Barbara Flaherty, Montserrat Garibay, Fr. Sean McManus
CAPITOL HILL. Austin, Texas. — A top Texan woman Labor leader has been awarded the World Peace Prize.
Montserrat Garibay, Secretary-Treasurer, Texas AFL-CIO, was presented with the World Peace Prize of “Roving Ambassador for Peace.”
The presentation ceremony took place on Monday afternoon, February 18, 2019, at the Texas AFL-CIO headquarters in Austin.
World Leader and Master Planner, Rev. Dr. Han Min Su, founded the World Peace Prize in Seoul, South Korea, in 1989. Dr. Han is a Presbyterian Minister.
The presentation was made by Fr. Sean McManus—Chief Judge of the World Peace Prize and President of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus— and the ceremony was chaired by Barbara Flaherty, a Judge of the World Peace Prize Awarding Council, and Executive Vice President of the Irish National Caucus.
The World Peace Prize Awarding Council consists of a 14-member Board of International and Interfaith judges. The Board is comprised of representatives of the world’s nine major religions: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Russian Orthodox, and Zoroastrianism.
Fr. Mc Manus explained: “Working for peace, locally or globally, means, in effect and of necessity, working for social justice. Therefore, members of the Labor Movement are ideally qualified to be recipients of our World Peace Prize. Montserrat Garibay— originally from Mexico City, and once an undocumented immigrant, but now an American citizen—personifies the true Labor spirit and the true immigrant spirit. She has a driving desire to create justice and solidarity for all. She is an ideal recipient for the World Peace Prize of ‘Roving Ambassador for Peace’—for as Pope John Paul II powerfully reminds us, peace is the fruit of solidarity.”
Secretary-Treasurer Garibay in her acceptance speech expressed heartfelt appreciation for the honor of the Prize; she movingly recounted her early experience in the United States and how so many people helped her and her family to overcome difficulties. She sees her mission as Labor leader as a perfect way of “giving back”— of promoting solidarity and justice for all, with a helping hand to immigrants and all who are seeking dignity and fairness. [Her full speech will be available next week on our website — WorldPeacePrizeWashington.org]
