Whatever the Nobel Decision, Pope Francis Is the 2014 Man of Peace

Tomorrow, October 10, the winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced. As CNN noted in an article today, of all the prizes awarded during the Nobel week every October, none is more anticipated than the Nobel Peace Prize. This year, the committee that picks the winner received 278 nominations, more than any other year. And the excitement is building to Friday's announcement. ~~~~~ Who will be the 2014 Nobel Peace Laureate? CNN, the Washington Post, the UK's Telegraph - and bookmakers - say it will be Pope Francis. His win would be historic - because he would become the first Roman Catholic pontiff to win the Peace Prize. The 77-year-old Argentine Pope was nominated by Argentina's congress, with his sponsor, legislator Oscar Martinez, saying that the Pope had been “decisive in maintaining international peace through his clear position regarding the conflict in Syria." But don't start celebrating just yet - the Nobel committee is notorious for making surprise choices. ~~~~~ The Washington Post reports that bookmakers favor Pope Francis, and the Post seems to agree, saying the Pope’s rhetoric is new, and he has changed the tone of global Catholicism, winning praise for his humility and focus on the poor. And according to the Post, Francis, the Time magazine 2013 “Person of the Year,” is very popular with bookmakers, taking in more money than any other nominee. But the Post says that commentators wonder whether peaceful rhetoric and humble gestures alone are enough, because just 18 months into his papacy, Pope Francis is still pretty new at being Pope, although the Post cites the 2009 Peace Laureate, President Obama, as proof that being new on the job isn’t necessarily a negative for the Nobel committee. ~~~~~ The Telegraph in England also picks Pope Francis to win, pointing out that since being elected in March 2013 after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the Jesuit pontiff has repeatedly called for peace in conflict zones such as Ukraine, Syria and Iraq, as well as urging reconciliation between the Israelis and the Palestinians when he visited the Holy Land in May, where Francis stopped to pray at the foot of the concrete barrier that separates Jerusalem from Bethlehem and at the Jerusalem memorial for Israelis killed by terrorists. The Telegraph also noted that in July, during an address to the faithful in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis deviated from his prepared speech to call for peace in conflict zones around the world, from the Middle East and Ukraine to northern Nigeria and the Centra African Republic, as his voice cracked with emotion and tears apparently welled up when he told the crowds : "Please stop, I ask you with all my heart, it's time to stop. Stop, please. Brothers and sisters, never war, never war!" ~~~~~ But in reality, Francis is his own best Peace Prize advocate. In September, the Pope eloquently denounced war while visiting the Austro-Hungarian Cemetery of Fogliano di Redipuglia in northeast Italy as part of the 100th anniversary of WWI : "Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction....War is madness....War ruins everything, even the bonds between brothers. War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction: It seeks to grow by destroying." And a week later, during his visit to Albania -- a country that is 59% Moslem, 10% Catholic and 10% Orthodox - and the first European capital visited by the pontiff -- Pope Francis spoke out against the "perversion, distortion and exploitation" of religion to justify violence : "Let no one use God as a shield while planning and carrying out acts of violence and oppression," the pontiff said in an address to Albanian President Bujar Nishani, state officials, religious leaders and diplomats. "May no one use religion as a pretext for actions against human dignity and against the fundamental rights of every man and woman." Pope Francis was drawing on Albania as an example of peace among religions, certainly the most obvious and most difficult path to peace in today's world : "What the experience in Albania shows, rather, is that a peaceful and fruitful coexistence between persons and communities of believers of different religions is not only desirable, but possible and realistic." ~~~~~ Dear readers, I don't know who will win the Nobel Peace Prize tomorrow. Whoever it is, we may be sure that he or she or the organization - 40 groups have been nominated along with the individuals - will be deserving. But, for me, the Man of Peace in 2014 is Pope Francis.