Peace is something more than the absence of war, but we only truly realize this when it disappears. Everyone, especially these days, has the word “peace” on their lips, but how many of us work to make peace a reality?
With many contemporary testimonies from men and women who are true “artisans of peace,” Nina Fabrizio addresses the great theme of peace in volume 35 of the «Council Notebooks» series, in preparation for the 2025 Jubilee.

“Artisans of peace”

We need to go back almost sixty years to note that John XXIII, speaking «to all people of good will» on Vatican Radio on October 25, 1962, said that «the Church cares about peace and fraternity among people more than anything else; and it works tirelessly to strengthen these goods».
This is also what “Gaudium et Spes” recalls in Chapter V and, starting precisely from these pages of the pastoral constitution, journalist and Vatican expert Nina Fabrizio leads us to reflect on peace and on how necessary “peacemakers” are who commit themselves to building peace through ideas and actions. In support of this, there are many testimonies from true “artisans of peace,” men and women who, responding to the voice of conscience, decided not to follow paths of destruction but paths of peace, even at a very high cost. Here is a beautiful testimony that cannot fail to touch our hearts.

Olia's Letter

Olia is a 9-year-old girl from Kyiv; when the war in Ukraine broke out in February of that tragic 2022, devastated by the conflict that suddenly erupted into her life, she entrusted her despair to a letter that, through the Community of Sant’Egidio, she sent to her European peers. Here is what she wrote: «War is a nightmare; I am always afraid when the bombs fall. At night, we sleep terrified in the subway station, trembling at the sound of the sirens, and in the morning, when I wake up, my first thought is of my home. I anxiously wonder, will it still be there? Will it have been destroyed? […] The war is awful and frightening - Olia insists - please, don’t forget me!».
Peace brings the fullness of life that violence destroys and annihilates at its root. War brings unspeakable suffering and death.

Peace is born from a new heart

Peace is not so easy to achieve, yet it is simpler than we may think. Faced with the complexity of situations, we are tempted to withdraw, telling ourselves that peace depends on people who are more experienced than we are. Certainly, peace needs specialists, diplomats, heads of state, and politicians, but it is also in the hands of all of us; it passes through the thousand small gestures of everyday life. Saint John Paul II tells us that «it is the “heart” of man that must be renewed in order to renew systems, institutions, and methods. The Christian faith has a term to describe this radical change of heart: it is conversion».
Every day, through the way we live with others, with our family, at school, and in the workplace, we make a choice in favor of or against peace.
More than with words, we must speak of peace through our daily actions. Saying “peace” means being “peace.” Now it is your turn. What reflections have arisen in your mind and heart? What is your idea of peace? If you wish, send us your feedback.