Catholic Nonviolence Initiative

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

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

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

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

The following reflection is written by Hind Khoury, secretary general of Kairos Palestine. Hind was one of the participants at the Nonviolence & Just Peace conference held in Rome in April 2016. (Photo by Gerry Lee, Maryknoll)

Dismantle “dividing walls”: The struggle for justice and peace in Palestine continues
Reflections on the occasion of the World Week for Peace, 18-24 Sept. 2016
Hind Khoury, Kairos Palestine
15 September 2016

The Church in prophetic action:

Together with many good people around the world, Kairos Palestine welcomes the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel (WWPPI). This call for advocacy and action in support of an end to the occupation aims to liberate the Palestinians from its oppression and to liberate the Israelis themselves from the consequences of its evil upon them. It helps subside the sense of fear and insecurity, builds mutual confidence and hence to construct a just peace. The WWPPI campaign is beautifully supported with resources to guide prayers and actions.

This campaign from the Church is hope in action that we celebrate with joy. This is the proof that while love guides the work of the Church for peace with justice, the prophetic Church stands firm in rejecting evil; the evil of occupation, the evil of discrimination, and the evil of the ‘dividing walls’ of hostility.

In Ephesians, Paul reminds us that Jesus has “abolished the law ..that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of two, thus making peace and …putting to death that hostility through it” (Ephesians 2:16-17).

In this land, the cradle of the three monotheistic religions, Palestinians lived and practiced religious traditions as Christians, Muslims and Jews. This co-existence and pluralism has been transformed into conflict through the imposition of exclusive rights based to a large extent on interpretations of ‘election’ and ‘promise’. The Kairos Palestine document states that the land is God’s land and that ‘any use of the Bible to legitimize or support political options and positions that are based upon injustice,… transform religion into human ideology and strip the world of God of its holiness, its universality and truth.” (KP2.4) Continue reading Dismantle “dividing walls”: The struggle for justice and peace in Palestine continues

Sr. Cathy Arata, SSND, who attended the Nonviolence & Just Peace conference held in Rome in April 2016, has prepared this two-page prayer service (PDF document). It guides participants through reflection on the conference’s final statement, An Appeal to the Catholic Church to Re-commit to the Centrality of Gospel Nonviolence.

August 25, 2016 — Vatican Radio announced today:

«Nonviolence: A Style of Politics for Peace». This is the title of the message for the 50th World Day of Peace, the fourth of Pope Francis.

Violence and peace are at the origin of two opposite ways to building society.

The proliferation of hotbeds of violence produces most serious negative social consequences. The Holy Father sums up this situation in the expression: “A Third World War in Pieces”. Peace, by contrast, promotes social positive consequences and it allows the achievement of real progress. Therefore, we should act within what is possible, and negotiate ways of peace even where they seem tortuous and impractical. Thus, nonviolence can acquire a more comprehensive and new meaning. It will not only consist of desire, of moral rejection of violence, barriers, destructive impulses, but also of a realistic political method that gives rise to hope.

Such a political method is based on the primacy of law. If the rights and the equal dignity of every person are safeguarded without any discrimination and distinction, then nonviolence, understood as a political method, can constitute a realistic way to overcome arm conflicts. In this perspective, it becomes important to increasingly recognize not the right of force but the force of right.

With this message, Pope Francis wants to show a further step, a path of hope, appropriate to today’s historical circumstances. In this way, the settlement of disputes may be reached through negotiation without then degenerating into armed conflict. Within such a perspective the culture and identity of peoples are respected and the opinion that some are morally superior to others is overcome.

At the same time, however, it does not mean that one nation can remain indifferent to the tragedies of another. Rather it means a recognition of the primacy of diplomacy over the noise of arms.

Arms trade is so widespread that it is generally underestimated. Illegal arms trafficking supports not a few world’s conflicts. Nonviolence as a political style can and must do much to stem this scourge.

***

The World Peace Day initiated by Paul VI is celebrated each year on the first day of January. The Holy Father’s message is sent to all foreign ministries of the world and it indicates the diplomatic concerns of the Holy See during the coming year.

Press release from Vatican Radio

Photo: © Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk