Responding to the call of the collective “Europe for Peace“, which can be read here, a group of humanist activists promoted a rally for peace and nonviolence in the centre of the city of Porto, in Portugal, during the afternoon of 2 April.
To mark the date and place, a white banner reading “Bring peace to the world with nonviolence” was hung up, and a short event began with the reading aloud of the appeal. This was followed by a public reminder of the “Guide for Peace in Ukraine – a humanist and nonviolent proposal”, which was published in Pressenza, and a joint request for peace, formulated in the form of a short guided meditation
“Let us take advantage of the fact that we are gathered here to make a profound request.
Fully relax your body, and your heart and quiet your mind.
Breathe in a breath of air and imagine taking that air into your heart.
Then..,
Request…
Request for yourself and for those you love most,
Request not to be indifferent to the pain and suffering of others,
Request that no one be indifferent to the pain and suffering of others.
Learn to resist,
Learn to resist the violence in you and outside of you.
Request that we all overcome violence in the direction of reconciliation.
Request that a profound peace may come to the hearts of all human beings on the planet.
Finally, the event concluded with the reading of a short text by the Argentinean writer and thinker Silo, from 1969, entitled “First Peace, then Justice”, which states, among other ideas: “Peace begins in oneself and is then transmitted to others. There is war and violence in the world because men have no peace in their hearts. He who hates injustice, oppression, violence and war, must begin by achieving peace in his consciousness. (…) Hitherto it has been said: ‘The work of Justice will be peace’. I say: “The work of peace will be justice”.
During the rally, contact was also established with people circulating around the place collecting signatures to request Portugal’s accession to the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), at the initiative of the “Nonviolent Future” collective.
