Nonviolence

When the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, he used the occasion to deliver an impassioned defense of nonviolence. This year, when the war in Ukraine has exposed the limits of nonviolence and the necessity of just war thinking, it is good to be reminded of the value of nonviolence as a kind of moral check on just war theory. There is no better reminder than King's magnificent speech...

As the youngest nation in the world count days to Pope Francis’ ecumenical visit slated for 3rd to 5th February, Bishop Christian Carlassare of Rumbek Catholic Diocese has reminded the citizens that it is through forgiveness that people can work towards peace. In a statement signed by the Local Ordinary of Rumbek, Bishop Christian Carlassare says there can be no progress in a country when there is no forgiveness but hatred. “The social fabric of our country will not be rebuilt by those who foment hatred and resentment, but by the people who identify with the vulnerability of others, who reject the creation of a society of marginalization and division, and act instead by lifting up and rehabilitating the fallen for the sake of the common good,” reads in part the statement by signed by Bishop Carlassare Saturday, January 14. He continued, “This is a very serious work and it demands our personal self-giving in order to forgive others, to make a change and contribute towards a community of peace. No one is really open to constructive dialogue unless they are open to that unconditional disarmament of the heart which is called forgiveness; and only those who really forgive can actually work for peace”...

The 26-year-old man credited with disarming the California shooting suspect had never seen a real gun before. Late on Saturday evening, working at his family-run dance hall in Alhambra, Brandon Tsay found himself staring at one pointed directly at him. "My heart sank, I knew I was going to die," Mr Tsay told the New York Times. He did not know the gunman was believed to have killed 11 people just minutes earlier at another dance hall. Mr Tsay lunged at the man and eventually disarmed him, averting another tragedy... When the gunman started prepping his weapon, Mr Tsay said "something came over him" and he knew he had to "disarm him otherwise everyone would have died". "When I got the courage, I lunged at him with both my hands," he said. When Mr Tsay finally wrestled away the weapon, he pointed it at the man and yelled: "Go, get the hell out of here!" After a moment, Mr Tsay said the man left and jogged to his van. "Immediately I called police with the gun still in my hand," he added...

The 39th Niwano Peace Prize was awarded to Father Michael Lapsley, SSM of South Africa in recognition of his relentless struggle against apartheid and social discriminations, his support for the liberation movement in South Africa and various peacebuilding activities in other parts of the world. Father Lapsley’s non-violent, multi-faith peacebuilding efforts and activities of healing based on restorative justice approach, dialogue, and reconciliation are continuing to contribute to the healing of South Africans as well as many others all over the world. He has contributed immensely to the cause of peace and inter-religious cooperation, which is in congruence with the mission of the Niwano Peace Prize.

Eva Kor tells the powerful story of her time in Auschwitz, and why – many years later – she decided to forgive those responsible...

The basic premise is that the ultimate and most deeply worthy goal of human beings and of the human community is the abolition of war. In this vein, we recall that the only explicit condemnation issued by the Second Vatican Council was against war,¹ although the Council recognized that, since war has not been eradicated from the human condition, “governments cannot be denied the right to legitimate defence once every means of peaceful settlement has been exhausted.”²

80. With these truths in mind, this most holy synod makes its own the condemnations of total war already pronounced by recent popes, and issues the following declaration. Any act of war aimed indiscriminately at the destruction of entire cities of extensive areas along with their population is a crime against God and man {sic} himself. It merits unequivocal and unhesitating condemnation. The unique hazard of modern warfare consists in this: it provides those who possess modern scientific weapons with a kind of occasion for perpetrating just such abominations; moreover, through a certain inexorable chain of events, it can catapult men {sic} into the most atrocious decisions. That such may never truly happen in the future, the bishops of the whole world gathered together, beg all men {sic}, especially government officials and military leaders, to give unremitting thought to their gigantic responsibility before God and the entire human race...

81. It is our clear duty, therefore, to strain every muscle in working for the time when all war can be completely outlawed by international consent. This goal undoubtedly requires the establishment of some universal public authority acknowledged as such by all and endowed with the power to safeguard on the behalf of all, security, regard for justice, and respect for rights. But before this hoped for authority can be set up, the highest existing international centers must devote themselves vigorously to the pursuit of better means for obtaining common security. Since peace must be born of mutual trust between nations and not be imposed on them through a fear of the available weapons, everyone must labor to put an end at last to the arms race, and to make a true beginning of disarmament, not unilaterally indeed, but proceeding at an equal pace according to agreement, and backed up by true and workable safeguards...

82. In the meantime, efforts which have already been made and are still underway to eliminate the danger of war are not to be underrated. On the contrary, support should be given to the good will of the very many leaders who work hard to do away with war, which they abominate...

During an ecumenical prayer service in South Sudan, Pope Francis called for Christian unity amid the violence in the country and urged the faithful to work and pray for peace to settle ongoing political conflicts... “Dear friends, those who would call themselves Christians must choose which side to take,” the pope said. “Those who choose Christ choose peace, always; those who unleash war and violence betray the Lord and deny his Gospel. What Jesus teaches us is clear: we are to love everyone, since everyone is loved as a child of our common Father in heaven. The love of Christians is not only for those close to us, but for everyone, for in Jesus each person is our neighbor, our brother or sister — even our enemies”... “Those who claim to be believers should have nothing more to do with a culture based on the spirit of vengeance,” Pope Francis said. “The Gospel must not be just a beautiful religious philosophy, but a prophecy that becomes reality in history. Let us work for peace by weaving and mending, not by cutting and tearing. Let us follow Jesus, and in following him, let us walk together on the path to peace”...

