Pacific Peace Pilgrimage – Connecting with Community
Pacific Peace Pilgrimage – Connecting with Community
In last week’s report we shared the powerful political engagement from the Pacific Peace Pilgrimage. This week saw the second half of the tour, which was predominantly community engagement.
In three cities there have been hundreds of people gathering in events with ICAN, members of the peace and anti-nuclear movements, other churches and Pasifika people in Australia in deep Talanoa – listening circles.
We have had Polynesian feasts in each city and spoken about nuclear justice and decolonising spirituality. People wrote solidarity messages on paper gum leaves which our guests have taken back home. The interweaving of First Nations and Environmental concerns into the issue of nuclear justice was stark in many ways.
The trip was clearly timely. During the visit Australia signed Treaties with Vanuatu and Fiji, and China fired a missile into the Pacific.
A Glimpse of the Tour
- Samuel Barton, a student from the Marshall Islands, leads choir and crowd in a song of nuclear justice from the Marshall Islands during the Melbourne vigil.
- The choir in Melbourne sings “Peace won’t you come on in” with our guests.
- A video of the choir practicing as people dance and sing.
- A summary of the Commemorative Motion moved in Federal Parliament.
- A video of the benediction given at the end of the Melbourne decolonising spirituality gathering.
ICAN have been so grateful for Quakers to give a huge boost to the profile of the nuclear ban treaty ahead of the ALP conference.
