Pax Christi International recognised ZODEVITE, the Movimiento Indígena del Pueblo Creyente Zoque en Defensa de la Vida y la Tierra (the Indigenous Movement of the Zoque Believing People in Defense of Life and the Earth), based in Chiapas, Mexico, as the recipient of the 2017 Pax Christi International Peace Award.

The award was presented at a ceremony at the Instituto Maria SS. Bambina (Via Paolo VI, 21) in Rome, Italy on 29 October.

ZODEVITE is part of a wider movement, MOVEDITE, composed of indigenous groups, that in recent years has waged a nonviolent campaign to stop fracking, oil exploitation and mining business in southern Mexico.

In the past year, Pax Christi International has increased its commitment to nonviolence in all its forms, in relationship to all of creation including the Earth itself, and has formed the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative in order to promote and educate about nonviolence within the church and beyond.

“It is deeply important that we expand our understanding about the many applications and expressions of nonviolence,” said Greet Vanaerschot, secretary general of Pax Christi International. “The efforts of ZODEVITE to resist the exploitation of the land and to promote the dignity of the people of Chiapas serve as an excellent model of active nonviolence.” ...

Click here for more on the award and to see photos, videos and reports from the ceremony.

Throughout 2017, Pax Christi International is making a special effort to "affirm the vision and practice of active nonviolence at the heart of the Catholic Church". Help us spread the message of the vitality and strength of active nonviolence to create social change in our world today!

Since January, we've been circulating messages over Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms encouraging people that  "This is what NONVIOLENCE looks like" with the hashtag #ThisIsNonviolence . Help us spread the word by sharing these messages now and tagging it #ThisIsNonviolence. Our latest image is above and comes to us from Pax Christi Germany.

We've created a  social media primer  for you with suggestions for how to use the messages below and participate in the campaign via your social media accounts. You can find the primer  by clicking here .

Click here to read more about this awareness-raising campaign and see earlier images.

On 10-11 November 2017, Pax Christi International sent a delegation to attend a high-level international conference on disarmament in Rome sponsored by the Vatican. This conference, “Prospects for a World Free from Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament”, was a unique opportunity for civil society, church leaders, Vatican representatives, policy makers and others to discuss the next steps toward freeing the world of nuclear weapons as part of integral human development.

Click here to see and read highlights from the delegation's participation in the conference.

Pax Christi France has issued a statement on the serious humanitarian crisis taking place in Yemen ... The Arafat Prize was awarded to Latin Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem HB Michel Sabbah, former President of Pax Christi International ... Pax Christi member organisations from the Great Lakes region of Africa (Goma, Butare, Bujumbura, Kisangani, Uvira, Kananga, Kikwit, Kinshasa, Kisangani and Bukavu) met in Kisangani to continue to look at the future development of the Pax Christi Great Lakes regional network (photo above) ... Pax Christi Pilipinas leader, Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, SJ signed onto a statement calling for peace in Mindanao ... Pax Christi International held advocacy meetings at the European Union with a Latin American delegation including Ms. Martha Inés Romero, Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, Colombia, Pax Christi International; Mr. Gilberto Hernández, Centre for Human Rights Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas (FRAYBA), our member organization in Mexico; and Ms. Mikeas Sánchez Gómez, ZODEVITE, Zoque indigenous community from Chiapas ... Pax Christi USA, Sisters of Mercy, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Missionary Society of St. Columban all signed onto a statement with 751 other leaders of Catholic organizations, religious orders and justice and peace committees challenging President Trump’s threat to “totally destroy” North Korea and his apparent intention to repudiate the Iran deal negotiated by the Obama administration ... Réseau Jeunes dans le Monde pour la Paix (RJMP, "Network for Youth in the World for Peace") , a Pax Christi International member organisation in the DR Congo, recently sent a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo encouraging them to sign the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons ...  For more news articles about Pax Christi International activities around the world, visit our website by clicking here.