pray for peace on Tuesday 20 September using the peace prayer of St Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Video: "Let there be peace on earth": performed by The Young People's Chorus of New York City, 25 September, 2015, during the interreligious encounter at the Ground Zero memorial in New York

A Nonviolence and Just Peace conference was held in Rome from 11-13 April, 2016. Papers from the conference can be found on the conference website. Individuals and organisations are invited to endorse the appeal to the Catholic Church to re-commit to the centrality of Gospel nonviolence and to develop a Just Peace approach.
You may read the appeal and sign it here