On June 12, President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore to discuss the possible dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear program. This is an amazing opportunity for peace!
The lead-up to the nuclear summit has been fraught with turmoil but South Korean President Moon Jae-in has stepped in to keep it on track by meeting with Trump and Kim individually over the last month. “Both sides should try to diffuse misunderstandings by meeting face-to-face,” Moon said.
Read the Maryknoll statement on peace on the Korean Peninsula
Maryknoll Missioners began working in what is now North Korea in the 1920s and 1930s. The decades-old conflict on the Korean Peninsula shows us that conflict is resolved not by force but by dialogue. "If there is one word that we should never tire of repeating, it is this: dialogue,” Pope Francis said. “We are called to promote a culture of dialogue by every possible means and thus to rebuild the fabric of society.”
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) called the historic U.S.-North Korea summit “a once in a generation opportunity to work for peace and nuclear disarmament.” As an ICAN partner organization, we agree and commend both leaders for choosing the path of dialogue and diplomacy.
TAKE ACTION: Urge President Trump to continue on the path of peace
Click here to send a letter to President Trump asking him to:
- Seize this historic opportunity for peace by promoting dialogue, respect, concern for the good of the other, mercy and forgiveness
- Pursue a broad framework for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
- Establish a realistic timeline for denuclearization alongside a roadmap with reciprocal commitments by the United States and North Korea
- Begin the normalization and improvement of relations between the two nations
JOIN US IN PRAYER: We pray for the success of the Singapore Summit and peace on the Korean Peninsula
Click here to download the prayer
LORD OF LIFE, please join us in this time as we bow our heads praying for the peace of the Korean Peninsula. Please hear our prayers so that we may become one in the love and peace of Jesus Christ.
We have sensibly overcome the constantly quavering tinderbox crisis. The April 27th Inter-Korean Summit was fruitful, and it is now leading to a U.S-North Korea summit. We give thanks to the living God who oversees history and gave rise to this spring of peace.
However, we will not forget that peace does not spring easily. Thus we desperately hope to overcome the barriers of ideology and distrust, and that this opportunity we have received once again may open the path of trust and peaceful coexistence flowing toward the stream of life, justice, and peace.
We desire to continue our prayer march for reconciliation and peace on the Korean peninsula. Lord, as small candles gathered to bring forth a great wave of peace, may our candle of prayer meet with all those who wish for peace and be with us to grow into a great wave of reconciliation and peaceful coexistence. Do not let the candle blow out despite any troubling winds that may come, and lead us to peace.
Until the day we realize reconciliation and unification on the Korean Peninsula, let us fulfill our mission with the humble heart of God. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ who comes to our land as the Prince of Peace. Amen.
–United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, June 2018
IF YOU ARE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. you are invited to join a peace vigil outside of the White House at 6 p.m. Monday, June 11. For more information, visit the Code Pink website.
Photo: Fr. Gerald Hammond, MM, and children in North Korea in undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Gerald Hammond.
