Condecoração de D. Manuel Martins pela Embaixada de Timor

Pax Christi International celebrates with gratitude the memory of Bishop Martyr Oscar Romero from El Salvador | Pax Christi

Pax Christi International celebrates with gratitude the memory of Bishop Martyr Oscar Romero from El Salvador | Pax Christi: Pax Christi International rejoices with the beatification of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero and celebrates in solidarity with the people of El Salvador and the peoples of the world who recognize in Msgr. Romero a witness of a peace which is the fruit of justice. Msgr. Romero’s legacy is the persistent search for truth, justice and reconciliation; his journey was marked by a unique coherence between his values and faith and his practice.

While Msgr. Romero was leading the Archdiocese of San Salvador, the political repression of the popular demands for justice and human rights reached brutal levels of violence. In facing that reality, he became a true prophet. His word and his pastoral practice – based in the Gospel – denounced the structural injustice at the roots of the repression and proclaimed the centrality of justice and the unconditional respect for human rights as the only way to leave behind the spiral of violence in which El Salvador was immersed. He tirelessly defended those whose rights were persistently violated and built bridges among those who looked for a just transformation of the conflict. But his voice was not heard by those who clung to their own power and interests, and they ordered his assassination while he was celebrating the Eucharist.

The beginning of Pax Christi’s commitment to peace in Latin America and the Caribbean is closely linked to Msgr. Romero who asked the leadership of our movement early in 1980 to show special solidarity with the people of the region. After his assassination – and especially inspired by his evangelical coherence – Pax Christi International sent a mission to four countries of Central America as a sign of its solidarity with Christian communities and with civil society organizations working for justice and human rights in those countries. The mission also made an inquiry into the human rights situation and the position of the churches in Central America. Its findings were published in 1981 and 1982 in four reports dealing with the situation in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua and with the position of the Salvadoran refugees in Honduras.

Prompted by the significance of Msgr. Romero’s life and witness, the United Nations General Assembly in 2010 proclaimed 24 March as the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims. In its decision, the Assembly honored Msgr. Romero’s commitment in “denouncing violations of the human rights of the most vulnerable populations and defending the principles of protecting lives, promoting human dignity and opposition to all forms of violence.”

Pax Christi International considers Msgr. Oscar Romero a prophet of justice and peace. He is an inspiration for our peace movement and we hope that his beatification will renew the courage of peace workers and human rights defenders – especially from younger generations – who endure threats, harassment, attacks, and death for their commitment in favor of those who are oppressed and whose voices are frequently ignored.

Brussels, 23 May 2015


Esta mensagem está também disponível em espanhol.

Pax Christi International in favour of recognition of the state of Palestine and a ban on settlements | Pax Christi

Pax Christi International in favour of recognition of the state of Palestine and a ban on settlements | Pax Christi: The World Assembly of Pax Christi urges all UN-member states to recognize the state of Palestine and to ban Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine. The 160 participants in the Assembly of the international Catholic peace movement in Bethlehem/West Bank from 13th to 17th of May are deeply concerned about Israeli policies that deny the rights of the Palestinian people and preclude the possibility of a two state solution. Pax Christi International supports Palestinians in their nonviolent struggle to end occupation and Israelis who stand for human rights and international law, including as applied to Palestinians.

Pax Christi International welcomes the Vatican's recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state and believes that bilateral recognition is an important acknowledgement of the right of Palestinians to self-determination. With the new Israeli government's refusal to turn 22% of the land of the former Palestine Mandate into the new state of Palestine, the UN must implement UNSC Resolution 242, by which Israel is required to withdraw from the territories occupied since 1967.

Since the Israeli government continues to allow the building of new settlements and the enlargement of existing settlements, both of which are violations of international humanitarian law, all collaboration with occupation must end. Third parties, including the US, the Russian Federation and EU member states are responsible for ensuring respect for international law. In order to prevent settlements from becoming profitable, settlement products should be banned. With Palestine a member of the International Criminal Court, war crimes can be sentenced now.

