MSC Australia, Voice of Justice, Justice and Peace, Claude Mostowik
A letter on Peace from Claude, President of Pax Christi, to Archbishop Philip Freire of Melbourne.
July 5th 2023
Dear Archbishop Freier,
I am writing to you on behalf of Pax Christi Australia which is the Australian section of Pax Christi International, an international Christian peace movement based in Brussels and founded in 1945 to foster reconciliation between Germany and France after the Second World War and now working throughout the world to build peace, reconciliation and overcome conflict. We have branches in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane with members in other states as well.
I want to thank you for your statement which I saw recently in The Melbourne Anglican on increasing militarisation in Australia and around the world as well as the call for diplomacy rather than the provocative language we have witnessed in recent times, for example, with regard to China. I appreciate the fact that you cite the Beatitudes to confront conventional thinking that serves the cause for violence and war. The cause for peace and peacemaking is often dismissed as naïve and impractical in the so called real world. Hence, many people avoid touching the subject of peace. Peace is not just about stopping wars but also in addressing the ordinary violence that is often the invisible irritant within our everyday of our lives from which international conflicts emerge. These are connected where it is not just the battlefields that need repair but our everyday lives.
It is unfortunate that most religious leaders in Australia have been silent about military spending, which is increasing. This cannot contribute to trust and engagement. This cannot contribute to economic and social justice in terms of equality, education, health and cultural development. I fear that the failure to speak is a form of violence. This is the silence of violence which is fatal which we see in the ongoing occupation of Palestine.
Archbishop, thank you again. I wish you many blessings of peace and goodness.
Yours sincerely
(Father) Claude Mostowik msc
President, Pax Christi Australia
