Pan y Paz: Colombian Mennonites Celebrate UN International Day of Peace

Trucks with camouflaged armed troops arrived in the middle of the UN International Day of Peace celebration adding an element of tension to the songs, litanies, and classical guitar music in the central plaza of Bogotá, Colombia. Though I felt nervous attending an event that had been outlawed by recent government legislation I didn't sense fear from others in the small crowd braving the prohibition on public demonstrations. The event last September, "Pan y Paz" (bread and peace), planned by the Colombian Mennonite Church was better described as a prayer vigil, but nonetheless permission to hold it was denied.

Instead of harassing attendees the soldiers slowly clustered around the plaza listening attentively to the soft-spoken but powerful messages of peace achieved through economic security for the country's citizens instead of through a military solution. Peace will come to Colombia only when its people have food, employment, education, and healthcare. The "Pan y Paz" event appropriately ended with church members sharing baskets of bread with the crowd: soldiers, beggars and peace supporters alike.

The Mennonite Church publicized its declaration of nonviolence on a national level leading up to last year's event, putting ads in several of the country's largest newspapers. This year it plans to do the same with calls to the armed actors to observe a 24-hour ceasefire on the 21st of December. A call for Colombians to cultivate nonviolence as a personal discipline, spiritually and within family and community relationships is also being promoted. The Church further calls for personal commitments to not participate in military service and to work constructively for an alternative economic and social reality for the nation.

To observe the United Nations International Day of Peace this September 21st, the Pan y Paz committee plans to hold a public concert to promote nonviolence featuring traditional Colombian and classical coral music. The church is calling for similar activities throughout Colombia and in the United States and Canada. The day is based on United Nations resolution 55-282, which calls for "the Day to be observed as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence." The resolution calls nations, organizations and individuals to actively participate in making the day a success.

"Twenty-four hours: to give relief workers a safe interlude for the provision of vital services; to offer mediators a building block towards a wider truce; to allow all those engaged in conflict to reconsider the wisdom of further violence."--Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General.