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The risen Jesus gave peace as his first gift to his followers. As disciples of Christ, we seek to make the
peace which Jesus gives us visible in our lives and in our world. In doing so, we become peacemakers and may deserve to be
called 'children of God.'
- Bishop Wilton T. Gregory
Blessed are the Peacemakers: Reflections on Two Anniversaries,
August 4, 2003
The
People’s Peace Initiative is a collaborative effort of national Catholic organizations to articulate the challenges
for Catholic peacemaking in the 21st century. In 2003, as we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the U.S. bishops' peace pastoral,
Pax Christi USA issued an invitation to national Catholic organizations and ministries to join in developing a grassroots
process of reflection that would lead to the writing of a "people's peace letter." Central to the vision are Jesus’
Gospel values and the experiences and insights of marginalized people—especially communities of color, women and the
impoverished in the
U.S. and around the world. (For a complete
list of participating organizations, see below). The two components of this initiative include:
1. The writing and
publication of a document, based on input from small group reflection processes in parishes and diocese convenings carried
out throughout 2007; and
2. An invigoration of the “vocation of peace-making” and strengthening of relationships
among Catholic organizations at the local level to further the work of building a more just and peace-filled world.
Our
hope is to build a broader, stronger movement for justice and peace within the Catholic community - so urgently needed for
our time.
Vision statement:
We are a network of Catholic organizations
and ministries uniting our voices to articulate the challenges and opportunities for promoting peace in our neighborhoods,
our nation, and our world. Central to our vision are Jesus’ Gospel values and the experiences and insights of marginalized
people —especially communities of color, women and the impoverished in the U.S.
and around the world.
Objectives:
· To establish and
strengthen relationships among our organizations and members that would broaden and invigorate the task of building justice
and establishing peace.
· To facilitate a
collaborative process with national Catholic organizations to identify the challenges and opportunities for U.S. Catholic
peacemaking in the 21st century, in response to the Gospel call to peace and the Church’s invitation to reflect on the
peacemaking vocation.
· To carry out a time-bound
process to gather input from the grassroots that would inform the drafting of a document on peace, as broadly defined.
· To publish and disseminate
the document which articulates the identified challenges and opportunities for peace building, as well as a vision for the
kind of nation and world we desire.
Endorsing
Organizations
· Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
· Catholic Charities USA
· Catholic Committee
of Appalachia
· Catholics Against Capital Punishment
· Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)
· JustFaith
· Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)
· Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
· Mexican American Cultural Center
· National Association
of Black Catholic Administrators
· National Black Catholic Congress
· National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry
· National Council of Catholic Women
· National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry
· NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
· Pax Christi USA
· Religious Task Force on Central America and Mexico
· Sisters of Mercy - Justice Office
· Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Justice and Peace Office
· Tekakwitha Conference
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