Nonviolence and Just Peace, April 2016 | Pax Christi
Read the final document of the conference here.
The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Pax Christi International will convene an international conference on Nonviolence and Just Peace: Contributing to the Catholic Understanding of and Commitment to Nonviolence, to be held in Rome, Italy, 11-13 April, 2016.
In recognition of the Year of Mercy declared by the Holy Father, this carefully planned Catholic conference on nonviolence and just peace will take place in Rome -- the invited participants represent a broad spectrum of Church experiences in peacebuilding and creative nonviolence in the face of violence and war. Read the concept note for the conferencehere.
The conference will initiate a conversation about Catholic teaching on war and peace, including explicit rejection of “just war” language in favor of an alternative ethical framework for engaging acute conflict and atrocities by developing the themes and practices of nonviolent conflict transformation and just peace. It will develop clearer Scripture-based Catholic teaching and an action plan to promote such teachings in seminaries, Catholic educational institutions, Catholic media, Catholic dioceses and parishes.
Holy Spirit, our source of light and strength, we thank you for having inspired the call to peace-makers from all over the world to meet in the dramatic situation of humanity to reconsider our responsibility, to deepen and promote the liberating and healing nonviolence of Jesus.
Merciful God, our Father and Mother, you sent your Son Jesus, our Brother, to reveal through his life and teaching your divine, self-giving Love and so incarnate in our world the power of nonviolence, able to overcome ALL forms of violence and to reconcile humanity in justice and peace.
We confess that for centuries our Church, people of God, has betrayed this central message of the Gospel many times and participated in wars, persecution, oppression, exploitation and discrimination.
Holy Spirit, as we meet as peacemakers, we count on your light and your strength to help revive in the Theology of Peace the nonviolent message of Jesus in which there is no place for violence and to offer to all Christians the arms of peacemaking, pardon and reconciliation.
Holy Spirit, we trust in your light and strength that this Conference may mark a new step for our Church, on its way to becoming a Church of Peace, in the spirit of our Brother Jesus and so respond to the cry of humanity for life in dignity and peace.
Hildegard Goss-Mayr, March 2016, written for the Conference
Let us pray that contemplating Jesus, our Lord and our Peace, Christians will be able to repent of the words and attitudes caused by pride, by hatred, by the desire to dominate others, by enmity towards members of other religions and towards the weakest groups in society, such as immigrants and itinerants.
Archbishop Stephen Fumio Hamao
Lord of the world, Father of all, through your Son you asked us to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us and to pray for those who persecute us. Yet Christians have often denied the Gospel; yielding to a mentality of power, they have violated the rights of ethnic groups and peoples, and shown contempt for their cultures and religious traditions: be patient and merciful towards us, and grant us your forgiveness! We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Pope St. John Paul II
Ken Butigan, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service; DePaul University
Loreta Castro, Center for Peace Education, Miriam College and Pax Christi Pilipinas
Marie Dennis, Pax Christi International
Pat Gaffney, Pax Christi UK
José Henríquez, Pax Christi International
Filo Hirota, MMB, Pax Christi International andInternational Union of Superior Generals (UISG)
Sheila Kinsey, FCJM,JPIC Commission Union of Superior Generals (USG-UISG)
Anne Lanyon, Columban Mission Institute, Australia
Gerry Lee, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Eli McCarthy, Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Felix Mushobozi, CPPS,JPIC Commission Union of Superior Generals (USG-UISG)
Ann Scholz, SSND,Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Conference coordinator: Judy Coode, Pax Christi International
Contact:nonviolence@paxchristi.netfor additional information.
Please note: Registration for this event is closed. Due to the process of facilitated dialogue and discernment, only registered participants will be permitted to attend the sessions; the sessions themselveswill be closed to press and other observers.
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Concept note
The exceedingly rich concrete experience of people making peace around the world – especially those in extremely violent circumstances who areliving witnesses to the power of nonviolence – can help illuminate thevocation of peacemaking as spiritually nourishing; enrich a Catholic theology of positive peace; and encourage Catholics to engage energetically in the development of more and more effective nonviolent practices for protecting vulnerable communities, avoiding violent conflict, transforming structures of violence, and promoting cultures of peace.
