Pax Christi Scotland gets the international seal of approval

The Pax Christi International committee, meeting for its AGM in Brussels, has approved of Pax Christi Scotland as a new member of the worldwide peace community.

After working for over a year under the wing of Justice and Peace Scotland, and having receive permission to apply for status from the Scottish Bishops’ Conference, Pax Christi Scotland is now the official peace organisation of the Church in Scotland and will work closely with Justice and Peace Scotland, SCANA, and other like-minded organisations.

There is housekeeping to be done to meet the international organisation’s regulations, but already a Pax Christi Scotland Facebook Page is up and running (search @ Pax Christi Scotland) and memberships are being transferred from the UK Pax Christi organisation. Membership in Scotland will be £10 a year, or £5 for non-waged, and will be due at the first AGM, to be held on November 8 at Xaverian Missionaries Conforti.

Pax Christi Scotland will also hold a weekend-long event – ‘The Language of Nonviolence’ – at the Coatbridge centre from November 8-10. A peace vigil will be part of the programme.

Steering group member Marian Pallister said: ‘It has been quite a journey and it has been humbling to have so much support along the way. Our especial thanks go to Justice and Peace Scotland, which has acted as our ‘mothership’, to Pat Gaffney, the former coordinator of Pax Christi in the UK, who was so supportive, and to the committee of Pax Christi International which has been very helpful in getting Pax Christi Scotland off the ground.”

She added: ‘We are now part of the international network working for peace in more than 50 countries. We will be able to access a pool of experts in peace and justice issues around the world – as well as the experts we have on home soil. We will be able to participate in ad-hoc working groups to reflect and act on peace issues and become part of a global community of practice on peace and nonviolence. We will be able to engage in coordinated advocacy actions targeting UN institutions and other bodies. That’s exciting.’

Pax Christi Scotland is now engaging with people who wish to actively engage in the practice of peace and nonviolence. The nuclear issue will figure largely on the organisation’s, but the aim is to take issues of peace and nonviolence into the home, the parish and the school.

Email marian.pallister@zen.co.uk or hugh.foy@xavs.org for more information about membership and the Pax Christi Scotland event in November.