100 Days of Peace

100
Days
of
Peace

Please click on the logos
to visit the web sites

100 Days of Peace
is supported by

Olympic Peace Legacy

8th June - 28th October 2012

PEACE SONG

An invitation to pray for peace with the Carmelite Community
and Friends at The Friars Aylesford
during the 100 Days of Prayer for Peace

The Catholic 2012 Office of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has produced a downloadable document detailing seven different ways that Catholics can still connect with the Games. These are categorised in their suitability for individuals, for group participation, for use by schools or a community group, by the Catholic community on its own or as a way of serving jointly with other churches.

Please click here to download the document (.pdf)

Report on the CCEW News and Media site

Introduction - '100 Days of Peace' Bidding Prayers

Aylesford Peace Garden - Aylesford Peace Weekend (2/3 June)

The Jimmy Mizen Foundation Peace Car

Opening Vigil (8/9 June) - CitySafe Peace Rallies (9 June)

Heart Gives Unto Heart Peace CD

A Conference: Disability, Sport, Theology

Peace Service at Eltham (6 July)

Pax Christi Peace Icon - Closing Mass (23 October)

Introduction

- 100 Days of Peace is a joint project of the Catholic Dioceses of Brentwood, Southwark and Westminster, involving the Education Departments and Justice and Peace Commissions, in partnership with Pax Christi, CAFOD, London Citizens, More Than Gold, the Jimmy Mizen Foundation and the 2012 Office of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales.

- Archbishop Vincent (Westminster), Archbishop Peter (Southwark) and Bishop Thomas (Brentwood), leaders of the three 'London' dioceses have said: ‘On behalf of the dioceses of Brentwood, Southwark and Westminster, we strongly support this initiative to create a peace legacy for the 2012 Games. Here is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Catholics within and beyond London to take action for peace, locally, nationally and globally to mark the Olympics and Paralympics. The modern Olympics were founded to spread peaceful cooperation through sport. Catholics in our three dioceses and beyond pray that the peace in our hearts, homes, and communities will be a prominent theme during London 2012 and prove a lasting legacy for future generations’.

- The inspiration for 100 Days of Peace is based on the Olympic Truce - a pact, started in the ninth century BC, between the Greek city states to cease hostilities before, during and after the Olympic games to ensure safe passage for the competitors and spectators.

Taking into account the global context in which sport and the Olympic Games exist, the International Olympic Committee decided to revive the ancient concept of the Olympic Truce with the view to protecting the interests of the athletes and sport in general, and to encourage searching for peaceful and diplomatic solutions to the conflicts in the world.

A Peace Garden at The Friars, Aylesford

Photo: Aylesford Carmelites

On Sunday, 29th April 2012, about 200 people gathered at Aylesford to mark the official opening of the Peace Garden at The Friars by Tom Hart Dyke, the well known television presenter and contributor, who has created a 'world garden' at his family home of Lullingstone Castle in Kent.

The entrance to the Peace Garden is paved with ceramic tiles, made by the pottery located at The Friars. The tiles bear the word 'Peace' inscribed in 200 different languages.

The Peace Garden was the idea of Jayne Hoose, who enthused a large number of volunteers to bring it to completion.

Photo: Aylesford Carmelites

Aylesford Peace Weekend

A Peace Pilgrimage in honour of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, will take place on Saturday, 2nd June 2012, linking the Queens' Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics 100 Days of Peace, with the day of prayer.

It is hoped that people from different countries will come, especially those from the Commonwealth, wearing national dress. People are requested to bring national flags to wave and international food to share at a Jacob's table.

Pax Christi's touring peace icon will arrive on Friday, 1st June. The icon, Christ is our Reconciliation, was made for Pax Christi International by monks at the Monastery of St John in the Desert near Jerusalem. It will be displayed in St Joseph's chapel, situated on the left side of the Shrine area, for veneration.

The pilgrimage begins at 11:00 am with a talk on prayer from Denise de Vallancey and concludes after Benediction at 5:00 pm Speakers will include the former Prior General of the Carmelite Order, Father Joseph Chalmers OCarm and Magnus McFarlane - Barrow, founder of Mary's Meals.

Jimmy Mizen Foundation Peace Car

As part of their ongoing efforts to bring a change in thinking among young people, and to encourage them to participate in building community relationships, and promoting peace initiatives, the Jimmy Mizen Foundation is launching a 'Peace Car'.

