“No peace without Justice - No
Justice without Forgiveness”
Keynote Speech Pax Christi USA
National Assembly
By H.B. Michel Sabbah
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and
President of Pax Christi International
1 August 2003
12
Your Excellencies,
Dear friends,
1. Good evening. Coming from Jerusalem, I wish all of
you the peace of Christ. Jerusalem is still in quest of justice and peace.
Jerusalem is still in search of the reconciliation that Christ won there and
that went from Jerusalem to the world. Living in a situation of injustice,
oppression and violence, as I do, I want to address my message to you this
evening, about reconciliation and peacemaking.
I thank Pax Christi USA for the invitation. I enjoy very much being with you these
days at the National Assembly to share together our common efforts towards real
peace in this country, in my country and in the world. A special word of thanks to Bishop
Walter Sullivan, who I met in Amman and Jerusalem some years ago, for his
guidance and leadership as the bishop president of Pax Christi USA for over 10
years. I also greet the new Bishop president, Bishop Gabino Zavala from Los
Angeles. I wish you, brother bishop, all the best in your efforts to give
leadership to this most important Catholic peace movement in USA. I am glad as
well to see here present members of our Executive Committee, the International
Secretariat and other friends from the global South. This is further evidence
that our movement is becoming more and more international, and for this we are
truly grateful.
2. Pax Christi International came into being
when a group of Catholics in France and in Germany came together and prayed for
forgiveness for the terrible slaughter during World War II, an immense tragedy
for which all sides in the conflict bore deep responsibility. The first head of
Pax Christi was a French Bishop, Pierre Théas, who was imprisoned by the
Germans in 1944 after protesting the deportation of Jews. Pax Christi was born
out of a commitment to work for peaceful methods of resolving the world’s most
intractable problems, encouraging people to hunger and thirst for justice by
witnessing to the call of Christian non-violence. By its very title, Pax
Christi is pledged to proclaim that the Peace of Christ has been victorious
over division and hatred through His death and resurrection.
Pax Christi is a movement within the Church
which pledges itself to working for peace not as an option but as an essential
feature of the Gospel message, because it bears witness to the effects of the
Gospel in renewing lives and building up the kingdom of God on earth. Its
membership is open to all men and women who are committed to peace. Pope John
Paul II greeted Pax Christi International in May 1995 with these words: ‘Movements
like yours are precious… they help to develop conscience so that justice can
prevail’.
However, we are not naïve idealists, we realize
that God’s peace is broken in our world today. During the first half of the
last century, millions of lives were lost in the World Wars. Moreover, in local
conflicts all over the world, in the 1990s alone,
These facts and more are a challenge to all of
us who profess to live the Christian faith. We must stop viewing media reports
of these conflicts as simply another item for the evening news. We must begin
to acknowledge the fact that behind the reporting there are real people
involved, that serious issues of justice are at stake, matters which cannot,
which must not, be ignored. We live in a world that has been shattered by
hatred, violence and fear. And our shattered existence cannot be fully restored
except by a response that unites justice and forgiveness. The pillars of true
peace are justice and that form of love that is forgiveness. Our call today is
clear: No peace without Justice - No Justice without Forgiveness. Blessed Pope
John the XXIII in his encyclical Pacem in Terris (Peace one Earrth), 40
years ago, has underlined more pillars for a true peace: truth, justice,
love and freedom. Paul VI added, in his encyclical Populorum Progressio,
that the other name of peace is development.
3. The notion of reconciliation lies at the
heart of Pax Christi’s peace work. Conflict resolution can only be successful
if it also involves a healing process, for victims as well as perpetrators of
violence, and if it takes steps together towards truth and justice. Members of
the same family, who have fought one other in times of war, must eventually be
reunited at the family table. This does not mean that the past is forgotten or
ignored. In the movement toward reconciliation, whether in South Africa,
Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Mozambique, Haiti, El Salvador,
Northern Ireland, in Israel and Palestine or the former Yugoslavia, the call is
always for truth, justice and forgiveness and not for amnesia. What are needed
in all these situations are sincere acts of justice, repentance and mutual
forgiveness, both on the personal and the community level. In the end we, each,
are required to face God, to face one another and indeed the whole of
humankind.
