Irish Peace Activist to Speak at Drew University

Building on the Christmas Eve truce between British and German soldiers during World War I, Irish peace activist Don Mullan is creating an international peace project for youth in time for the 100th Christmas Truce of 1914.
Mullan, an Irish author and humanitarian, was awarded the Peace Through Truth & Reconciliation Award by Drew’s Center on Religion, Culture and Conflict’s at its Inaugural Gala earlier this year.

He’s returning to Drew on Monday, Sept. 22 to talk about his new venture, The Christmas Truce and Flanders Peace Field Project. The lecture will take place at 8 p.m. in Crawford Hall in The Ehinger Center. The event is free but those attending are asked to register through the website.

Mullan’s initiative has drawn the attention of global soccer legend Pele and Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has described the project as “a gift of the Island of Ireland Peace Process to the European Project and World Peace.” UNESCO’s Programme on Youth Engagement and the UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace are also partners.

The Flanders Peace Field, in Messines, where the Christmas Truce took place opened in September by the First and Deputy First Ministers of Northern Ireland. The youth of Europe and the world will be invited to engage in peace building programs based around the Peace Field and at the Messines Peace Village, a world-class youth hostel that can accommodate more than 130 young people.

With the support of the mayor and local parish, Mullan also hopes to make St. Nicholas Church in Messines a place of pilgrimage for people of all ages. In the crypt of St. Nicholas Church, a young Adolf Hitler recovered from injuries sustained during fighting. “My vision,” said Mullan, “is to make Messines the antithesis of all that Hitler came to represent during the 20th Century. A place where people of goodwill are made welcome and where true dialogue and respect for all humanity can be nurtured.”

While the truce was only temporary and had no real bearing on the progress of the war, the stories that have survived demonstrate that the men who took part were changed, and looked back on their encounters with great emotion. “Their stories, today,” says Mullan, “are a source of inspiration and hope that can be harnessed to inspire new generations of peacemakers. That is my hope, that is my dream.”

About Drew University’s Center on Religion, Culture & Conflict
Drew’s Center on Religion, Culture & Conflict (CRCC) focuses critical attention on the complex ways in which cultures and religions interact, especially in moments of crisis and conflict and facilitates scholarly understanding of and conversation about pressing global issues.

Each year, CRCC welcomes scholars and public figures to campus, such as leading Egyptian human rights and democracy activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim; Iranian-American scholar and author of the bestselling book “Zealot,” Reza Aslan; and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. For more information, click here.

About Drew University
Drew University is a private, liberal arts university located in Madison, N.J., just 29 miles west of New York City. Ranked among the top liberal arts institutions nationwide by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes and Washington Monthly, Drew is also listed in Princeton Review’s Best 379 Colleges.

The Drew promise—We Deliver Full-Impact Learning to the World—emphasizes the university’s commitment to borderless education that enables a student’s greatest success in a globally connected world.

Drew has a total student enrollment of more than 2,300 in three schools: the College of Liberal Arts, the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies and the Drew Theological School. The undergraduate program offers degrees in 30 different disciplines, while Caspersen and the Theological School offer degrees at the master’s and doctoral levels.

Information and photo courtesy of Elizabeth Moore