Pax Christi Africa member organisations affirm Appeal to the Catholic Church

Nonviolence in Africa participants visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg on 8 December. Photo by Marie Just, Pax Christi International.

From 5-9 December, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Pax Christi International facilitated a conference which brought together representatives of its African member organisations to explore the theme, Nonviolence in Africa: Creating a Future of Hope. More than 30 member organisations from nine African nations participated, in addition to presenters and facilitators from a number of other countries.

On the final day of the conference, the member organisations affirmed the Appeal to the Catholic Church to re-commit to the centrality of Gospel nonviolence.

The following affirmation statement was published on 9 December:

“Africa is a special gift from God to us, and it is bleeding.” These opening words from Bishop Kevin Dowling of South Africa challenged the participants at the Nonviolence in Africa conference on the urgency to come up with the appropriate mechanisms to create peaceful relations where people may live in harmony and with dignity. His words of wisdom also reminded the gathering of the words of Pope Francis to participants of the Nonviolence and Just Peace conference held in Rome in April 2016: “Your thoughts on revitalising the tools of nonviolence, and of active nonviolence in particular, will be a needed and positive contribution.”

After listening to the experiences of Christians committed to building a culture of peace through active nonviolence approaches, to our reflections and deliberations, the richness of the sharing fully resonated with our conviction that active nonviolence is a practical way to create a peaceful coexistence in our African context. Therefore, we, the participants of the Nonviolence in Africa conference and representatives of Pax Christi International member organisations throughout Africa, affirm the Appeal to the Catholic Church to re-commit to the centrality of Gospel nonviolence because of our conviction that it will act as an impetus for communities in Africa and throughout the world to integrate gospel values and promote active nonviolence at personal, communal, national, regional and global levels.

Game changer? by Rose Marie Berger

cover-december2016Following are excerpts from Game Changer? What if 1.2 billion Catholics embraced gospel nonviolence?, Rose Marie Berger’s cover story for the December 2016 issue of Sojourners magazine.

“Just war is killing us! There is no just war.”

That proclamation by a Catholic sister from Iraq, and others like it, resounded at a Vatican gathering this spring and fell on surprisingly receptive ears.

Sister Nazik Matty, an Iraqi Dominican, joined others from around the world in Rome in April to wrestle with how the Catholic Church could “recommit to the centrality of gospel nonviolence.” She has watched members of her religious community die for lack of medical care during war.

“Which of the wars we have been in is a just war?” asked Sister Matty, who was driven from her home in Mosul by ISIS, also known by the Arabic acronym Daesh. “In my country, there was no just war. War is the mother of ignorance, isolation, and poverty. Please tell the world there is no such thing as a just war. I say this as a daughter of war.”

The Rome gathering on Nonviolence and Just Peace was unprecedented, bringing together members of the church hierarchy with social scientists, theologians, practitioners of nonviolence, diplomats, and unarmed civilian peacekeepers to discuss Catholic nonviolence and whether in the contemporary world armed force can ever be justified.

Of course, with such diverse participants, there was not a common mind on whether just war theory, a doctrine of military ethics used by Catholic theologians, has outlived its usefulness as church teaching.

Some of the academics and diplomats — particularly from the United States and Western Europe — maintained that just war criteria, when properly applied, are useful when working within halls of power, from the Pentagon to the United Nations, for restraining excessive use of military force by a state. One participant cautioned against “broad condemnations of just war tradition, if it means closing off dialogue with our allies.” Another questioned how diplomacy could continue without the just war framework as its common language.

But Catholics who came to Rome from conflict zones — Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Colombia, Mexico, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Uganda — brought a different perspective. …

Read more on the Sojourners website.

Webinar #4: Outcomes, implementation from Nonviolence & Just Peace conference

The fourth and final webinar of this series on the landmark Nonviolence & Just Peace conference was held on Friday, November 18.

Listen and watch the slides from the webinar here.

Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, SJ, shared a special message; watch here.

The webinar’s presenters offered their insights into the significance of the Appeal and other outcomes of the conference, as well as ways that listeners can become involved in the spirituality and practice of nonviolence in the Church through the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative.
Continue reading Webinar #4: Outcomes, implementation from Nonviolence & Just Peace conference

Webinar #3, Nonviolence and Just Peace: Moving beyond war

Merwyn de Mello and Fr. Pat Cunningham on the final evening of the Nonviolence & Just Peace conference; photo by Gerry Lee, Maryknoll

The third in our series of four webinars about the ground-shifting Nonviolence & Just Peace conference, held in Rome in April 2016, was held on Tuesday, October 25.

