After completing his studies, Pire returned to the priory at
La Sarte, in
Huy, Belgium, where he dedicated himself to helping poor families live according to their
dignity. During the second world war, Pire served as chaplain to the Belgian resistance, actively participating in its activities, such as helping smuggle Allied pilots out of the country. He received several medals for this service after the war. In 1949, he began studying issues relating to postwar refugees (
Displaced Persons [DP]) and wrote a book about them, entitled
Du Rhin au Danube avec 60,000 D. P.. He founded an organisation to help them. The organisation established sponsorships for refugee families, and during the 1950s built a number of villages in Austria and Germany to help house many refugees. Although a Dominican friar, Dominique Pire always refused to mix his personal faith with his commitments on behalf of the
disadvantaged, a decision that was not always understood by his religious superiors. After winning the Peace Prize, Pire also helped found a "Peace University" to raise global understanding. Later convinced that peace would not be achievable without the
eradication of poverty, he founded "Islands of Peace", an NGO dedicated to the long term development of rural populations in developing countries. Projects were started in Bangladesh and India. Pire died at Louvain Roman Catholic Hospital in Herent on 30 January 1969 from complications following prostate surgery, at age 58. More than 30 years after his death, the four organizations he founded are still active. In 2008 a program was established in honour of his work at the
Las Casas Institute at
Blackfriars Hall,
University of Oxford. == Organizations founded ==