Participants in the Assembly, who came from five continents, joined the Nakba commemoration in Bethlehem. They remembered the 750,000 Palestinians who were driven out or fled in 1947/1948, as well as the ongoing Nakba, which threatens Palestinians with expulsion from home and land at any time. They visited refugee camps and farmers in villages in the Jordan Valley and in the south of Hebron, where farmers expect the Israeli military to destroy their houses, water systems and stables if the international community does not act to prevent such violations of international law.

Pax Christi International encourages Palestinian and Israeli human rights and peace organizations to continue their work for a just peace in the Middle East based on human rights and international law and proclaims its solidarity with these groups. Pax Christi encourages all pilgrimages to the Holy Land to engage with the local people of Palestine. Without hope and vision and solidarity neither the oppressed nor the oppressor can find a way out of violence, war and a culture of death. To stand for life is Pax Christi's international responsibility.

Bethlehem, 17 May 2015

Pax Christi International 2015 World Assembly: "The Bethlehem Commitment: Bringing Future into Focus 2015 - 2020" | Pax Christi

Pax Christi International 2015 World Assembly: "The Bethlehem Commitment: Bringing Future into Focus 2015 - 2020" | Pax Christi: This statement was approved by the AGM of Pax Christi International and adopted by the 2015 World Assembly held in Bethlehem, Palestine, on 13-17 May 2015.

Where we began and where we are now …

Forged in the broken relationships of a brutal war, Pax Christi began its journey 70 years ago with a vision based on the gospel - love your enemies - and rooted in a deep belief that reconciliation was possible. Shaped over the years by people of faith struggling to make peace in the midst of injustice and war, violence and repression, our movement brings to this moment in history a renewed commitment to make real in our lives and in our work for peace the values we claim to hold.

From the beginning we have accompanied those who are on the margins and we continue to connect with grassroots communities, listening with care to their stories and learning from their experience about possible, practical routes to enduring peace and, at the same time, developing insights into other pathways to peace.

At a time when poverty, exclusion, hopelessness and a lack of future possibilities pervade the lives of many young people making extremist ideologies attractive, we recognise the legacy of colonialism and systemic injustice, the power of active nonviolence, the importance of diversity and the urgency of inclusion.

At a time when fear is both real and orchestrated, we build bridges to hope, celebrating an abundance of difference among us; of age and culture, ethnicity and religion, sex and gender, experience and worldview. 

With deep roots in the Catholic tradition and encouraged by the vision and witness of Pope Francis, we claim the richness of Catholic social teaching as we Christians strengthen existing ecumenical and interfaith cooperation.

On this journey we have learned that just relationships are essential for sustainable peace - that we humans are part of an earth community that must be healthy if we are to survive. We have come to see the interconnections between war and preparations for war, environmental damage, climate change and scarcity of essential resources. We are deepening our understanding of sustainability.

We also have learned that just relationships are essential to just peace – that Catholic hierarchy and local communities, ordained and lay, women and men bring equal gifts to the work for peace.

While war, preparations for war, the proliferation of arms and violent conflict seem to be omnipresent, we promote nonviolence, nurture community and work for a world where human rights and international law are consistently respected. (Mais ...)

Também disponível em espanhol e francês. 

Património: Estado Islâmico «está a destruir bens insubstituíveis» | Agência Ecclesia

Agência Ecclesia - Património: Estado Islâmico «está a destruir bens insubstituíveis»: Lisboa, 26 mai 2015 (Ecclesia) – O diretor do Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, com outros 16 historiadores de todo o mundo, vai entregar esta quarta-feira ao Papa um manifesto sobre o património e a cultura como formas de diálogo entre os povos.
Em entrevista concedida hoje à Agência ECCLESIA, António Filipe Pimentel realça que o património e a cultura são portadores daquilo que de “melhor foi feito ao longo dos tempos, por cada geração”, e nesse sentido são também como que “mensageiros retrospetivos da paz”. ...