Listen to and watch slides from the webinar here.

You can also view the PowerPoint presentations here:
Cory Lockhart (introduction)
Merwyn de Mello *
Dr. Lisa Sowle Cahill
Eli McCarthy

Due to a faulty internet connection, the piece from Merwyn de Mello (who spoke after Lisa in the webinar)  was cut short. You can watch his entire piece here.

Building off the previous webinar on experiences of nonviolence in violent conflict zones and Jesus’ way of nonviolence, this webinar addressed “Nonviolence and Just Peace: Moving beyond war.”

  • What are the developments in theological reflection and praxis of just peace and how does this build on the scriptures and trajectory of Catholic social thought?
  • How would a turn to just peace impact our moral analysis of conflicts, practices, and engagement with the broader society, including policy makers?
  • What could be the role of the Church in moving beyond the notion of justified war?

Continue reading Webinar #3, Nonviolence and Just Peace: Moving beyond war

Colombia’s rejected peace: What we have won by losing

By Francisco de Roux, SJ
October 3, 2016

Colombian Fr. Francisco de Roux, SJ, was one of the participants in the Nonviolence & Just Peace conference held in April 2016. Following are his reflections following the referendum in his country on the peace treaty that had been negotiated between the government and the FARC, one of the guerrilla movements with whom the government had waged a decades-long war. To most people’s surprise, the peace treaty was rejected, although by a slim margin.

This reflection is also available in PDF format.

We had issued an invitation to a vote of conscience, with full respect to those who think differently, to participate in the referendum, making it clear that we would accept and build from the result, whatever it was.

In good conscience, we explained the reasons that led us to fight for a Yes vote, convinced that it was best for the country and that our reasons would convince the majority, and we lost.

We did not fight for the political future of President [Juan Manuel] Santos, nor against the political future of former President [Alvaro] Uribe, nor were we fighting for the political future of the FARC. We cared only to be able to live as human beings. This was the reason for our struggle.

We struggled to overcome the spiritual crisis in the country that plunged us into our own destruction as human beings. We dreamt of taking a first step by approving the negotiations with the FARC, but we did not achieve this aim. Probably because we ourselves are part of the crisis, as the Colombians we are. Continue reading Colombia’s rejected peace: What we have won by losing

Webinar #2: Experiences of nonviolence and Jesus’ way of nonviolence

Photo: Dr. Terry Rynne, Sr. Wamuyu Wachira, and Fr. Jamal Khader at the April 2016 Nonviolence & Just Peace conference. Photo by Gerry Lee, Maryknoll.

The second in a series of four webinars about the ground-shifting April 2016 Nonviolence & Just Peace conference was held on Tuesday, October 11, 2016.

Listen to the audio and watch slides from the second webinar here.

You can also watch the PowerPoint presentations from the webinar here:
Ken Butigan (introduction)
Fr. Jamal Khader
Sr. Anne McCarthy
Dr. Terry Rynne

This second webinar focused on experiences of nonviolence and Jesus’ way of nonviolence — panelists discussed how recent experiences help illuminate our understanding of Jesus’ way of nonviolence and engaging conflict, and what the latest scholarship and praxis have revealed about Jesus’ approach and practices for nonviolence and engaging conflict. Continue reading Webinar #2: Experiences of nonviolence and Jesus’ way of nonviolence

Crux: Peace deal puts Colombia at heart of Year of Mercy

The following article, written by Austen Ivereigh and published on Crux on September 24, 2016, provides a glimpse at the efforts of Fr. Francisco de Roux, SJ, and other members of the church to shape the peace negotiations between the government of Colombia and the FARC guerrillas. Fr. de Roux, pictured at right above with Jasmin Nario-Galace (left) and Eli McCarthy (center), was one of the participants at the April 2016 Nonviolence and Just Peace conference. Photo by Gerry Lee, Maryknoll.

“The last and oldest armed conflict in the hemisphere is over,” announced Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, last week, as he handed over to the United Nations the peace agreement reached in Havana at the end of August between Colombia’s government and its largest guerrilla army, the FARC.

On Monday, after a liturgy at midday in Cartagena’s St. Peter Claver church presided over by the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, that agreement will be signed in a ceremony attended by around 2,500. Among them will be 15 heads of state from across Latin America, the secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, King Juan Carlos of Spain and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Santos has asked them all to wear white, the color of peace.

The deal will be signed by delegates of the FARC and the government, with Raúl Castro of Cuba, who hosted the four-year process, looking on. Continue reading Crux: Peace deal puts Colombia at heart of Year of Mercy