A PLEA FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION
General Chapter of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ
October 2024
As the General Chapter of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, gathered in Rome this month, we pray constantly for the peace of the world, aware that peace is God’s gift. We share in the deep distress of so many people everywhere about the easy resort to war today, and the intolerable grief and pain that this violence imposes on huge populations. As followers of Jesus Christ we believe that even such great suffering can never finally extinguish hope, and that suffering will give way to new life.
We recognise how the long history of human tragedy continues to cast deep shadows in Israel and Palestine, in Gaza and Lebanon, in Ukraine and Russia, in Sudan, Congo, Mozambique, Mexico, Haiti, Myanmar and many other places in the world. In our times, hearts have become hardened and peace seems utopian. The flames of conflict are fanned by self-interested parties, companies and individuals ready to plunder a region’s resources, and those seeking political power and economic advantage, as in arms sales.
Together with Pope Francis our plea can only be for peace. When as a Chapter we met with him he encouraged us: “to proclaim the pres ence of the Crucified and Risen in the suffering of our day - its vastness and devastation in poverty, in wars, in the laments of creation, in the perverse dynamics that produce divisions between people, and the rejection of the weak. Let everything possible be done to prevent the pain of our brothers and sisters from remaining meaningless and resulting in a waste of humanity and despair”. [Address of His Holiness to the participants of the General Chapter of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (Passionists), 25th October 2024].
We recognise the role that our various religious traditions continue to play, for good and for ill, among the nations and peoples locked in conflict today. While acknowledging the failures that make us complicit in the tragedy, we want to raise our voice, along with the Pope and other religious leaders, and say: violence will only stop with a ceasefire; peace can only be restored with a change of heart; reconciliation will be achieved only on the basis of true justice for all.
We join with all those ready to call Peace our sister and our daily companion. For this reason, in all the conflict zones, especially today in Gaza and Israel, in Ukraine and Russia, we urge: The killing must stop. Stand ready “to beat swords into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks” (Is. 2, 4).
General Chapter of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ
October 2024
As the General Chapter of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, gathered in Rome this month, we pray constantly for the peace of the world, aware that peace is God’s gift. We share in the deep distress of so many people everywhere about the easy resort to war today, and the intolerable grief and pain that this violence imposes on huge populations. As followers of Jesus Christ we believe that even such great suffering can never finally extinguish hope, and that suffering will give way to new life.
We recognise how the long history of human tragedy continues to cast deep shadows in Israel and Palestine, in Gaza and Lebanon, in Ukraine and Russia, in Sudan, Congo, Mozambique, Mexico, Haiti, Myanmar and many other places in the world. In our times, hearts have become hardened and peace seems utopian. The flames of conflict are fanned by self-interested parties, companies and individuals ready to plunder a region’s resources, and those seeking political power and economic advantage, as in arms sales.
Together with Pope Francis our plea can only be for peace. When as a Chapter we met with him he encouraged us: “to proclaim the pres ence of the Crucified and Risen in the suffering of our day - its vastness and devastation in poverty, in wars, in the laments of creation, in the perverse dynamics that produce divisions between people, and the rejection of the weak. Let everything possible be done to prevent the pain of our brothers and sisters from remaining meaningless and resulting in a waste of humanity and despair”. [Address of His Holiness to the participants of the General Chapter of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (Passionists), 25th October 2024].
We recognise the role that our various religious traditions continue to play, for good and for ill, among the nations and peoples locked in conflict today. While acknowledging the failures that make us complicit in the tragedy, we want to raise our voice, along with the Pope and other religious leaders, and say: violence will only stop with a ceasefire; peace can only be restored with a change of heart; reconciliation will be achieved only on the basis of true justice for all.
We join with all those ready to call Peace our sister and our daily companion. For this reason, in all the conflict zones, especially today in Gaza and Israel, in Ukraine and Russia, we urge: The killing must stop. Stand ready “to beat swords into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks” (Is. 2, 4).