Can you remember your first involvement with Pax Christi ?
Yes, I think it must have been Ash Wednesday 2009 when I was living in the Catholic Worker community in London and a group of us attended the vigil at the Ministry of Defence that had been organised by Pax Christi. We were planning to mark the wall with blessed charcoal as a sign of repentance, but the police confiscated the charcoal before I got a chance to mark the wall. But others did, and it was a very powerful witness.You have a very interesting life story – what drew you to the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace ?
I grew up in a Baptist family in Northern Ireland during at the height of “The Troubles”.There were obviously many voices on both sides of the divide calling for violence and I had to make my mind up where I stood as a Christian. I found myself drawn to the Catholic Church because of the powerful tradition of Catholic Social Teaching and the communities of prayer, worship and social action and peacemaking I saw within the church. Reading Catholic theology helped me see that there was a ‘third way’ when it came to dealing with conflict and violence. In discerning my vocation, it was probably then no coincidence that I was drawn to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace and our charism of peacemaking and nonviolence.What do you see as the strengths of Pax Christi ?One of the things I have grown to appreciate about Pax Christi is the rhythm of activity through the year. As a Sister I have lived in London, Scotland, Nottingham, and Hastings. But no matter where I was, I always knew that I could join actions and vigils at different points during the year – from Ash Wednesday to Hiroshima Day. So, continuity is a great gift.Pax Christi is such an important witness to Gospel nonviolence, and I’ve always been encouraged by Pax Christi’s collaborative working, linking with other peace organizations, and at the same time staying faithful to our Christian ethos and identity.
What are your hopes as you take on this role ?
Well, firstly can I just say that I feel like I am standing on the shoulders of giants! So many faith filled and wonderful people have gone before us. It’s a privilege to be asked to take on the role of national Chaplain.I’d hope to contribute whatever I can to help us deepen our own personal relationship with the nonviolent Jesus. For me this is the foundation of our call to be peacemakers, and it’s from this starting point we can then have the courage to share the good news of nonviolent Jesus in our parishes, communities, workplaces and beyond.We are called to be people of nonviolence, and our work, our call and vocation, must be grounded in prayer. One of my hopes would be that we continue to deepen our Spirituality of nonviolence, and for that to feed into the Pax Christi tradition of using prayer as protest. Prayer is the first step of resistance, disarming our own hearts and our world – so that the kingdom of justice, peace and nonviolence can come.
