Indian Church calls faithful to meaningful observance of Justice Sunday, Aug. 18

August 16, 2013 - India’s Catholic Church is inviting all faithful to a meaningful observance of Justice Sunday on 18 August 2013. The observance, organized by the Office for Justice, Peace and Development (JPD)of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), has as its theme this year, “Peace on Earth in Justice”. The theme commemorates Pope John XXIII’s 1963 social encyclical “Pacem in Terris”, the Latin for “Peace on Earth” which this year marks 50 years. In a message sent to India’s dioceses, the JPD office is urging Catholics to be inspired by the Encyclical’s guiding principles which are based on the pillars of truth, justice, love and freedom, in order to create a new world. The Encyclical’s recipe for peace is based on the recognition of human dignity as well as respect for the rights of every person in all human relationships, and recommends negotiations and dialogue to settle disputes between nations. Warning against the slaughter and destruction that war brings, the papal document states that justice, right reason, and the recognition of man’s dignity cry out insistently for a cessation to the arms race. And in the Indian context, arms race takes on an added urgency as the nation is the largest importer of arms in the world, one of the 24 countries that abstained from the UN Arms Trade Treaty a few months ago. (Source: CBCI)