Christian Peace Education Fund celebrates 35 years

Archbishop Malcolm with CPEF team members

Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool, National President of Pax Christi, hosted an evening at St Vincent's Convent in Central London on 2 November to celebrate 35 years of Pax Christi's Christian Peace Education Fund. Since 1982, grants have been given to more than 120 projects, including Peace Trails, Peace Gardens, school exchanges, conferences, DVDs and study guides. Archbishop Malcolm thanked all those who had contributed to the Fund through donations and legacies and acknowledged all the work of the Trustees and supporters who have maintained the Fund for 35 years. He expressed particular thanks to those involved from the beginning.

One of these is Pax Christi Vice President Valerie Flessati, who spoke about Pope John Paul ll's visit to Britain in 1982, where, at Coventry, he called for a "cathedral of peace". At the time there were fears about nuclear war and cruise missiles had recently been deployed at Greenham Common in Berkshire. Meanwhile, Pax Christi was preparing peace assemblies for schools, campaigning against militarism in schools and highlighting that Peace is a key element of Catholic Social Teaching. Its first peace education worker was organising diocesan peace conferences for teachers. Pax Christi was determined to support teachers and educators in their work to help young people reflect critically on the world in which they lived.

The Fund was set up by Pax Christi to "promote peace by means of meetings, lectures, seminars, the production of books and publications and lots more besides". Recipients of grants talked about valuing their peacemaking outreach and the quality of Pax Christi's educational resources. Tim Devereux of the Movement for the Abolition of War reported that grants totalling £3,500 over the last decade have helped the annual organisation of a Peace History Conference with more than 50 speakers. Eric Pearse of Interfaith Wolverhampton reported support for a 2013 conference on 'Forgiveness' which highlighted that all faiths have common approaches to forgiveness.

Jenny Rowlands, a teacher at St Paul's School in Milton Keynes, spoke enthusiastically about a 'Faith in Action' Day for six Catholic secondary schools in Northampton Diocese where the Fund helped pay for packs and special lanyards "which lifted the day" for the students.

Matt Jeziorski, Pax Christi's current Peace Education Officer, spoke of Pax Christi's role today in fostering the Christian vocation to peacemaking, working with teachers to facilitate discussion and discernment on difficult issues of war and peace. A "Catholic Spirituality" inset day for teachers is particularly popular. Matt spends an average of 40 days a year in schools, offering workshops, seminars and talks on peacemaking. He voiced his concerns over any Catholic school that might host a science event organised by a company such as BAESystems.

There was a reflection on the role of peace education, by James Trewby, the education worker for the Columban Missionary Society JPIC team. Imagination, collaboration, optimism and being strategic are key elements in peace education, he said, promoting understanding and empathy and highlighting how many of the world's problems today - war, poverty, climate change, for example - are interconnected.

Looking to the future, Ann Nugent, a Fund trustee, highlighted the Fund's Just Giving page and urged further support for peace education. The Fund's website also provides details of how to apply for a grant. Ann also mentioned that the CPEF is currently seeking more trustees.

Pax Christi peace education work has flourished over the years and today Pax Christi produces high quality on-line educational resources, on themes ranging from the vocation to peacemaking, the lives of contemporary peacemakers to peacemaking and conscience in times of war. Archbishop Malcolm thanked Pat Gaffney and Pax Christi's dedicated team for their mission.

To see more pictures from the evening, see ICN's Facebook page.

Links

CPEF: www.cpef.org.uk
Pax Christi: www.paxchristi.org.uk