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Seeking Peace Through Justice ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT, December 2001 By: Theodore Hesburgh What matters most to me, of course, is being a priest for more than 58 years. Very simply, being a priest is to be Christ-like-to be a mediator between two worlds: the worlds of sin and virtue, of this life and the next, of wealth and poverty. What matters most to me, of course, is being a priest for more than 58 years. Very simply, being a priest is to be Christ-like--to be a mediator between two worlds: the worlds of sin and virtue, of this life and the next, of wealth and poverty. A priest tries to bridge these worlds with love and forgiveness. Being an educator has also been a very meaningful experience because it has allowed me to open doors to prosperity and development on so many levels: intellectually, economically, and especially spiritually. The underlying virtues that have motivated me all my life are very simple: love and justice. Justice is the foundation of all; it is the only means to peace in this world, and peace, as we all know, is terribly important--now more than ever. There is a wonderful saying in Latin: pax opus justitiae est, which translates to "peace is the work of justice." In other words, if you want to work for peace, work for justice. As I was concluding my 35-year leadership of Notre Dame in the mid-1980s, it struck me that the best question I could ask myself was: "What can I do that would reflect my deepest beliefs in the virtues that make life worthwhile and accomplish peace in this world?" With the help of many dedicated individuals, I established several institutes and centers to promote research and learning in this area, including the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies; the Kellogg Institute, for the facilitation of economic, social, and political development in the Third World; the Environmental Research Center near Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin; and the Ecumenical Institute, to enable all Christians to live and study together in Jerusalem. Another of these academic entities--the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Notre Dame's law school--educates about 12 lawyers a year who come from all the troubled spots on the face of the earth. We train them to deal with the age-old question of how you can use the law, first of all, to rectify injustice. And when you are able to rectify injustice, how you can then use the law to promote justice in laws passed by international courts. It is my belief that every university or place of higher learning should have an entity that dedicates itself to the resolution of conflict or the birth of peace in areas of the world that are buried in conflict and violence and injustice. You have to go beyond justice, of course, because the ultimate teaching of the Gospel isn't justice, it's love. Peace isn't achieved by signing a document. Peace really begins in the heart of every human being, and it's not easy. You can agree with everything I've said and still find moments where you're not being totally honest, loving, or caring. Unless we are people who love our neighbor, which is the basic law of all, we can forget about all the rhetoric, forget about all the laws. The Lord says to love one another, because if you love people you are not going to hurt them. Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh is president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He is still involved in the institutes described in this article.
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