Catholic Charities of Gallup

A Convergence for Peace

Some gatherings evoke the deepest aspirations of the human heart and soul.  One such convergence  centered around commemoration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, July 31^st and August 1^st, 2009, remembering the Atomic bombings of these cities 64 years ago.

The Witness for Peace event, co-sponsored by PaxChristi New Mexico and the Nobel Women’s Initiative, began with presentations by Mairead Maguire and Jody Williams, both Nobel Peace Prize winners, who captivated an audience of over 400 in Santa Fe, NM, with their dramatic, inspiring accounts of daring, difficult yet ultimately successful peace initiatives.

Mairead Mcguire won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize after her relatives were killed on the streets of Belfast, and she organized the largest peace demonstrations in the history of Northern Ireland.  She co-founded the Peace People Community in Belfast and has dedicated her life to promoting nonviolence and peace around the world,  traveling the warzones of the world teaching peace.

Mairead told of her recent visit to Gaza, where she met with members of the Free Gaza People movement.  “No where in the world do you have 1 ½ million people fenced off.  This is wrong.  We are trying to stand up and say there’s a better way.  We have international laws defending  the basic human rights of all people. We need to take care of the human family because we are all interconnected.  And as one human family we are in a whole new era of challenges and threats, but the underlying values and morality are not different.  We should not be killing each other.  There are always alternatives to violence, militarism and war.”  Mairead urged people to help create non-killing, nonviolent societies.  “Nonviolence is the greatest kept secret of the Catholic Church.  You cannot possibly read the New Testament Scriptures and not know that Jesus was nonviolent.  Jesus was totally nonviolent.”

Jody Williams won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work to ban landmines around the world.  As the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines,  Jody oversaw ICBL’s growth to over 1,300 organizations in 95 countries working to eliminate antipersonnel landmines.  Her message was strong and compelling:  “In this critical moment, we are at a crossroads of possibility – of a world without nuclear weapons.  Obama has voiced the rhetoric and has met with Russian counterparts.  We need to seize the moment.  I see the possibility for change.

We need to talk about security in a different way. Nuclear weapons don’t save anything.  They are morally bankrupt and already illegal under existing international law.”  She urged listeners to rethink the meaning of security.  “On September 10, 2001, we thought we were the most protected people on the planet.  Four planes on September 11^th freaked out the American people.  What makes people secure is when all people are secure; when all people on Earth have their basic human needs met.  We need to rethink economic security and rethink the military budget. What will we do with the money when we get rid of nukes?  Peace is an amazing word with an amazing power.”