The just war tradition can no longer claim center stage as the Christian approach to war and peace. After more than 1,500 years and repeated use of the just war criteria to sanction war rather than to prevent war, the Catholic Church, like many other Christian communities, is rereading the text of Jesus’ life and re-appropriating the Christian vocation of pro-active peacemaking.
Emphasizing the need to work for a just peace, the Church is moving away from the acceptability of calling war “just.” While clear ethical criteria are necessary for addressing egregious attacks or threats in a violent world, moral theologians and ethicists should no longer refer to such criteria as the “just war theory,” because that language undermines the moral imperative to develop tools and capacity for nonviolent conflict.
Continued use of the term “just war” in our tradition gives license to the Catholic community to prepare for and support war rather than to discourage war and look for other solutions to actual or potential conflict, violent or not. The Catholic community includes some of the highest level political decision-makers in the world.
As part of the spirituality of nonviolence, the effectiveness of strategic nonviolent practices in many different situations of potential or actual violent conflict has been demonstrated in different ways throughout history, but especially in the past century. Yet, it is often misrepresented, misunderstood or too narrowly defined. Rarely is there sufficient human or financial investment in developing the spirituality of nonviolence, especially effective nonviolent practices. Creative thinking, significant budgetary allocations, solid training, the commitment of large numbers of people willing to suffer, and well-placed, well-timed action, including public witness in the form of prayer, fasting, vigils and pilgrimages, are essential.
Concepts like nonviolence, structural violence, culture of violence, JustPeace, culture of peace etc. are not widely known or well understood in the Catholic community. Where discussion about this topic takes place, it tends to be a theoretical or intellectual discussion among moral theologians, ethicists, academics, and peace activists. Among Catholic bishops, seminaries, etc. the movement from a “just war” framework to a just peace framework is neither understood nor accepted. The pastoral implications have not been developed at all and there is very little grassroots Catholic education or preaching about Catholic teaching on war and peace, which undermines the development of cultures of peace.
In recognition of the Year of Mercy declared by the Holy Father, a carefully planned Catholic conference on nonviolence and just peace could contribute to a new/renewed Catholic teaching on war and peace, violence and nonviolence. The gathering would take place in Rome with participants representing a broad spectrum of Church experiences in peacebuilding and creative nonviolence in the face of violence and war.
2. Clearer, more developed, Scripture-based Catholic teaching on violence and nonviolence in social, cultural, economic and political spheres.
3. Action plan for promotion of Catholic teaching on war and peace, violence and nonviolence in seminaries, Catholic educational institutions, Catholic media, Catholic dioceses and parishes.
Nonviolence: Inductive exploration of the experience of nonviolence as a spiritual commitment of faith and practical strategy in violent situations and different cultural contexts.
Just Peace: How are Catholic communities already embodying and practicing just peace? What are the developments in theological reflection on 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?
“Just War”: Discuss the reasons for and ramifications of an explicit rejection of “just war” language. Discuss some key elements of a more fruitful ethical framework for engaging acute conflict and addressing the responsibility to protect by developing the themes and practices of nonviolent conflict transformation, nonviolent intervention and just peace.
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Nonviolence and Just Peace, April 2016
Read the final document of the conference here.The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Pax Christi International will convene an international conference on Nonviolence and Just Peace: Contributing to the Catholic Understanding of and Commitment to Nonviolence, to be held in Rome, Italy, 11-13 April, 2016.
In recognition of the Year of Mercy declared by the Holy Father, this carefully planned Catholic conference on nonviolence and just peace will take place in Rome -- the invited participants represent a broad spectrum of Church experiences in peacebuilding and creative nonviolence in the face of violence and war. Read the concept note for the conferencehere.
