The following statement was shared by Pax Christi USA Peace Pair Sam Alves and Merwyn De Mello.
As a Pax Christi USA Peace Pair, we acknowledge the landmark peace speech given by President John F. Kennedy on this day 64 years ago — June 10, 1963 — at American University in Washington, DC, during which he declared the United States’ intention of working towards complete nuclear disarmament:
“We have also been talking in Geneva about the other first-step measures of arms control designed to limit the intensity of the arms race and to reduce the risks of accidental war. Our primary long range interest in Geneva, however, is general and complete disarmament — designed to take place by stages, permitting parallel political developments to build the new institutions of peace which would take the place of arms.”1
As a peace pair, we share in President Kennedy’s:
- aspiration for and belief in the ability to achieve a positive peace
- conviction that the United States can and should lead the world’s turning towards complete nuclear disarmament
- centering on the lives of children and other powerless and vulnerable people around the world as a central motivating factor in our work for disarmament and peace.
Moving beyond recognition, we also invite you to join us in solidarity with President Kennedy’s exhortation by participating in any or all of the following actions:
- fasting and/or abstaining on this day;
- praying for disarmament, personally or within your faith community (especially with the intercession of Our Lady, Queen of Peace);
- reading President Kennedy’s speech, personally and/or with your faith community
We encourage civic and religious leaders, especially our fellow Catholic believers, to look to the witness and words of President Kennedy as we work to re-awaken the political imagination of our nation’s leaders in regards to disarmament and peace.
In hope,
Sam Alves and Merwyn De Mello
2026 Peace Pair, Pax Christi USA