NEW YORK (CNS): Vatican nuncio to the United Nations, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, presented the annual Path to Peace Award on June 12 to President Xanana Gusmao of East Timor.
The award is presented annually by the Path to Peace Foundation, an agency headed by the nuncio and established to carry out projects related to the work of the Vatican’s UN mission.
Archbishop Renato R. Martino, who was Vatican nuncio until he was appointed president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace last year, established the foundation in 1991.
Archbishop Migliore said that during East Timor’s struggle for independence from Indonesia, which took control in 1975 following the withdrawal of Portugal, Mr Gusmao fostered a “culture of peace” despite enduring imprisonment and ostracism.
In accepting the Path to Peace Award, Mr Gusmao said peace can exist “only if each individual is at peace”, and that it must begin “within the mind and spirit of each citizen”.
He also said that peace must be based on human rights and social justice.