This process,
however, is not an easy one. It
may be easy to dream and to talk about a world without weapons, but what is
needed today are people who are prepared to commit themselves in very practical
ways to achieving that goal. The industry of war has grown to enormous
proportions. Now it is the task
for all of us to dismantle it.
Pax Christi
International will continue to promote dialogue and harmony both at the
ecumenical and inter-faith level, recognizing and respecting the search for
truth and wisdom that goes on outside our own religious tradition. We will also
continue to listen to the cries of the oppressed and, in the spirit of Pacem
et Terris, (or “Peace on Earth,”), work with all people of good will in
creating a more just and harmonious world. We know that the foundation for all
our work must be based on mutual tolerance and respect for religious freedom
everywhere.
All forms of
discrimination, colonialism, exclusion, exploitation and domination have to be
overcome. A sense of shared responsibility and the opportunity for full participation
should be a leading principle of institutions at every level. We cannot hope to
build a more peaceful world if the rights of minorities and religious and civil
freedoms continue to be ignored as they are still in more than one country.
4. All the world remembers September 11th
2001. On that day, a terrible crime was committed: in a few brief hours, the
lives of thousands of innocent people of many nationalities and ethnic
backgrounds were destroyed. From
that day on, many people throughout the world have felt a profound sense of
personal vulnerability and a fear for the future.
In the same way the world has lived the 12
years of embargo imposed upon Iraq and the thousands of dead innocent people,
children, women or old people. They were the victims of quarrels among world
political leaders. The thousands of victims among Palestinians and Israelis,
resulting from the non-application of the United Nations resolutions, and the
millions of victims in African or other conflicts in the world are also cases
of contempt of human life. In these failures, the international community shows
its incapacity to stop such inhumanity.
Terrorism not only commits intolerable crimes,
but because it resorts to terror as a political and military means to achieve
its end, is itself a crime against humanity.
Terrorism sometimes claims that it derives from
religious attitudes. We consider these to be wrong religious attitudes, even
more, they are opposite to the essence of any religion. Sometimes it claims to
be fighting injustice and oppression imposed upon peoples. Whatever the reason,
terrorism is an evil to be condemned and to be opposed.
But at the same time, oppressions and
injustices that provoke terrorism or give birth to it have to be fought
whatever be the form of injustice and oppression, whether a military occupation
or the spirit of domination on others.
Pax Christi in its one day consultation, has proposed the
concept of “Pre-emptive peace:
Beyond Terrorism and Justified War.” As terrorism pretends to have roots in
religion, in poverty, in injustice and oppression, this means that we have the
need for a new type of human education: in religious life and in political
life. The goal of this education is to find new ways to claim peoples’ rights
and new ways of acting against injustice and oppression. Finally, this new
education will prepare people for a serious action in the domain of
development. Beyond a “justified war” means also a new spirit and a new way of
initiating a new world order based on equality between peoples and respect of
persons and nations. A new education means that in the name of God one cannot
kill his brother. In the name of freedom or democracy one cannot kill his
brother. To kill one’s brother is the biggest evil in the human life of an
individual or of a nation; to kill one’s brother cannot build peace.
Against this backdrop, Pax Christi testifies to
its hope, a hope that is based on the conviction that evil does not have the
final word in human affairs. Pax Christi hopes that the great nations of this
world have enough goodness to change the present world order that sacrifices so
many innocent victims through supposed justified wars. Pax Christi hopes that
the present world leaders will succeed in replacing pre-emptive war by
preemptive peace. Pax Christi
hopes as well that those who recourse to terrorism, for whatever reason and in
whatever context, will one day recognize their own humanity and the dignity of
others, along with their capacity for goodness which God, their Creator and
Redeemer, has put in them.
