OUR PROJECT
Justice and Peace has been chosen as a priority, a way of living and being for the entire Dominican family: sisters, brothers and laity. Our Constitutions, along with the many actions that have been undertaken so far and continue to be carried out throughout the world today, are proof that these words have not remained unheeded. How could we possibly remain indifferent to the suffering endured by millions of our bothers and sisters living on our planet ? Can we close our eyes and our ears to the plight of those subjected to a life of suffering because they are the victims of war, economic crises and injustices of all types?
In several of the provinces and congregations, the sisters, brothers and laity work together on projects for the advancement of Justice and Peace. By so doing they express the reality and the vitality behind the commitment for Justice and Peace. Work for Justice and Peace is not just something that is "added on" to our preaching; on the contrary, it is an inherent part of everything that we do, colors every one of our actions and is for all of us the particular manner in which we live Dominican compassion and mercy.
Unfortunately, there still exist too many situations of injustice and violence in the world where members of the Dominican family do not dare intervene, because they refuse to believe that they can be agents of change.
The specific purpose of these workbooks is to serve as a support mechanism for those who are out there on the front lines, and to re-ignite the passion in those who doubt they can live the Peace and Justice dimension of the Dominican vocation.
The workbooks were written to encourage those who are already committed to action and to help motivate those people who do not know where to begin, or how to go about entering into solidarity with those excluded by society. We all agree that issues of social justice should be a primary concern to every member of the Order, but even more so to those who have been entrusted with the direct responsibility of promoting Justice and Peace in their province, congregation, institution and fraternity, and to those working in initial and ongoing formation.
HOW TO USE THE WORKBOOKS
The workbooks were designed to be a practical methodology and are meant to be used as a tool. They do not contain a reflection on the fundamentals of Justice and Peace, but they do give you the basic elements required for initiating a reflection process that hopefully will lead to action.
You are free to choose the order you wish in reading these texts. It is not necessary to follow their order of presentation, although they have been structured to follow a certain progression. There exist many possibilities for crossovers that could be useful in passing from the written word to specific actions.
| We propose five possible crossovers although there could be many more: | |
| - from Scripture to Celebration |
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- concerning the project, efficiency and improvements to be made |
 | - theological reading |
 | - a Dominican story rooted in our tradition and heritage |
 | - activity to be lived by the local community |
The crossovers in the different sections are identified by various logos (indicated above), and other possibilities will be presented in keeping according to the needs of the user.
The workbooks present you with a series of tools that are meant to be taken on and adapted in particular circumstances to meet the needs: a) of the specific target group; b) the country where the work is being done; c) the type of meeting format being used: discussion group, spiritual retreat, workshop, evaluation seminar, community meeting, provincial council, chapters... Each one of you is responsible for designing your own tools; the workbooks are there to help you and to provide you with ideas.
Proof that we will have reached our goal, will come when the majority of the sisters and brothers tell us that these workbooks have become obsolete. This will be the sign that numerous actions will have been taken and many people will have been sensitized, thus making it necessary to find new means to meet the new challenges.
The practical living out of Justice and Peace in our daily lives as Preachers is far more important and far more meaningful than any speeches we might give on the subject.
Any experience, or any new tools you might be able to share with us, as a result of this reading and use of the workbooks would be deeply appreciated. Please send them to us so we can include them in our documents. The workbooks were designed to be interactive, they are yours, they belong to you. We need your feedback and ask that you send us your ideas and experiences, so we can share them with the rest of the Dominican family.
Send your reactions and observations to the Promotor General for Justice and Peace:
Fr. John (Joćo) Xerri Santa Sabina, Piazza P. D'Illiria, 1, 00153 Roma.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The workbooks are the result of the work done by a group of brothers, under the direction of the Promoter General for Justice and Peace. The members of the group are: fr. Jean-Jacques Pérennès (Promoter General, Rome), brothers Michel Côté (Province of Canada), Jean Claude Lavigne (Province of Lyon) and Carlos Mendoza (Province of Mexico). Our thanks to fr. Edward Van Merrienboer (Province of Chicago) who made it possible for the group to accomplish the work.
The workbooks were studied and discussed by the International Commission for Justice and Peace. The names of the members of the committee can be found in the appendix to workbook n °1. The final version of the text was written by fr. Jean Claude Lavigne.
All translations are from the original French version. This translation was done by Patricia Leahy.
Our sincerest thanks to all of those who helped the team by sending in documents and drawings (Sr. Agnes Kim, Sr. Fides, Fr. Xavier, brothers of the Vicariate of Rwanda-Burundi). Special thanks to fr. Philippe Toxé (Philox) for the cartoon drawings and Sr. Madeleine Fredell who did the original proofreading. The adaptation of the English booklets to the internet was done by Fr. Albert Judy ("Webfriar") from Dominican Central .
There are many things that could be said about Justice and Peace to the members of the Dominican family to make them more aware of this dimension of our life and ministry. We chose to begin with a very effective and simple method that is readily accessible to all - STORYTELLING. whereby an individual or group relates the sequence of events in a specific journey. The purpose of the first workbook is to facilitate the story-telling process and the use of it as a teaching tool.
AND WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST IN CARRYING OUT THE TASK.
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