Christchurch Catholic Commission for Justice & Peace Annual Competition 2024

“Forgiveness Opens the Door to Peace”

The Christchurch Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace recently held its annual competition, drawing participation from many schools and students on the theme of Social Justice Week 2024. Guided by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching (CST), students were invited to create a poster (Years 7-10) or submit an essay or multimedia project (Years 11-13) illustrating this theme.

We were thrilled by the high level of engagement and thank all the teachers who encouraged their rangatahi in this meaningful work.

Here are the winners of this year's competition:

Years 7-10
Cassie Reyes from St. Mary’s Primary School created a powerful hand-painted artwork addressing current issues of peace and war, including the conflicts in Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Palestine. Her piece gently yet powerfully touches on the theme of forgiveness. The Commission was deeply moved by her ability to convey such complex global issues with both thoughtfulness and artistic skill.

Years 11-13
Seraya de Silva was awarded the Justice and Peace Cup for her exceptional essay. T
he Commission was particularly impressed with how she effectively applied Catholic Social Teaching principles, capturing a teenager’s perspective through relatable examples of forgiveness. Her message resonated strongly, bringing the topic to life in a compelling way.

Both winners also received a classroom shout-out to celebrate their achievements.

Here is an extract from Seraya’s Essay:
“…For most of us, we do not experience life-threatening harm. Our challenge to forgive comes in the form of day-to-day annoyances. It’s the smallest things we hold grudges about—whether forgiving our siblings for eating the last piece of cake, forgiving friends for an annoying comment, or forgiving classmates for being loud. In these situations, we can always create inner peace, peace between siblings, friends, and classmates, and ultimately, world peace. In conclusion, forgiveness opens the door to peace, as demonstrated through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. In a world filled with war, it is our duty to foster peace within our small communities. Together, we must unite in forgiveness for a more peaceful world.”

We thank all students for their participation and teachers for their support.

On behalf of the Christchurch Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace.