Celebrating Peace Sunday

Catholic parishes in England and Wales are celebrating Peace Sunday this weekend, sharing the 2015 peace message of Pope Francis: 'Slaves no more, but brothers and sisters'. Pope Francis describes slavery as 'an open wound on the body of the human family - a running sore on the flesh of Christ".

Earlier this week all the children from Westminster Cathedral Primary School came to Holy Apostles church in Pimlico for their own Mass for Peace. The children have been working on different mini peace projects recently, researching the lives of well-known peace makers; drawing pictures to show what peace means to them and writing prayers for peace. An exhibition of their work is on display in Holy Apostles.

On the day of their Peace Mass, the children also released 10 white doves, symbols of peace, from their school playground.

Pax Christ has promoted the annual World Peace Day message since it began in 1968, helping parishes explore each message for our own time and place. The 2015 message invites us to explore the links between slavery, violence and war. In his letter to parishes Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, National President of Pax Christi wrote, " In Pax Christi we see slavery as being linked to issues of poverty, indebtedness and conflict - as many are forced by the violence of war to leave everything behind and seek refuge elsewhere. We explore these themes through liturgy, action and story resources that have been prepared by Pax Christi"

For more information and resources, see:  http://paxchristi.org.uk/news-and-events/peace-sunday/