From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
International organization
Pax Christi International
is an international
Catholic peace movement
. The Pax Christi International website declares its mission is "to transform a world shaken by violence, terrorism, deepening inequalities, and global insecurity".
[1]
Pax Christi International logo
History
[
edit
]
Pax Christi protesting the
U.S. invasion of Iraq
(Washington, D.C., March 2008).
Pax Christi
(Latin for Peace of Christ) was established in
France
in March 1945 by Marthe Dortel-Claudot and Bishop
Pierre-Marie Theas
, after the Germans had been expelled from France but before
the end of World War II in Europe
. Both were French citizens interested in reconciliation between French and German citizens in the aftermath of the war.
[2]
Some of the first actions of Pax Christi were the organisation of kindness pilgrimages and other actions fostering reconciliation between France and Germany. Although Pax Christi initially began as a movement for French-German reconciliation, it expanded its focus and spread to other European countries in the 1950s. It grew as “a crusade of prayer for peace among all nations.”
[3]
Pax Christi was recognized as “the official international Catholic peace movement” by Pope
Pius XII
in 1952.
[4]
It also has chapters in the United States. In the 1960s, it became involved in Mississippi in organizing economic boycotts of businesses that discriminated against blacks, in an effort to support protesters in the civil rights movement, who were trying to end discrimination in facilities and employment. It was active in
Greenwood, Mississippi
, among other places.
[
citation needed
]
In 1983, Pax Christi International was awarded the
UNESCO Peace Education Prize
.
[5]
The Pax Christi network membership is made up of 18 national sections and 115 Member Organizations working in over 50 countries.
[
citation needed
]
Peace work
[
edit
]
Pax Christi focuses on
human rights
,
human security
,
disarmament
and
demilitarisation
,
nonviolence
,
nuclear disarmament
,
extractives
in Latin America, and a renewed peace process for Israel-Palestine.
[6]
Since 1988, the organisation gives out the
Pax Christi International Peace Award
to peace organisations and peace activists around the world.
[
citation needed
]
Organization
[
edit
]
Pax Christi is made up of national sections of the movement, affiliated organizations and partner organizations. Its International Secretariat is in
Brussels
. Pax Christi has consultative status as a
non-governmental organization
at the United Nations.
[7]
International presidents
[
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]
In 2007, a co-presidency was created with a bishop and a lay woman.
[8]
See also
[
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References
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]
Further reading
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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