#UnMinutoPorLaPaz 2020. Media, photos, videos  >>>

It’s about:

• Motivating and suggesting to all those who care about peace, believers and non-believers alike, a minute of prayer or silence.
•  An invitation to pray by oneself or with other people, in safety, in our homes or in our places of work or study.
•  To plan a celebration at home, in a place of prayer or a meeting in an open space

In the difficult situation we are living because of the pandemic, what does it mean to pray, to stop for a minute for peace? What does it mean to nurture hope?

• Peace is a great and precious value, the object of our hope and the aspiration of the entire human family. As a human attitude, our hope for peace is marked by an existential tension that makes it possible for the present, with all its difficulties, to be “lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey”.  Hope is thus the virtue that inspires us and keeps us moving forward, even when obstacles seem insurmountable.

(from the message on the 1^st January 2020 World Day of Peace)

• How many people every day are exercising patience and offering hope, taking care to sow not panic but a shared responsibility. How many fathers, mothers, grandparents and teachers are showing our children, in small everyday gestures, how to face up to and navigate a crisis by adjusting their routines, lifting their gaze and fostering prayer. How many are praying, offering and interceding for the good of all. Prayer and quiet service: these are our victorious weapons. (…)The Lord asks us and, in the midst of our tempest, invites us to reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength, support and meaning to these hours when everything seems to be floundering. (…)

(from Pope Francis’ Meditation in St. Peter’s Square on 27 March 2020)

• It is important to keep alive the concern about the situation of conflict in the Holy Land, in the Middle East, in the many places of war in the world where solutions for peace need to be sought.

ATLANT WAR MAP (IT) ●MAP    ●MAPA

After the Angelus of March 29, Pope Francis joined the request of the United Nations for a Truce, not everyone accepted it. And he renewed his appeal on Easter Day in the Urbi and Orbi message.

• This is not a time for division. May Christ our peace enlighten all who have responsibility in conflicts, that they may have the courage to support the appeal for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world. This is not a time for continuing to manufacture and deal in arms, spending vast amounts of money that ought to be used to care for others and save lives. Rather, may this be a time for finally ending the long war that has caused such great bloodshed in beloved Syria, the conflict in Yemen and the hostilities in Iraq and in Lebanon. May this be the time when Israelis and Palestinians resume dialogue in order to find a stable and lasting solution that will allow both to live in peace. May the sufferings of the people who live in the eastern regions of Ukraine come to an end. May the terrorist attacks carried out against so many innocent people in different African countries come to an end.
• “ May God put an end to this tragedy – this pandemic – and have mercy on us. And may He put an end to the other terrible pandemics of hunger, war, and uneducated children. This we ask as brothers and sisters, all together. May God bless us all, and have mercy on us.” (from the homily at Saint Martha on 14 May, day of inter-religious prayer).

SOME SUGGESTIONS

• Let’s involve the largest number of associations and institutions so that they invite individuals, families and groups to UMPP during the 2020 pandemic.
• Let’s promote UMPP with all our social media and other media
• Like UMPP on FB

We share our commitment with a small gesture: a photo of us with a blank sheet of paper and the words #UNMINUTOPORLAPAZ (ONE MINUTE FOR PEACE) with the translation into our national or local language.

We send to: catholicactionforum@gmail.com

• We can spread this initiative so that we have more and more MINUTES FOR PEACE all over the world.

>>> #UnMinutoPorLaPaz 2020 cards (all languages to share in whatsApp, FB, TW)

>>> #UnMinutoPorLaPaz PAGE ON FACEBOOK

WHY A MINUTE FOR PEACE on the 8th JUNE

Since 2015, every year, “One Minute for Peace” has been promoted throughout the world on the 8^th of June at 1:00 PM  (•2019• 2018 • 2017  • 2016  • 2015  • 2014)

• We have chosen this date to commemorate the event that took place on June 8, 2014 in the Vatican

2014

Pope Francis, after the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, invited the Presidents of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to his “home” for a meeting of prayer for peace on 8^th June 2014 in Rome, in the Vatican City. The Pope had asked the Church to pray for this unprecedented meeting, which focused the attention of world public opinion. “ I ask you not to leave us alone: pray, pray much that the Lord may give us peace, that He may give us peace in that blessed Land! I am counting on your prayers. Be strong in prayer at this time, pray intently that peace may come. (General Audience 28 May 2014)

In 2014 we launched the initiative A MINUTE FOR PEACE, on June 6^th, in preparation for the meeting promoted by the Pope: the International Catholic Action Forum (FIAC), the Italian Catholic Action, the Argentina Catholic Action, the Romanian Catholic Action, the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO) and other local entities We urged a prayer in the form of a witness: short, simple, for everyone. The response was significant in the various countries, in particular, almost 10,000 people gathered on Facebook in a short time. (to date there are more than 15,000 followers).

LINK • 2014

From 2015 the date of A Minute for Peace is fixed for June 8th.

(•2019• 2018 • 2017  • 2016  • 2015 )

There too many conflicts, too many weak and helpless people suffer and die. The Pope stressed: “A Third World War is underway, but in pieces”, we are aware that “building peace is difficult, but living without peace is a torment”. For this reason we deepen our prayer and our commitment.

• During the General Audience of June 7, 2017, Pope Francis recalled the initiative with an APPEAL

Tomorrow at 1:00 PM “A Minute for Peace” initiative is renewed in several countries. It’s a short moment of prayer on the recurrence of the meeting in the Vatican between me, the late Israeli President Peres, and the Palestinian President Abbas. In our days, there is a great need to pray – Christians, Jews, and Muslims – for peace.

• We are committed to disseminating the Document signed in Abu Dhabi on 4 February 2019 on “Human Brotherhood for World Peace and Common Coexistence” so that it may become an object of research and reflection in all contexts of our lives “in order to contribute to creating new generations that will bring goodness and peace and defend everywhere the right of the oppressed and the least”.