With great joy and excitement, we are delighted to welcome a new member section: as of 30 June 2026, Pax Christi Switzerland has officially become part of the Pax Christi International family!

The addition of a new country to our European sections further strengthens our global vision of people and communities united by the same mission. From today, our nonviolent journey is enriched by the presence and commitment of Switzerland within our network.

Welcome to the family, Pax Christi Switzerland! Together, we will continue working every day for a more just and peaceful world.

“Since the narrower or wider community of the peoples of the earth has developed so far that a violation of rights in one part of the world is felt everywhere, the idea of a cosmopolitan right is no fantastical or exaggerated conception of right, but a necessary complement to the unwritten code of both constitutional and international law, and thus to public human rights in general, and so to perpetual peace, towards which we may hope to make continual progress only under these conditions.”

— Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch (Königsberg, 1795)

Visit the Pax Christi Switzerland website here.

Governance

Marie-Therese Mäder ,President of Pax Christi Switzerland, is a scholar of media and religious studies whose work explores how religions and cultures can contribute to peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding in pluralistic societies.

After ten years as an actress, she completed her PhD in 2011 with a dissertation examining the relationship between film and religion. Various academic appointments and international research stays across Europe and the United States have profoundly shaped her understanding of global interconnectedness, the dynamics of cultural and religious conflicts, and the importance of dialogue, responsibility and civic engagement in peacebuilding.

She currently teaches Religious Studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Media Ethics at the Bern University of Applied Sciences and the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons.

Marie-Therese Mäder lives in Zurich with her family and is committed to fostering dialogue between religion, society and peace.

Further information is available on her website: www.marie-theresemaeder.com.

Contact: mtmaeder@pax-christi.ch

 

Florian Günter Forster, Vice-President and Treasurer of Pax Christi Switzerland, has lived in Switzerland for more than 17 years: first in Bern, then in Geneva, and now in Zurich with his family of four.

From the outset, his professional career has been dedicated to international cooperation. After studying law in Munich and Paris, he worked for several decades in law firms, courts and public administrations, before serving with the United Nations from 1995 to 2025, particularly at the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since 2025, he has been practising as an independent lawyer.

Over the years, he has worked in a wide range of political, cultural, social and regional contexts, particularly in Cambodia, France, Vietnam and Switzerland. These experiences have profoundly shaped his understanding of global interconnectedness, the dynamics of conflict, the importance of strong civil society structures, and the need for a tangible commitment to peace.

Contact: fgforster@pax-christi.ch