From the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Committee

Pax Christi 

At our annual Precious Blood assembly, our Superior General Fr. Emanuele Lupi reminded us that we are an international community and as such, we should look forward to collaborating with Precious Blood Missionaries throughout the world. This holds true in our ongoing work promoting the dignity of all people and working for social justice and peace. While our JPIC committee has been concerned with such issues as ending the use of the death penalty, stopping gun violence, working for a just and comprehensive reform of our broken immigration system, and care for our common home, we should also be concerned about issues that affect people throughout the world.   

The last week of July, I attended the Pax Christi National Conference held in Detroit. The theme of the conference was “Reclaiming the Power of Nonviolence in a Broken World.” Nearly 300 peacemakers from across the states came together to discuss gun violence and the death penalty and to hear presentations about immigration and restoring the earth. But we also were made aware of other issues that should be of concern to us and for which we should raise our prophetic voices as members of the global family. 

We are all aware of the war in Ukraine. We need to raise our voices for peace. We were also reminded of the crisis in Gaza and the struggle for Palestinian rights, perhaps the moral issue of our times. We also held workshops on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and Sudan and what our response as Catholics should be. Another issue that was discussed was nuclear weapons. On this 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we are raising the threat, yet again, of the use of nuclear weapons. 

We do live in a broken and bleeding world. As Precious Blood Missionaries, we are called to stand with the poor, the victims, those in the margins. How am I doing that? 

Pope Leo sent a special message to those of us present at this conference: “I pray in a particular way that your gathering will inspire all in Pax Christi USA to work to make their local communities into ‘houses of peace’ where one learns how to defuse hostility through dialogue, where justice is practiced and forgiveness is cherished.” 

As Precious Blood Missionaries, let us continue to work to make our communities, locally and throughout the world, houses of peace. 

Gabino Zavala, JPIC Director