The car made it's first public appearance at London City Hall on Friday morning, 8th June, the first day of '100 Days of Peace'. Leaders and celebrities will be invited to sign the 'Peace Car' to show support during this period, the first to offer to sign is the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

Opening Prayer Vigil

St Martin-in-the-Fields,
Trafalgar Square,
from 11:00 pm on Friday, 8th June, until noon on Saturday, 9th June

100 Days of Peace will begin with hourly prayers from different traditions, culminating in songs of praise and a service at 11:00 am on Saturday 9th June.

This service will be attended by Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, Bishop Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, and other London Church leaders.

More photos of the Vigil on the CCEW Flickr page

Reclaim our Streets - CitySafe Peace Rallies

CitySafe is a London Citizens initiative working to make our neighbourhoods more connected and our streets safer.

It is intended to launch CitySafe Zones across London by getting thousands of people to mark the start of 100 Days of Peace by joining rallies on Saturday, 9th June 2012, from 11:00 am unitl 1:00 pm.

Rallies in the Southwark diocese:

Croydon: Reeves Corner
Greenwich/Woolwich: Woolwich Town Centre
Lewisham: Lewisham Police Station
Loughborough/Lambeth: Windrush Square
Southwark: City Hall
Wandsworth: Clapham Junction, The Junction

Photo: londonse1 community website

Dozens of young people - many from Southwark's Notre Dame RC Girls' School with their their headteacher Sister Anne-Marie Niblock SND - joined hands around City Hall on Saturday morning to launch the London Citizens 100 Days of Peace campaign.

Heart Gives Unto Heart Peace CD

100 Days of Peace DC now available

Featuring Catholic artists including Ooberfuse and Gerry Coates

Recorded at St John's Seminary, Wonersh

Price £8 + £2 P&P (in UK)

£1 from each CD sold will be donated to Pax Christi

Please download the order form by clicking here

Video from a track on the CD - 'Make me a channel of your peace'

Filmed in the ambulacrum at St John's Seminary, Wonersh

A Conference: Disability, Sport, Theology

On Monday, 2nd July 2012, Archbishop Peter will open an International Conference: ‘EveryBody Has a Place’. Celebrating the human person in all its diversity, the Conference will explore the interface between disability, theology and sport.

It will take place at Westminster Central Hall, London, from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Speakers include: Prof John Swinton, Baroness Sheila Hollins and Dr David Jones.

For more details please contact Cristina Gangemi of the Kairos Forum c.gangemi@abdn.ac.uk. Cost for the conference £40 (per person).

Press release on the CCEW News and Media web site

Peace Service at Eltham

On Friday, 6th July 2012, the Sisters of Mercy at Eltham hosted a Peace Initiative.

About forty people gathered for a simple service of prayer and hymns in the chapel. This was followed by an inspiring talk by Margaret Mizen, mother of Jimmy, who was murdered in May 2008.

After the talk all the participants were treated to a cream tea and invited to write messages, which were attached to balloons and released - thanks to a kindly wind direction they floated towards the Olympic Park.

Moving to the front of the building, Margaret and her son George, who had come straight from sitting an exam, planted a tree as a legacy for the convent and parish community.

A raffle and collection raised £500 for the Jimmy Mizen Foundation.

Pax Christi Peace Icon

The Peace Icon is a sacred painting made at the Monastery of St John in the Desert, near Jerusalem, and given to the Pax Christi movement in 1999.

Its panels represent scenes of reconciliation and figures associated with peace. Each aspect leads to meditation on the deep movements of the heart necessary for peace and reconciliation.

The Peace Icon will be travelling to churches in Westminster, Brentwood and Southwark to offer a focus for prayer and reflection during the 100 Days of Peace.

Please click on the icon for a larger version
and an explanation of its imagery

It will be in the Southwark diocese:

17th August - 14th September 2012 at
Aylesford Priory, Kent
14th - 21st September 2012 at
Oratory of St Francis de Sales, Hartley
21st - 28th September 2012 at
St Peter the Apostle, Woolwich
28th September - 5th October 2012 at
St Edmund of Canterbury, Beckenham
5th - 12th October 2012 at
St John the Baptist, Purley
12th - 19th October 2012 at
Our Lady Immaculate, Tolworth
19th - 28th October 2012 at
St George’s Cathedral, Southwark
28th October 2012
Handover to Brazilian community at St George’s Cathedral

Closing Masses at St George's Cathedral

Mass for Southwark Schools
St George's Cathedral, Southwark
Tuesday, 23rd October

Archbishop Peter will preside at a Mass for Southwark Schools to mark the end of 100 Days for Peace.

The Mass will be at 1:30 pm and will be followed by refreshments in the Amigo Hall.

100 Days of Peace

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