North Hills gathers on World Peace Day, champions late nun's mission for social justice

Community members gathered Sept. 21 in North Park for the 21st North Hills International Day of Peace celebration hosted by La Roche University and several local organizations.

Sarah White, executive director of inclusion and belonging at La Roche, said the annual event is an important opportunity for friends and neighbors to come together and celebrate peace and justice in a world “full of so many divides.”

“It’s so important to remember our foundation of why we do what we do and what we need to do to come together and really learn from one another’s differences and learn to have conversations and learn from one another across those differences,” White said.

The North Hills Pittsburgh chapter of American Association of University Women, Sisters of Divine Providence, North Hills Ebony Women Inc., Muslim Association of Pittsburgh, YWCA Greater Pittsburgh, La Roche student volunteers and North Hills community members helped organize the event to celebrate the United Nations-sanctioned holiday. Also known as World Peace Day, it was first observed on Sept. 21, 1982.

Tables were set up by members of Awaken Pittsburgh, Friends Peace Teams and local chapters of the YWCA, Catholic Relief Services and Pax Christi. Rasha Ramahi and Julia Perkins provided information about Palestinian and Polish culture, respectively.

This year’s theme was “Act Now for a Peaceful World.”

Lora McKnight from Vibrant Pittsburgh — an economic development nonprofit that helps businesses build inclusive workplaces — gave the keynote address.

While noting she doesn’t have all the answers, McKnight said since her elderly father moved in with her and her family three years ago, she has learned that peace is about patience.

“My father and I, we have very radically different ideologies and we want different things from the world, and that has led to some friction,” McKnight said. “I have learned that peace is not about avoiding difference. It’s about choosing patience when I can. It’s about choosing respect even when that feels extremely difficult, and I’m practicing listening even when it’s very uncomfortable. And I sometimes have to remind myself. I say, ‘Lora, you can listen without agreeing. You can love without convincing.’ ”

The event organizers also took time to honor Sister Elizabeth “Betty” Sundry, a nun with the Sisters of Divine Providence who directed the order’s office of social concerns for many years and passed away in June.

Sundry’s fellow sister, Carol Stenger, said Sundry served others through teaching underprivileged communities and activism in “nonviolent social causes, including civil rights and the rights of migrant workers.”

“She said about those she served, ‘Working with people who are poor or oppressed has taught me a lot about life and what is important. It has been life giving and energizing, and I’m often humbled by the patience, forbearance and just plain grit that they have.’ That’s what Sister Betty said to us,” Stenger said.

Stenger said Sundry helped start the annual North Hills International Day of Peace celebration and that it was one of her “favorite opportunities to support and spread peace.”

Angela Valcarcel, a sophomore at La Roche studying biology with forensics and psychology, also addressed the attendees to tell them about her father’s memories of the Philippines and what they taught her about peace.

“My father, he often tells me about when the threat of war was very present, when you would have to go to bed thinking you might not make it to the next morning. However, he also tells me of heroes,” Valcarcel said. “He told me about the common people that he grew up with in the villages.”

Valcarcel said these heroes were villagers who took a stand to protect the common good, and from this she learned that peace is not just the absence of conflict but also the the ability for people to meet their basic needs, retain their human rights and build bridges “where none have built before, similar to what we’re doing today.”

“I have met many people I would not have met before unless I came and celebrated this. I don’t think peace is unattainable, even if it seems very difficult to achieve. I believe the path toward it is arduous,” Valcarcel said. “However, I also believe in the persistence of humanity. We wouldn’t be here celebrating this day together if not for the efforts of the heroes who advocate for change when it seems like everyone else is against them.”

The celebration concluded with a flag ceremony in which attendees paraded more than 100 U.N. flags around the pavilion, then read the names of all the flags’ nations and wished peace upon them all.