The conference will initiate a conversation about Catholic teaching on war and peace, including explicit rejection of “just war” language in favor of an alternative ethical framework for engaging acute conflict and atrocities by developing the themes and practices of nonviolent conflict transformation and just peace. It will develop clearer Scripture-based Catholic teaching and an action plan to promote such teachings in seminaries, Catholic educational institutions, Catholic media, Catholic dioceses and parishes.
A call for prayer and solidarity
We ask for your prayerful support before and during this unique conference. Following is a prayer written especially for the conference by Austrian nonviolence activist and theologian Hildegard Goss-Mayr. Prayers from Archbishop Stephen Fumio Hamao and Pope St. John Paul II are also included. Also in francais,italiano, español, Croatian andDeutsche. A PDF flyer of the prayer (in English) is available here.Holy Spirit, our source of light and strength, we thank you for having inspired the call to peace-makers from all over the world to meet in the dramatic situation of humanity to reconsider our responsibility, to deepen and promote the liberating and healing nonviolence of Jesus.
Merciful God, our Father and Mother, you sent your Son Jesus, our Brother, to reveal through his life and teaching your divine, self-giving Love and so incarnate in our world the power of nonviolence, able to overcome ALL forms of violence and to reconcile humanity in justice and peace.
We confess that for centuries our Church, people of God, has betrayed this central message of the Gospel many times and participated in wars, persecution, oppression, exploitation and discrimination.
Holy Spirit, as we meet as peacemakers, we count on your light and your strength to help revive in the Theology of Peace the nonviolent message of Jesus in which there is no place for violence and to offer to all Christians the arms of peacemaking, pardon and reconciliation.
Holy Spirit, we trust in your light and strength that this Conference may mark a new step for our Church, on its way to becoming a Church of Peace, in the spirit of our Brother Jesus and so respond to the cry of humanity for life in dignity and peace.
Hildegard Goss-Mayr, March 2016, written for the Conference
Let us pray that contemplating Jesus, our Lord and our Peace, Christians will be able to repent of the words and attitudes caused by pride, by hatred, by the desire to dominate others, by enmity towards members of other religions and towards the weakest groups in society, such as immigrants and itinerants.
Archbishop Stephen Fumio Hamao
Lord of the world, Father of all, through your Son you asked us to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us and to pray for those who persecute us. Yet Christians have often denied the Gospel; yielding to a mentality of power, they have violated the rights of ethnic groups and peoples, and shown contempt for their cultures and religious traditions: be patient and merciful towards us, and grant us your forgiveness! We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Pope St. John Paul II
Conference Planning Committee:
Dr. Vittorio V. Alberti,Pontifical Council for Justice and PeaceKen Butigan, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service; DePaul University
Loreta Castro, Center for Peace Education, Miriam College and Pax Christi Pilipinas
Marie Dennis, Pax Christi International
Pat Gaffney, Pax Christi UK
José Henríquez, Pax Christi International
Filo Hirota, MMB, Pax Christi International andInternational Union of Superior Generals (UISG)
Sheila Kinsey, FCJM,JPIC Commission Union of Superior Generals (USG-UISG)
Anne Lanyon, Columban Mission Institute, Australia
Gerry Lee, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Eli McCarthy, Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Felix Mushobozi, CPPS,JPIC Commission Union of Superior Generals (USG-UISG)
Ann Scholz, SSND,Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Conference coordinator: Judy Coode, Pax Christi International
Contact:nonviolence@paxchristi.netfor additional information.
Please note: Registration for this event is closed. Due to the process of facilitated dialogue and discernment, only registered participants will be permitted to attend the sessions; the sessions themselveswill be closed to press and other observers.
