It was 13 March 1945 when, in a Europe devastated by the Second World War, the French teacher deeply marked by the experience of war, Marthe Dortel-Claudot, and the Bishop of Montauban, Pierre-Marie Théas, known for his courage in opposing the persecutions and injustices of the Nazi regime, first had the prophetic intuition that peace could not arise from revenge or simply from the end of hostilities, but had to be built above all through a process of reconciliation with those who, until the day before, had been considered enemies.

Pax Christi International was born precisely from this movement of encounter and forgiveness, a tension that runs almost counter to the prevailing spirit of every historical era. While it is often assumed that victory belongs to those who prevail over others, the spring of eighty-one years ago planted, for the first time in the conscience of many people, the seed of an alternative possibility.

The first concrete step was the commitment to reconciliation between French and Germans: a radical gesture in a Europe still wounded by war, which nevertheless opened the way for an international movement capable of bringing communities together in the promotion of peace, following the example of the Gospel of the One who first transformed history by going against the current.

Even today, when war so often appears to be a path that humanity cannot avoid and hope frequently seems to fade, more and more women and men, of every age and from every part of the world, choose to commit their human, personal and professional values to a model of Active Nonviolence, one that works every day for a disarmed world, where solidarity and care for Creation stand as guiding principles.

Eighty-one years later, this vision continues to guide the journey of Pax Christi International. As stated in the official Commitment presented during the World Gathering held in Florence last November:

“In this moment of global uncertainty, we refuse despair. Inspired by the Jubilee Year of Hope, we choose hope, not as sentiment, but as a discipline rooted in faith and lived in solidarity. We will continue to build bridges across cultures and continents, between peoples and nations, across generations and traditions. We will nurture partnerships with other Christian communities, with people of all faiths, non-believers, and with all who work for a world where every person can live in dignity and peace.”

May each of us continue to work so that peace may not be merely the end of conflict, but a concrete bridge towards Nonviolence, capable of transforming relationships between people and among nations.