Seeking International Peace

Editor of first issue of La Salette publication, Reconciliare (May, 1965): Pacem in Terris (April, 1963) provided the locus for an international discussion in which Protestants, Buddhists, agnostics, atheists, as well Catholics, participated at the New York Hilton Hotel, in February, 1964. At least one La Salette, Father Robert Vachon, participated. Here is the report... addressed to you, the Missionaries of Universal Reconciliation.

An International Convocation on Pope John XXIII’s encyclical, Pacem in Terris

With prudent realism, the Convocation narrowed the scope of its international dialog to four major headings:

1. How to obtain universal acceptance of the idea of cooperation among nations of differing ideological and social systems. Focus was on the European community.
2. Institutional framework. How to achieve sufficient flexibility so that all international conflicts can be settled by negotiation and how to devise mechanisms for peaceful and political change.
3. How to obtain recognition of the urgent need for rapid progress toward nuclear and conventional disarmament.
4. How to take actions and develop understanding to create mutual trust among the nations.

The Gathering of Great Minds and Hearts

The three-day conversation did not solve the world's problems, but it did set up an intellectual workshop whose by-product is hope. The discussions were activated by the laser light of Pope John's “public philosophy for a nuclear age”, as Vice-President Humphrey described the encyclical, and the U.S. had seldom, if ever, seen a more considerable brain-trust assembled on its soil.

As far-reaching as the loftiest thought were the feelings of universal fraternity enkindled, during those last days of February, 1964, between Moslems, Buddhists and Catholics, between nuns and Protestant ministers, priests and economists, diplomats, columnists, philosophers and statesmen.

At the opening session, held in the General Assembly hall of the United Nations, the tone was set by Vice-President Humphrey: “We honor Pope John XXIII on this occasion”, said Humphrey, “not because he demonstrated that perfect peace can be achieved in a short time. We honor him because he raised our hopes and exalted our vision. It is the duty of our generation to convert this vision of peace into reality.”

Two messages from Pope Paul VI were read to the assembly. Scholars and intellectual leaders of international repute came to the dais to deliver their addresses:
(from left) Paul Tillich; Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit; U Thant; Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan

• Paul Tillich, noted Protestant Theologian
• Linus Pauling, Nobel-prizewinning Chemist
• U Thant, U.N. Secretary-General
• Pietro Nenni, Vice-President of the Italian Council
• Karl Schmid, Deputy Speaker of the Bundestag,
• Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Indian diplomat and politician, the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, the aunt of Indira Gandhi, the third Prime Minister of India
• J. William Fulbright, who served five six-year terms as U.S. Senator
• Arnold Toynbee, British economic historian
• Maisie Ward, writer, publisher, descended from English royalty
• U Thant, third Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971
• Earl Warren, President of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Abba Eban, Israel's Vice-President of the Council and
• Zafrullah Khan, the former President of the UN General Assembly.

People willing to transcend ideological frontiers

Pope Paul VI (1897-1978), Pope during conclusion of Vatican IIAn assembly as broad-based as this worldwide conversation could not, of course, be expected to reach other than provisional conclusions, nor could it hope to find immediate solutions for the complex problems of international peace. It did, however, succeed in promoting a decidedly universal mentality willing to transcend ideological frontiers.

The conversation created an atmosphere of solidarity and a sense of universal responsibility; it opened new horizons, as wide as the world itself, extending to the ultimate limits and dimensions of the world community, beyond ghettos and parochialisms. It underscored the stark reality that in this nuclear age, humanity must somehow develop loyalty to his species, rather than to a smaller group, a nation, a continent, or even an international organization like NATO.

