ABSTRACT
For Daly, the creation of the Peaceable Kingdom was about creating both the internal and external conditions necessary for each person to flourish and to reach their full potential. Before working for change in wider society, the Catholic Church had to ensure that it reflected the values of the Peaceable Kingdom. It had to become a contrast-community and act as a microcosm of the behaviours and attitudes that needed to be developed within wider society if a meaningful peace, in which relationships were based upon love of God and the resultant love of neighbour rather than an unenthusiastic tolerance of the other, was to be fostered and maintained. This required both a private and public declaration from Catholics of a belief in God’s salvific plan for the world and an agreement to adhere to the ethical standards established by Jesus’ ministry. However, Daly argued that Catholics had been complicit in the creations of the conditions that led to the conflict in Northern Ireland. He argued that they must undergo a process of conversion through which they would create a new identity for themselves founded in the image of God’s love. This could be achieved first through prayer which transformed the individual and his or her relationship with God, providing people with the spiritual freedom and strength required to act for peace and to become full members of the Church. Prayer therefore acted as the link between the individual and the community. The chapter then explores how the Church by acting as a contrast community can become more visible in society by engaging in ecumenical and cross-community dialogue. Such practices embody the essence of Catholic social teaching by enabling participants to see everyone as their neighbour and to work for justice for the good of all and not merely their ‘own community’.
