There is a concrete way of understanding how intensely the Church promotes and defends peace in the world: it is enough to count all the men and women who, on every continent, risk their lives to spread the values of human fraternity taught by the Gospel. It would be too long to recount here the stories of the last fifteen years, but two of them, emblematic, can help to shed light on the great commitment of Catholics to bring peace to peoples and nations.
The first story comes from Haiti, a Caribbean nation today plunged into utter chaos and confronted with the ferocious violence of armed gangs that plague the country and aggravate its already great poverty. In this context, Mgr. Pierre André Dumas, bishop of the diocese of Anse-à-Veau-Miragoâne, has always tried to bring the various warring factions into dialogue, organizing meetings with the leaders of the various armed gangs with the aim of achieving peace. At the end of February, he was in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, for one of these meetings when an attack interrupted his dreams: now, wounded, he is struggling between life and death.
Another story comes from Sudan, an African country torn apart by a bloody civil conflict. Here there is a nun, Comboni Sister Elena Balatti, who every day gathers hundreds of refugees on the border with South Sudan who, because of the war, want to escape to safety. Sister Elena, each time risking her own life, puts them on a boat and brings them to safety. Among these men and women, Sudanese and South Sudanese, Sister Elena tries to revive understanding and peace.
A global commitment that unites not only Monsignor Dumas and Sister Elena, but also many Catholics who may never be heard from again.
