Initial Statement Towards an Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace

The Initial Statement Towards an Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace emphasizes that our starting point is God's peace, as manifested in the life and death of Jesus Christ. It is not "our peace". We do not have to invent it. God's peace speaks to all aspects of our life and work. Peace or just peace, therefore, is not just an issue of political ethics among many others. It is the frame which determines our approach to all ethical issues.

Therefore, the statement addresses the churches as agents of peace-building and identifies various ways in which this can be done. Since the churches are present at all levels of life, from the personal to the global, peace-building has to do with different aspects and tasks. Justice is a basic one, so is reconciliation.

Finally, the statement offers a new framework for the peace issues by putting "peace with creation" at the centre. Hence it goes beyond the anthropocentric concepts of peace which have dominated the churches' agenda thus far. If humanity cannot make peace with the earth all other forms of peace are bound to fail. This is the biggest challenge that not only the churches need to live up to.