Therefore we proclaim once more the message of
hope which comes from Christ: God the Creator loves all men and women and gives
them the hope of a new era, an age where peace and justice prevail. This love is fully revealed in Jesus
Christ and is the foundation for universal peace. Peace is possible. It must be sought from God as a gift,
but it also needs to be built day by day with the help only God can give.
5. We join in solidarity with communities which
are suffering and we lift up the cries of the Iraqi people, whose long
suffering under authoritarian regimes and in bloody conflict with neighboring
Iran has been compounded by over a decade of U.S. bombing and U.N.-imposed
economic sanctions. Today after the war, a bigger evil is caused to Iraq and
its people: insecurity, deprivations, confusion close to anarchy, and still
continuing bloodshed. We reject the manipulated and truncated debate that led
to war. The war in Iraq by the US, the UK and their allies was heavily
contested by the peace movement in the USA, in Europe and by most of the
religious groups. The broader peace movement played a crucial role in shaping
public opinion in opposing a war in Iraq. As people of faith, we cannot be
silent – and we were not silent. As mentioned several times by the Holy See, a
pre-emptive war on Iraq was and is illegal and immoral. The doctrine of
pre-emptive war stands in strong contrast to the peace movement’s clear
objective of abolishing war altogether and to support a policy of pre-emptive
peace. It undermines efforts to build international co-operation,
non-proliferation and disarmament. It compromises the integrity of
international law and institutions. Pax Christi International commends Pax
Christi USA for its fervent opposition to the war in Iraq and for its competent
leadership within the peace movement and within our church. And now Iraq needs,
in the shortest possible time, a stable and strong government of its own. Do the
powers who made war have the capacity to repair the evil of war by a rapid
reconstruction of the country? We are still waiting to see. But we are also
acting with and calling for all peaceful powers in the world to help Iraq find
again itself, its stability and its normal life.
Israeli and Palestinian Conflict
6. When we speak about this conflict, we should always
go back to ask ourselves: in what it consists? Why the Israelis and the
Palestinians are in conflict? The simple and real answer will shed a light that
will render simple and possible the end of the conflict despite its complexity.
The real and simple answer is: this conflict consists in the Israeli military
occupation of Palestinian land since 1967 and the Palestinian claim for an end to this occupation.
Since two years, with the start of the second Intifada
or Palestinian resistance, under the guise of dismantling the infrastructure of
Palestinian terrorism, Israeli forces have systematically destroyed almost
every political and civil Palestinian institution over the last twelve months.
Not only have President Arafat’s government and security services been
decimated, banks and businesses, schools and research centers, town halls,
media outlets, the land registry and the courts have been violated or
destroyed. A peaceful future cannot be shaped in this way.
Pax Christi
International deplores the human suffering in the Palestinian Occupied
Territories and Israel, that continue unabated despite the Road Map to peace in
the region. It is the civilian population, in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories and as well as in Israel, that is the victim of this never-ending
spiral of violence, of unjust military occupation and of the current political
and economic crisis.
Pax Christi
International is very concerned about the expanding obstruction that
humanitarian and human rights workers, journalists and peace activists have had
to endure in this context. Pax Christi International emphasized in its recent
recommendations to the UN Commission on Human Rights the necessity of
establishing an independent international human rights monitoring body for the
Occupied Arab Territories, having a strong and transparent mandate and being
directed to make all reports available to the public. This body would have clear
directives to put an end to impunity and be empowered to press for the
prosecution of violators of human rights and international humanitarian law.
In my country, the role of organizations such as Pax
Christi is very important. I appreciate very much the efforts of our movement
in bringing together peace and human rights activists from both sides, Israeli
and Palestinian, in a spirit of non-violence working for a peaceful solution in
our region.
After the war on Iraq, the US has launched a new initiative,
the “roadmap” towards peace. The question is: does the US have the political
resolve and capacity to implement it? The governments of the European Union
have as well their vision of a true and definitive peace in the Middle East but
do they also have the political resolve and means to achieve what they see?