In these pages, I can stress only a few of the key concepts:

• Peace is not simply a matter of avoiding war; it demands that we work hard, with prudent boldness, with passionate zeal, to fashion a world community upon which can be built a world government guided by a positive, effective international code.
• The burden of blueprinting and building a world court, a world political authority and a world police force does not rest solely on the existing forces of government, it is also the bound responsibility of every individual, of every human group: religious, political, financial, social and cultural.
• If our respective governments are expected to rise above their national sovereignties, while preserving their uniqueness, our entire educational system should be overhauled so as to impart an international perspective designed to help modern man think in terms of the world community.
• It is also imperative that we devise a more equitable distribution of the wealth of nations throughout the world.
• International peace is not likely to stem from man-made institutions if it is not first of all prepared in our heart. We agree with the Moslem Judge of the International Court of Justice, Honorable Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan: “...unity can come only from heaven”.
• Dialogs of peace must be pursued on the level of the heart; they must evolve into dialogs between religions, founded on faith.

Every conceivable medium of instantaneous communications was used, with consummate skill, to give the widest possible coverage to the New York conversation on the requirements of peace. Recorded on kinetoscope (an early motion-picture device, 1891), it will be televised to the North American nation on the educational channels. The conferences are being published for a very wide circulation.

Pope Paul VI expressed his pleasure in seeing the (very powerful) forces of electronic communications harnessed to diffuse teachings on peace, “because we have the duty of educating (hu)mankind in the ways of peace”.

The participants have returned to their respective countries, but the dialog begun at the historic Pacem in Terris workshop continues and it promises to go on exploring the ways and means of achieving lasting peace.

Reconciliation – An International, Inter-faith, Intercultural Encounter

What about us, Missionaries of universal Reconciliation? In the context of this new dialog between the Church and the world, do we not have a son's duty of jumping into the thick of things, lending a hand in bringing about the world community? Do we seriously expect to unify the world if we limit ourselves to a closed-circuit dialog inside the Community?

Must we not climb a new plateau of dialog, and speak not only with fellow Christians, but with Moslems, Buddhists and Hindus as well? Are we not compelled to do our utmost, as a Community, “to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit” (Ephesians 4: 3-4) between our communal self and the religiously underdeveloped nations? Tolerance is not enough! “Union demands love”, wrote Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier, “love requires mutual awareness and that requires that we set out to meet one another”.

In today's face-to-face encounter with a real world, the renewal sought by the Church and our Congregation can be achieved only through a vital contact with the religious traditions of our Hindu, Buddhist and Moslem brothers, and in close cooperation with all our fellow-Christians.

A Religious and Spiritual Cooperation Between Nations is Necessary

Granted that a minimal coexistence must provide the necessary climate for a well-integrated cooperation, on all levels: economic, social, cultural, political; nevertheless, essential as that manifold cooperation may be it is not the prime requisite. The fountainhead of our inspiration, the heart of our tenacious efforts can only be found in a sustained religious and spiritual cooperation between nations.

Together with other nations, we must set up religious communities of prayers, of dialogue and of joint action, founded on the premise of mutual respect and on the acceptance of our religious pluralism. We will have to learn how to translate the counsel of poverty into common-life terms, not only among ourselves but in share-and-share-alike union with the underdeveloped nations.

Wherever we may be, and first of all within our own heart, we will have to learn how to live a universal love, an all-embracing communion. We must learn to discover that the mystery of Christ, of the Church, is implicitly present in all religions, from the very beginning, like a seed, — just as small and just as promising — and that one must approach his brother as someone in whom Christ already abides.

We must seek the encounter with a willingness to learn from others before setting out to teach them. To put it briefly, the very heart of international law, of the United Nations, of a world community, is the religious and spiritual fellowship among all nations, all races.

What are we La Salettes waiting for?

What are we La Salettes waiting for to convert ourselves to universal vision? Let's go! “The real problem confronting modern humanity is precisely that of breaking away from the confinement of ideologies and structures so as to build a universal civilization”. Indeed, we have been chosen to serve as builders of the Kingdom of God, architects of the heavenly Jerusalem wherein must be reconciled the scattered children of God.