Preach for peace, appeal for solidarity—Dominicans’ Master
The Master of the Dominican Order summoned its members to participate in preaching for world peace and promoting a global Dominican solidarity.
"One of the recurrent themes from our Jubilee [year] was the importance of renewing our preaching to be advocates of peace (like St. Dominic) in a world torn apart by many forms of violence and war," Fr. Bruno Cadoré, O.P. said in a letter released last Oct. 11.
Logo of Order of Preachers
Cadore said the world in an “enormous suffering, death and displacement” needs a preaching that will bring not only peace, but also solidarity by the Order members.
“We […] propose to identify a period each year when Dominicans everywhere will pray for peace, and will offer solidarity for a particular project for peace,” he said.
“We call on our Dominican entities everywhere to reflect on their own efforts for peace that would benefit from a global Dominican solidarity,” Cadore added.
Cadore also declared December as the Order of the Dominicans’ World Month of Peace.
To identify the focus of every year’s month of peace, the Dominican Sisters International was also invited to help in elaborating the directions in preaching, said Cadoré.
The World Month for Peace will start on Dec. 3, the first Sunday of Advent, and will end on Jan. 1, the Church's World Day of Peace.
Solidarity for Colombia
The appeal of the Dominicans in Colombia for solidarity inspired the Dominican Order to institute this year's World Month for Peace to focus on Colombia.
Cadoré emphasized the importance of supporting the historic Peace Accord that was signed in Nov. 2016 and ended the 50-year crisis between the Colombian government and revolutionary armed force FARC.
"In a world where the threat of war is the growing tendency, this effort to build peace needs to be strongly encouraged," he said.
The Dominican brothers and sisters have been involved in helping the affected residents in various parts of the country especially in Catatumbo, Colombia, one of the most affected areas, said Cadoré.
"This year’s campaign will encourage the whole Order to support [affected areas] in their efforts to forge peace and reconciliation," he said. M. A. N. T. Fabricante