It is becoming clearer now that the only practical way
forward for Israelis and Palestinians alike is this ‘roadmap’ offered by the
Quartet of the EU, the UN, the USA and Russia. However, this ‘roadmap’ should
be implemented now, not at some more convenient and distant future, when all
‘violence’ has ceased - as America has demanded of Palestinians for months now.
US policy must take into account that addressing the conditions in which
violence flourishes is not the same as condoning it! Therefore recognizing the
terrible plight of the Palestinian people is a necessity, as much as
recognizing the necessity of security for Israelis.
There are numerous potholes, boulders and blind
corners in the ‘roadmap’. Those who read the document carefully will see the
many ambiguities, such as the question of borders, the policy on settlements in
the Occupied Territories, the question of the Refugees, and the final status of
Jerusalem. Nonetheless, marking out the route remains a formidable achievement.
There are graded confidence-building measures, meticulous timing and a solid
commitment to provide the security that will be necessary for the creation of a
viable and democratic Palestinian state. The UN’s authorization confers
legitimacy; the European Union brings financial resources and Russia strategic
depth. The missing ingredient now is strong pressure from the US that would
give the final proof for the American commitment to a just peace.
7. The Cold War has ended. Yet this should not
permit us to overlook the calamitous damage that the use of nuclear weapons
would cause. This danger is still ever present in our world today. A so-called
“peace” based on nuclear weapons cannot secure the kind of peace we seek for
the 21st century. Nuclear proliferation can only make the possibility of using
such weapons all the more real. No
government – big or small – can morally justify escalating such a risk.
The presence of weapons of mass destruction in
any region of the world, Middle East or elsewhere, represents, in fact, a
threat to long-term regional and to global security.
The Pax Christi movement calls again upon all
those who possess nuclear weapons, the powerful and less powerful countries
alike, to unequivocally renounce their use, regardless of the adversary and
regardless of the circumstances, and to eliminate completely their nuclear
arsenals. This call is intended to be visionary and prophetic in contrast to
the inclination of some governments, including that of the present Bush
Administration, to develop new nuclear weapons systems, while forbidding them
to others. Today we call again for
a total renunciation of nuclear terror.
8. If we truly witness with open hearts and
open minds the pain and the grief of those who are trapped in the crossfire of
today’s conflicts, we cannot help but be changed. We witness the anguish,
confusion and insecurity, experienced by displaced families in Afghanistan,
sick and hungry children in Iraq, people permanently maimed in Rwanda, Burundi
and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the prospect of millions starving or
dying from AIDS in Africa, campesinos in war-torn Colombia, school children in
Northern Ireland, the anxiety of people in Israel simply riding a bus to work,
Palestinians living under inhuman conditions in the Occupied Territories, poor
and marginalized communities in your own country – and we cannot help but
grieve. War and terrorism alike destroy the human heart and desecrate the
sacred earth that is our common home.
Indeed, we have come to recognize again, as Dr.
Martin Luther King reminded us so many years ago, that “wars are poor
chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” We must sooner or later make a
choice. Either we continue on this
path that leads the world ever deeper into war and terrorism, or we develop a
new vision of peace and forge a more hopeful path toward a common future. We
applaud all who are working sincerely and courageously toward more peaceful
solutions to our conflicts, those who are crossing traditional boundaries
within their own communities here in the US and elsewhere throughout the world.
Ours is a God who promises life and who
inspires hope, a hope that takes root in each of our hearts and strengthens us
to offer the best of our prayers, our efforts and our compassion. It compels us
to greater solidarity and a commitment to the poor. It moves us to defend the
victims of war and terrorism and to struggle alongside those who are excluded
from the benefits of the global economy.
