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Thank you, Sheikh Lego. It is my pleasure to introduce the Most Reverend William Morris, the Catholic Archbishop of Toowoomba, a post he has held for ten years. He is a member and secretary of the Bishops' Committee for Justice, Development, Ecology and Peace, and chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, the Catholic Church's national justice and peace agency. Your Grace. Do I get a raise in pay? My dear brothers and sisters, I am very grateful for the opportunity to be present with you today, to share these thoughts, and to participate in this conference. Our thanks also to Swāmījī and Yoga in Daily Life for hosting this World Forum. There is a great need at this moment in the history of Australia and of the globe to bring together communities and promote understanding between cultures, nations, and religions. Through this forum, we can adopt its theme—peace, ethics, and sustainability—as our watchwords in working to heal the wounds of our world. In the first years of this new millennium, we face challenges that threaten the common bonds of humanity and tear at the fabric of our national and global society. Each day, there is no shortage of tragic stories of global poverty and hardship, racial hatred, and war. The terrorist attacks in the United States created a wave of fear that flowed into 2002 and continues to flow into our world today. This was heightened by the bombing in Bali and now the war in Iraq. As a nation, we have struggled in different ways to come to terms with the kind of tragedy we used to see in other parts of the world. We have mourned the loss of life through prayer, memorials, and fundraising efforts for victims of terrorism in Bali. But other reactions have borne out the fear and prejudice in our society. As part of its anti-terrorism policies, the federal and state governments have introduced new public security arrangements. Some of these threaten basic civil rights and have witnessed heavy-handed home raids in capital cities around Australia. We joined the so-called War on Terror by pre-deploying troops to join American and British forces in the Persian Gulf, who are now involved with those forces in war. And now we are considering reviving the arms race brinkmanship of the Cold War by constructing a defensive missile shield to fortify Australia. In this fearful environment, there has been a sudden increase in race hatred crimes; religious sites have been vandalized; Islamic and Jewish communities have been harassed; innocent people have been threatened and spat on; women wearing the hijab have been a focus of racially motivated verbal and physical abuse. That the terrorism hysteria and the so-called war on terror has unleashed such enmity towards Arab and Muslim Australians is a sad indictment on this nation's claim to the values of diversity and multiculturalism. These events threaten to erode our sense of community, the values we prize, and our hope for the future. So the question comes: what difference can I make? This question is often a basis of great works of charity and justice. However, for just as many people, perhaps more at this time, the question is one of frustration and despair, that the problems of our world are just too overwhelming. Many of the issues before us are global in nature and orchestrated through processes which are out of our reach and seem dismissive of community sentiment. In response to this question, "What difference can I make?" let me refer to the words of Pope John Paul II and his predecessor, John XXIII, regarding peace on earth. "Pacem in Terris," as it is known, is just as relevant as when it was promulgated in 1963, 40 years ago, during some of the darkest days of the Cold War. John XXIII wrote this encyclical less than three months before he died. It was virtually his last will and testament. It was addressed not only to Catholics, but, unlike any previous encyclical, to all people of goodwill. To a world living under the threat of the arms race and nuclear catastrophe, "Pacem in Terris" called for a new understanding of international affairs that recognized the growing interdependence of nations and the universal common good. It spoke as no previous church document had spoken and had the support of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The challenge to think beyond the fear of global war and to cultivate a culture of peace was directed not only to world leaders and international authorities, but to all people. We were called to address the causes of conflict, promoting the development of communities and defending life and human rights. Work for peace, from the interpersonal to the international, was to be founded on truth, built according to justice, inspired by charity, and practiced in freedom. In answering the question, "What difference can I make?" I firmly believe that the pervasive maxim of the environmental movement, which calls us to think globally and act locally, lends itself to the challenges of peace in our world. As a rallying call, it has successfully transformed the overwhelming and seemingly inevitable challenge of ecological disaster into matters of personal commitment and social change. In his recent World Peace Day message on New Year's Day, Pope John Paul calls us to think globally and act locally for peace. The challenge is to think outside the square of global war that some political leaders and media portray as inevitability. We must start where we can, and we can walk the path of peace with family and friends through our neighborhoods. This will have an impact across the nations and throughout the world. The Pope says that gestures of peace are matters of faith that spring from the hearts of individuals, and I quote, "In the end, peace is not essentially about structures, but about people." Certain structures and mechanisms of peace are of course necessary and do exist, but they have derived from nothing other than the accumulated wisdom and experience of innumerable gestures of peace, made by women and men throughout history who have kept hope and not given in to discouragement. But this calls for more involvement on the personal commitment plane for peace. This call calls us to enter a personal relationship with all those who are vulnerable and are exposed to violence. In his State of the World Address in mid-January, the Pope said he was personally struck by the feeling of fear which often dwells in the hearts of our contemporaries in the face of terrorism and the threat of war. He said that war is not inevitable, but it is always a defeat for humanity. He spoke of the need for peoples on earth and their leaders to stand up and say no to war. "Pacem in Terris" teaches us that peace must have a fourfold basis. It must be founded on truth, built according to justice, lived and integrated by charity, and put into practice in freedom. Peace rallies that become violent do nothing for peace. Peace rallies are only impressive when they are based in peace and made of the essential ingredients of truth, justice, charity, and freedom. The peaceful protests that we have seen in Australia and around the world are a clear demonstration that people hold hope in peaceful alternatives. We know that there were alternatives to war in Iraq. We know that all diplomatic alternatives had not been exhausted. The message to our political leaders from such demonstrations, from the hearts of individuals, from families, and from all communities, is that of peace. Let me finish with the words of Mahatma Gandhi, who captured, I think, the essence of what I am trying to say: "Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will it restore him to a control over his life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to peace and life for the hungry and the spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melt away in peace." Recording location: Australia, Sydney, World Peace Forum 2003