PEACE AND HARMONY FOUNDATION
(PHF)
“ Lord make me an instrument of peace” is ‘the peace prayer’ of the world, known in the name of the great apostle of peace, St. Francis of Assisi. Every follower of this great saint begins his/her day with this prayer. As I was reciting this prayer in Kannur in the midst of political killings it struck me deeply from within. What is my response to this prayer was the question that disturbed me for days and nights! Moved by the divine inspiration and with the support of few friends we started to work for peace in the politically disturbed area of Kannur. Bishop Dr. Varghese Chakalakkal officially inaugurated our work on May 29, in 2012 with a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Kannur.
Another key aspect of the vision and mission of St. Francis was to bring religions to harmony and peace. Moved by the example of St. Francis we started to work for religious amity. It is to promote these two values namely peace in the society and harmony among the religions that peace and harmony foundation is established with the moto “Together towards Harmonious Peace” under the chairmanship of Fr. Scaria Kalloor OFM Cap. It is a registered charitable trust under the care of the Pavanatma Capuchin Province Kannur. To realize our mission we have activities in three areas namely Peace promotion in the socio political and educational areas, promotion of religious harmony and empowerment of the weaker sections of the society particularly the tribal communities of North Malabar.
