2014-07-17 15:44:00

Pax Christi Int. Peace Award to JRS Syria


(Vatican Radio) Commemorating 100 years since the outbreak of World War I, Pax Christi International was in Sarajevo for the biggest international Peace Event of 2014.

Pax Christi International Co-President, Bishop Kevin Dowling, was in Sarajevo to lead and to participate in the workshops on transformative justice, the role of faith-based organisations in peacebuilding and campaigning for disarmament.

During the 4-day event, Bishop Dowling awarded Jesuit Refugee Service Syria with the 2014 Pax Christi Peace Award for its outstanding dedication in providing emergency relief to Syrians since the war began in 2011.

Please find below Bishop Kevin Dowling's account of  the Sarajevo event...   

In 2013 the Executive of Pax Christi International (PCI), the international Catholic Peace Movement working in over 60 countries, took the decision to award its 2014 Peace Award to the Jesuit Refugee Service Syria.

This event took place within the context of meetings of the PCI Executive and Pax Christi Sections during a four-day international event in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, from 6 - 9 June, 2014. This Sarajevo 2014 Peace Event was organised to commemorate and reflect on the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I in June 1914 as a result of the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. The Peace Event brought together NGOs, peace movements and activists, specialists and researchers from around the world to analyse and witness against all forms of war, violence and atrocities and their causes. Scores of workshops were held during those 4 days on major issues, and Bishop Kevin Dowling and Mrs. Marie Dennis (Co-Presidents of PCI) and other members of the PCI Executive and Sections gave several such workshops which were well attended. Bishop Dowling also gave an address during the closing ceremony of the Sarajevo 2014 Peace Event on Monday afternoon, 9 June.

Bishop Dowling celebrated and preached at a Peace Mass with the Pax Christi group on Saturday evening, 7 June. Then on Sunday morning, 8 June, the PCI group met the three Jesuits present, Fr. Ken Gavin from the Jesuit headquarters in Rome, Fr. Ziad Hallil from Aleppo in Syria, and Fr. Mourad Abou-Seif from Homs in Syria. They had come to receive the PCI Peace Award later that evening. During a very moving and sometimes frightening exchange, the group learned firsthand about the incredible suffering being endured by hundreds of thousands of civilians who are being cared for by the Jesuit Refugee Service in Homs, Aleppo, Damascus, and the coastal areas of Syria.

More than 115,00 people have died since the conflict began in March 2011, and an average of 5000 a month since July 2012. There are nearly 6 million internally displaced persons in Syria itself and 2 million refugees in neighbouring countries. The internally displaced people in particular have lost their livelihoods, are subject to bombing, attacks by armed militants and government forces, and other dangers, and are increasingly dependent on external support. What is perhaps also not realised is that many Africans in Syria are trapped with no means of leaving: passports, visas, funds. That is where the JRS Syria has stepped in and provided extraordinary levels of care, compassion and relief of all kind.

What is unique about this is that all the JRS projects are implemented by the local people living in their resident communities who work with the Jesuits and JRS-managed centres and shelters. The affected people come to these centres where they are given space to express their needs and gain access to important services.

Depending on the local conflict, JRS coordinates its humanitarian response with different partners, both religious and secular: local communities, agencies or public authorities. Besides all forms of emergency humanitarian relief especially the provision of food, the organising of humanitarian convoys carrying food, fuel and medicines, providing medical support and a clinic, JRS has also arranged several educational and psycho-social activities to try to restore a modicum of normality to the lives of children in Aleppo, Damascus and Homs. JRS also helped to negotiate the exchange of dead bodies between government and the rebels so that families could bury their dead.

Perhaps the most obvious challenge facing JRS, as a faith-based organisation, is that religion plays such a significant role in the Middle East, often as a mark of difference, exploited to spark conflict. However, the Jesuits and the JRS centre, staff and teams have tried to bring people from the different faiths together, including international volunteers, in its mission to serve those most in need and to witness to the possibility of peace and reconciliation in the communities. Their education centres are homes to children from Alawi, Christian and Sunni families, all learning and playing together in pursuit of this quest for peace.

In its citation, PCI stated: "Through this award, Pax Christi International acknowledges JRS Syria's tireless efforts in providing services to vulnerable people affected by conflict, and welcomes the organisation's aim of expanding its activities to promoting peace and reconciliation among divided communities in Syria. At the same time, the award symbolically honours humanitarian workers - women and men, compassionately serving fellow Syrians who are suffering due to the effects of the three-year long civil war".

The award was presented to the 3 Jesuits in the beautiful church of St. Joseph, Sarajevo, during a magnificent concert by the choir Pontanima. This choir was formed by a Catholic priest, Fr. Igor Markovic, in Sarajevo after the Balkan wars, and is described as a Symphony of Religions and Cultures in which members from all religions and faiths sing together to witness to peace and reconciliation. This choir received the 2011 PCI Peace Award in 2011 in Vukovar, Croatia, and Fr. Markovic was singing in the choir for the JRS Peace Award that evening.

Bishop Dowling reflected: "After I had presented our 3 Jesuits with the Peace Award, a crowded church gave them a standing ovation. I felt so proud of them, indeed humbled by them. Then Fr. Mourad spoke to us in his quiet, gentle voice. His peaceful eyes could not hide that he carries within severe suffering and trauma because of the violence he has experienced. Both he and Fr. Ziad have remained with their people in Homs and Aleppo in spite of the danger, and in spite of the fact that one of their Jesuit brother priests was assassinated there in April this year - because he stayed to open the doors of JRS to people seeking help. I will never forget Fr. Mourad's words: 'We open our doors to everyone - even though they might come in to kill us. And we will never stop opening our doors. Our only safety is in God'."

Kevin Dowling C.Ss.R.








All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.