The Church and Peace

As a historical reality, the Church has to search for a new identity as it enters a new century, a new millennium. The shape of the Church to come is determined by its mission, and the mission receives its specification from the actual context in which it is exercised. It is my contention  here that in the conflictual situation of our country today the Church in India is called to be an agent of peace and reconciliation. I do not deny that the Church in India may have many other tasks to perform. Nor do I claim the Church is the only agency that has to work for peace, for a large number o f  people and organisations in India in fact seek to  promote peace. But I do maintain that, if she wishes to be relevant to the concrete situation of our country today, the Church has to work for peace and reconciliation. And working for peace and reconciliation is an essential dimension  of her God-given mission