Europe

The World March Promoting Team in Ireland, from Kilkenny, Dublin, Cork, and Shannonwatch, a group of human rights and peace activists from the West of Ireland came together on Sunday the 8th of November to march for peace and nonviolence, which coincided with the regular every-second-Sunday-of-the-months Shannowatch vigil.

“Thank you very much. May God bless you all.” These were the words of Benedict XVI as he received the gift delivered to him by the delegation of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, which, having left Wellington in New Zealand on October 2, with numerous legs in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, arrived at Vatican City to be received by the Pope.

Yesterday a delegation of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence reached Torino to be extremely warmly welcomed by 1600 people gathered in the Regio Theatre where an internationally renowned classical concert was held. Earlier in Novara the marchers endorsed a declaration denouncing the intention of the Italian government to buy 131 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence made a stop in Geneva on Monday. Geneva Mayor, Rémy Pagani, expressed his support for the march and denounced the current global figure of 1.5 trillion dollars in military spending, as well as Switzerland’s own hypocrisy. Dani Horowitz proclaimed “We cannot justify creating employment at the expense of other people’s lives.”

Silo, the founder of Universalist Humanism and the inspiration behind the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, addressed the 10th Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. His talk, “The Meaning of Peace and Nonviolence in the Present Moment,” spoke to the possibility of constructing a Universal Human Nation founded upon a culture of active nonviolence.

The following is the complete text of Silo’s speech made at the Tenth World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates that took place November 11, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. After an introduction by Irish pacifist and Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Silo spoke as the founder of Universalist Humanism and the inspiration behind the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.

Numerous volunteer organizers promoting the World March for Peace and Nonviolence arrived in Berlin from throughout Europe and the world to attend the Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. These World March promoters will participate in an international meeting, November 10 from 5 to 11 pm in beautiful Café-Restaurant *Kalkscheune*, at Johannisstraße 2, the city center of Berlin.

After having crossed more than 20 countries, the World March stopped over in Paris. On foot, by bus, by boat, to the cinema and finally to the Ministry of Defence, the international and Parisian Marchers, accompanied by the French spokesman Alain Ducq, made the 5 aims of this world campaign known, as well as their applicability to France.

Coinciding with the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German capital hosts the 10th World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. Under the theme “Breaking Down New Walls for a World Without Violence,” speakers during the plenary session address the need to eliminate the ‘walls’ that still exist in today’s world.

This morning in Milan, sunny skies and over 3000 children and students from Lombardy welcomed the World March for Peace and Nonviolence with a celebratory parade, carrying thousands of blue balloons. Waiting for them on the stage in Piazza Duomo were Ivan Ramiro Cordoba, the celebrity footballer and supporter of the March, and Alessandro Cattelan of Radio 105.