Our call at this time in history is a spiritual
one. We must learn to wait on God and to return to our deepest centre, where
all dwell in the God who is love. We are called by our faith in this God of
life and by the gravity of this point in history to read the signs of these
times and to act in a manner that is explicitly shaped by the Gospel. As people
who are committed to achieving peace through non-violence means, we believe
that there is no greater expression or symbol of non-violent love than the way
of the cross that Jesus proclaimed – the way of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Triangle for Peace
9. At this point I
would like to bring to mind a wonderful legacy within our movement that was
accented by Cardinal Feltin when he was President of Pax Christi International
during the 1950’s. Feltin spoke of the all-important triangle for building
peace: prayer, study and action. Prayer means not only praying for peace; it
also means meditative or contemplative prayer that reflects on both the
suffering and the promise inherent in the situation and remembers that peace is
Jesus’ gift to us and that peace is possible. Study means learning about the
historical background of any conflict situation as well as learning all we can
of the peace efforts that are being made in the international community and
considering these efforts in the light of the Gospel and Catholic social
teaching. Finally, action includes not only the numerous activities that so
characterize our work as a movement; it also means working against prejudice
and stereotypes. It means living reconciliation in all that we do.
It is a wonderful sign of hope that, despite
the serious obstacles around us, initiatives for peace continue to spring up
each day with the generous cooperation of many people. Peace is a building that
is constantly under construction. This building includes things like:
q
Parents who are examples and witnesses to peace in their families and
who educate their children for peace,
q
Teachers who are willing to teach respect for the person and to pass on
those values that are present in every field of knowledge and in our common
historical and cultural heritage,
q
Political leaders who put at the heart of their own policy making and
that of their country a firm and unwavering determination to promote peace and
justice,
q
Those in international organizations who often work with scarce
resources on the front line where peacemaking can involve personal risk,
q
The members of Non-governmental Organizations who in different parts of
the world are dedicated to preventing and resolving conflicts through research
and activity, and…
q
Believers, who are convinced that authentic faith must never be a source
for violence or war; instead it spreads convictions of peace and love through
ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.
10. The coming of
Christ on earth was first welcomed by the song of the Angels in Bethlehem: “Peace
on earth and glory to God in the Highest”. The glory of God in the Highest
is the peace between all his children and creatures on earth. Again, when Jesus
gave his life for those he loved, St Paul says that He has demolished the wall
of separation in His own body. Human nature, being the soil that can receive
the seed of evil together with the seed of peace, was purified through his
death and Resurrection, and the power of evil was defeated in it. Therefore He
became our peace, and He reconciled humanity with God, and gave it the power to
be reconciled with each other.
Working to announce and to achieve the ‘Peace
of Christ’ (Pax Christi), we believe firmly that peace between men is possible,
despite the long human history until our present days, full of wars, violence,
oppression and terrorism. And instead of what is proposed today by political
planning, i.e. preemptive war, Pax Christi is proposing pre-emptive peace. War
is generated in ambitions and injustices as St James says: “Those conflicts
and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your
cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so
you commit murder, and you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage
in disputes and conflicts.”. (St James 4: 1-2). St James indicates us one
of the most efficient ways of preventing wars and making peace: to fight
against evil in ourselves. The more we are powerful against evil in ourselves,
the more powerful we are against the evil outside. The more we are powerful
against evil in our systems of governing and creating relations, the more
powerful we will be in putting limits to evil, terrorism or other forms of
violence among peoples.
Pax Christi
International will continue to seek effective ways of promoting active
non-violence as a means of conflict resolution. Peace education is essential at
all levels, if we are to halt the xenophobia and racism that plagues many parts
of our world today. Children must be taught to live in a multi-cultural society
that respects the rights of others to be different. Religious education must
promote a true spirit of openness and tolerance.
In a true religious education there must be three basic elements: the
first, faithfulness of the believer to his own religion, excluding any
eclecticism. Second, to respect the other in his different religion. The third,
to be aware that the essence of all religion is to know God, to love him and to
love all his creatures. To be aware that God does not put walls or borders
between his children, that religions should rather help to demolish borders in
order to build together, in keeping with the grace given by God.
Pax Christi International will continue to seek effective ways of
promoting the truth that there is no peace without justice, and no justice
without forgiveness. Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is a decision, a decision
not to let past injuries block the way to present efforts to find truth,
justice, love and freedom, that are the deep and solid foundation of a true and
definitive peace.
I wish you a good and fruitful Assembly! May God bless our work together in
the days ahead.
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Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
President
of Pax Christi International