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Davenport - Pacem in Terris Award

The Spirit of God alive among us

Pacem in Terris Award

By Sister Jan Cebula, OSF

September 21, 2014

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon and people were abuzz, pledging to vote and signing the bus which was parked right in front of the doors to the chapel of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. But they weren’t coming just for that. They were streaming in for the presentation of the 2014 Pacem in Terris Award. To our very own Sister Simone Campbell. What a fitting way to conclude Day Five and the Iowa leg of Nuns on the Bus!

The award was created in 1964 to commemorate Pope John XXIII’s encyclical letter, Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), which called on all people to secure peace among all nations. One might think, “Oh, no big deal; it’s only Davenport, Iowa,” until one hears the list of previous recipients, all of whom had appeared in person to accept the award: Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Saul Alinsky, Dom Helder Camara, Mother Teresa, Helen Caldicott, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sister Helen Prejean,  and Lech Walesa, just to name a few.

During the ceremony, I was quite moved as the names of the prior recipients were called and a candle  lit in each one’s honor.  And moved knowing Simone was about to join them.  For her remarkable ministry, her courage, her passion for justice and peace. For taking risks.  For leading. For following the call of the Spirit. And, in the words of the award, for being “a spark of light, a center of love, a vivifying leaven.”

Sitting there I felt so grateful to be a woman religious; so privileged to be part of Nuns on the Bus, this movement.

Taking the stage following the presentation of the award by Bishop Martin Amos, Simone quipped, “The Holy Spirit has a very large sense of humor that a Californian troublemaker could get included” in the list. Clearly deeply touched and humbled, she continued, “What I know is that it’s not about us individually but it’s about us together. Isn’t that what peace is about? Where there is room for everyone at the table.”

Combining her sense of humor with an openness of sharing her own spiritual journey, along with reflections on Pope Francis’s Joy of the Gospel, Simone touched and inspired the crowd with her wisdom. Peacemaking is about the radical acceptance of everyone, she said. And about fighting. Not fighting against. But for an alternative future, for peace. “It’s not about pushing back against this force that I want to eliminate.” That just reinforces it and “you get stuck pushing on both sides. There’s no peace in that.” It’s about standing side by side, looking toward the future and fighting for an alternative vision where everyone is invited in. “Fighting for means we all need to aspire to the something else. It’s fighting for a vision of who we see ourselves called to be. It’s radical acceptance and fighting for the vision that makes for peace.”

All along the way, Nuns on the Bus have been hearing the concerns of people. Sharing the stories of two women she has met, Simone called stories “the root of peacebuilding. [They] break hearts. If our hearts are broken open, we have room for everyone’s story.” 

Pacem in Terris Award, Davenport, IA

Sister Simone receiving the Pacem in Terris Award

By Sister Simone Campbell, SSS

September 21, 2014

The last stop on the bus in Iowa was in Davenport at St. Ambrose College for the Pacem in Terris award. I was so humbled and awed that the consortium of interfaith groups in the Quad Cities area had agreed to give me their 2014 award. When I saw the list of past recipients, tears sprang to my eyes. Seeing the names of Dr. Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, Helen Caldecott, Jean Vanier (to name just a few) helped me remember so many leaders who nourished my roots of activism and peace building. Msgr. Mottet presented the history of the award from 1964. The religious leaders of the Quad Cities thought that there needed to be a response to the last encyclical of Pope John XXIII that was addressed to all people of good will. The result was the award that was first given to President Kennedy posthumously.

All of the recipients have traveled to Davenport to receive the award and address the community about the quest for peace. Mother Teresa, Archbishop Don Samuel Ruiz from Chiapas, Don Helder Camera, Bishop Desmond Tutu all have been on the dais in Davenport. How humbling to step in the footprints of 49 other recipients.

Sister Bea Snyder, CHM, introduced me with warmth and personal insight. She had ridden on the bus for our 5 day Iowa adventure and we had come to know each other in the intimate space of the bus. What an honor for her to introduce me.

Addressing the filled chapel, I shared about my own journey to building peace. It is a challenge for all of us to radically accept those that we disagree with, but this is what our faith calls us to. I recounted my insight that not only must we radically accept those who are often left out of our care, we must also fight for a vision that includes the 100%. It was exciting to weave together the message of Pope Francis in his exhortation Joy of the Gospel. There he challenges us to embrace everyone's reality rather than defend our own space. He also says that everyone needs to be involved in peace building. Everyone's perspective needs to find a home in the quest for peace--no pre-conditions, no non-negotiables.

But most moving of all for me was the fact that Bishop Amos of Davenport presented this treasured award. In that moment I teared up. I realized that I have been rather defended against the pain of the censure and this tension in the Church. I have kept seeing the working of the Spirit at every moment and knowing that all things work to the good. But in that moment of receiving the award from Bishop Amos, I knew that the anguish held at bay can bubble up in a moment of healing. Perhaps the biggest part of this award for me was building a bit of peace between me as one Sister and one member of the hierarchy. It also means that peace building happens through tears. So as the poem I read at the end of my talk says, "Perhaps the beginning of an exuberant spring!"