In this issue of Columban Connections we want to promote the joy of the Gospel, through rejecting militarism and encouraging active peacemaking.
Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium exhorts us to share the joy of the Gospel amid the challenges of today’s world. The challenges are looming large. The response to barbarous cruelty in Iraq has quickly fanned a military response. As we write this edition of Connections, our government is taking us, again, into war in Iraq.
Recently, on a visit to the largest war memorial in Italy Pope Francis said, "War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction, it seeks to grow by destroying." His frustration was that, after a century marked by two world wars, we may be entering a third world war “fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction”. We share his concern and frustration.
Columban Connections is published by the Centre for Peace, Ecology and Justice (PEJ).