What Is Peace?

“Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is a duty.” - Oscar Romero, January 7, 1978

San Romero de América, Pastor y Mártir Nuestro
by Pedro Casaldáliga

...Y supiste beber el doble cáliz del Altar y del Pueblo,
con una sola mano consagrada al servicio.
América Latina ya te ha puesto en su gloria de Bernini
en la espuma aureola de sus mares,
en el dosel airado de los Andes alertos,
en la canción de todos sus caminos,
en el calvario nuevo de todas sus prisiones,
de todas sus trincheras,
de todos sus altares. . .
¡En el ara segura del corazón insomne de sus hijos!

San Romero de América, pastor y mártir nuestro:
¡nadie hará callar tu última homilía!


...And you knew how to drink from the double chalice of the Altar and of the People,
with one single hand devoted to service.
Latin America has already laid you in its glory of Bernini
in the foamy halo of its seas,
in the angry canopy of the alert Andes,
in the song of all its streets,
in the new calvary of all its prisons,
of all its trenches,
of all its altars. . . .
In the secure altar of the sleepless heart of its children!

San Romero of America, our shepherd and martyr:
nobody will silence your last homily!

Picture from Wiki.

Excerpt and translation of the poem from Monthly Review.