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Concept note
1. RATIONALE
To seek peace, deep peace rooted in justice, shalom – not a mere absence of war, but the fullness of life for all – that is the Christian vocation and way of life. As followers of the One who is Peace, who on the cross overcame the violences of our world and who then called for peace and modeled forgiveness, we are called to help move our broken and violated world toward the full flowering of the New Creation, repeating Jesus way of active, nonviolent, persistent, risky, creative peacemaking.The exceedingly rich concrete experience of people making peace around the world – especially those in extremely violent circumstances who areliving witnesses to the power of nonviolence – can help illuminate thevocation of peacemaking as spiritually nourishing; enrich a Catholic theology of positive peace; and encourage Catholics to engage energetically in the development of more and more effective nonviolent practices for protecting vulnerable communities, avoiding violent conflict, transforming structures of violence, and promoting cultures of peace.
The just war tradition can no longer claim center stage as the Christian approach to war and peace. After more than 1,500 years and repeated use of the just war criteria to sanction war rather than to prevent war, the Catholic Church, like many other Christian communities, is rereading the text of Jesus’ life and re-appropriating the Christian vocation of pro-active peacemaking.
Emphasizing the need to work for a just peace, the Church is moving away from the acceptability of calling war “just.” While clear ethical criteria are necessary for addressing egregious attacks or threats in a violent world, moral theologians and ethicists should no longer refer to such criteria as the “just war theory,” because that language undermines the moral imperative to develop tools and capacity for nonviolent conflict.
Continued use of the term “just war” in our tradition gives license to the Catholic community to prepare for and support war rather than to discourage war and look for other solutions to actual or potential conflict, violent or not. The Catholic community includes some of the highest level political decision-makers in the world.
As part of the spirituality of nonviolence, the effectiveness of strategic nonviolent practices in many different situations of potential or actual violent conflict has been demonstrated in different ways throughout history, but especially in the past century. Yet, it is often misrepresented, misunderstood or too narrowly defined. Rarely is there sufficient human or financial investment in developing the spirituality of nonviolence, especially effective nonviolent practices. Creative thinking, significant budgetary allocations, solid training, the commitment of large numbers of people willing to suffer, and well-placed, well-timed action, including public witness in the form of prayer, fasting, vigils and pilgrimages, are essential.
Concepts like nonviolence, structural violence, culture of violence, JustPeace, culture of peace etc. are not widely known or well understood in the Catholic community. Where discussion about this topic takes place, it tends to be a theoretical or intellectual discussion among moral theologians, ethicists, academics, and peace activists. Among Catholic bishops, seminaries, etc. the movement from a “just war” framework to a just peace framework is neither understood nor accepted. The pastoral implications have not been developed at all and there is very little grassroots Catholic education or preaching about Catholic teaching on war and peace, which undermines the development of cultures of peace.
In recognition of the Year of Mercy declared by the Holy Father, a carefully planned Catholic conference on nonviolence and just peace could contribute to a new/renewed Catholic teaching on war and peace, violence and nonviolence. The gathering would take place in Rome with participants representing a broad spectrum of Church experiences in peacebuilding and creative nonviolence in the face of violence and war.
2. GOALS
1. New articulation of Catholic teaching on war and peace, including explicit rejection of “just war” language in favor of an alternative ethical framework for engaging acute conflict and atrocities by developing the themes and practices of nonviolent conflict transformation and just peace.2. Clearer, more developed, Scripture-based Catholic teaching on violence and nonviolence in social, cultural, economic and political spheres.
3. Action plan for promotion of Catholic teaching on war and peace, violence and nonviolence in seminaries, Catholic educational institutions, Catholic media, Catholic dioceses and parishes.
3. TOPICS
Jesus’ way of nonviolence: What has the latest scholarship and praxis revealed about Jesus’ way of nonviolence and engaging conflict?Nonviolence: Inductive exploration of the experience of nonviolence as a spiritual commitment of faith and practical strategy in violent situations and different cultural contexts.
Just Peace: How are Catholic communities already embodying and practicing just peace? What are the developments in theological reflection on 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?
“Just War”: Discuss the reasons for and ramifications of an explicit rejection of “just war” language. Discuss some key elements of a more fruitful ethical framework for engaging acute conflict and addressing the responsibility to protect by developing the themes and practices of nonviolent conflict transformation, nonviolent intervention and just peace.
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