London: peace initiative to capture Olympic spirit

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark and Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood are promoting One Hundred Days of Peace, to develop a peace legacy for the London Olympic Games in 2012.

The initiative springs from a collaboration among the Justice and Peace Offices of the dioceses of Westminster, Southwark and Brentwood together with Pax Christi, CAFOD, and the Jimmy Mizen Foundation.

The tradition of a 'truce' was established in the 9th century BC to enable competitors and spectators to travel safely to and from the Olympic Games through ancient Greece's warring city-states. The International Olympic Committee decided to revive the ancient concept of the Olympic Truce with the view to protecting, as far as possible, the interests of the athletes and sport in general, and to encourage the search for peaceful and diplomatic solutions to the conflicts around the world.

It is in this spirit that One Hundred Days of Peace has been established, with the hope that parishes, schools and groups in Westminster, Southwark and Brentwood will organise their own programmes of prayer and activity in the cause of peace.

For more information see: www.peacelegacy.org.uk/