His Holiness Pope Francis has on Sunday 04 February 2023 called on the people of South Sudan to lay down weapons of hatred and take up prayer and charity... “Let us lay down the weapons of hatred and revenge, in order to take up those of prayer and charity.” He appealed to the South Sudanese to overcome hatred, pitting of tribes and ethnic groups against each other. “Let us overcome the dislikes and that over time have become chronic and risk pitting tribes and ethnic groups against one another.” He advised South Sudanese to learn how to apply the salt of forgiveness to their wounds. “Let us learn to apply the salt of forgiveness to our wounds; salt burns but it also heals. Even if our hearts bleed for the wrongs we have suffered, let us refuse, once and for all, to repay evil with evil, and we will grow healthy within”...

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said “my heart breaks with sorrow for South Sudan” amidst ongoing violence and sectarian conflict in the country. Preaching at All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Juba this morning, the Archbishop urged those who have committed “secret crimes and evil deeds” to ask for God’s mercy and transformation and prayed they would know the “infinite love of Christ”... “If South Sudan finds peace, the world will find hope. The women in Congo will rejoice if you find peace. The refugees in Myanmar will rejoice if you find peace. The soldiers in Ukraine will rejoice if you find peace. Because you will show that God is great. With God, South Sudan has hope, and that hope is when its people take courage. And the courage is to live the scandalous Gospel of the infinite love of Christ”...

Pope Francis urged the people of South Sudan on Sunday to resist the "venom of hatred" so they could achieve the peace and prosperity that have eluded them through years of bloody ethnic conflicts... The 86-year-old pope wove his homily around the themes that have dominated his trip to the world's newest nation -- reconciliation and mutual forgiveness for past wrongs. He begged the worshippers to shun the "blind fury of violence"... The "pilgrimage of peace" was the first time in Christian history that leaders of the Catholic, Anglican and Reformed traditions conducted a joint foreign visit...

“Today it really seems that the main problem is the production of weapons,” the Pope said, lamenting that people continue to manufacture arms when “there is still so much hunger in the world.” He said, “It is difficult to come back from this catastrophe. And we are not talking about atomic weapons!” However, the Pope continued, “I still believe in a work of persuasion,” adding, “We Christians have to pray a lot: ‘Lord, have mercy on us!’” Pope Francis also recalled the stories recounted by victims of violence and unimaginable cruelty, and, in remarks to the Jesuits of South Sudan, denounced “a pagan culture of war” that is concerned only with how many weapons one has...

Ukraine and a new Cold War, a new nuclear arms race, “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq, and forgotten wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Yemen. As foreign policies are being rethought in light of these new and old wars, the need for a moral compass is as great as ever.

At the height of the Cold War, two seminal documents, Pacem in terris (1963) and The Challenge of Peace (1983), provided that moral compass. In a similar way, Pope Francis’ encyclicals and statements have ignited a new debate about the ethics of nonviolence, nuclear deterrence, and war. Are nonviolence and nuclear disarmament the new moral and policy imperatives or do today’s new and old challenges to peace reinforce the need for the just war tradition and strengthened nuclear deterrence?

Join us for an inspiring talk by Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, followed by a panel discussion.

This event is part of the University of Notre Dame's 2022-23 Forum on War and Peace.

Addressing judges and magistrates for the opening of the 94th Judicial Year of the Tribunal of the Vatican City State Pope Francis recalls that every commitment to peace requires a commitment to justice, and that justice and mercy always walk together...

Members of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) are calling for the abolishment of death penalty in the Southern African nation. Zimbabwe has reportedly experienced a rise in criminal cases including robbery and murder in recent years. This has fueled debates on the execution of perpetrators with human rights groups calling for the removal of the death penalty from the country’s constitution. In a Wednesday, March 1 report, CPLO members express their opposition to death penalty and advocate for the safeguarding of human life, arguing that the pain of losing someone cannot be dealt with by killing the one who caused it. “As the Catholic Church, we state that the sanctity of life is to be upheld and that authorities must refrain from applying this ultimate punishment by taking the life of a person convicted of a heinous crime,” CPLO members say. They add, “We join the campaign in opposing the death penalty and call for upholding the sanctity of life in Zimbabwe”...

With the peace studies department celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, a number of golden anniversary events will be held to honour a department that today is known across the world as one of the leading centres of conflict resolution and international development. They include an event next month at the Houses of Parliament, a place where, in the 1980s, Conservative politicians regularly questioned whether peace studies was a suitable subject for academic study. Back then it was seen by some as a front for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament or mocked as the “department of appeasement studies”. At one point Margaret Thatcher was said to have asked: “Has that peace studies problem been dealt with yet?”... students were attracted to Bradford because it was “a space for dialogue and debate about what could be done”. “It wasn’t left wing, it was a safe space for critical thinking"... "the idea that we were all communists … it was a load of bullshit really”...

Sixty years after its publication, John XXIII's "Pacem in terris" retains a strong relevance in the world of piecemeal warfare that fails to "disarm the heart"...

Marking the 60th anniversary of Pope John XXIII's encyclical "Pacem in Terris", Cardinal Michael Czerny addresses an event highlighting the teachings of the encyclical in today's world, and how Pope Francis has carried them out throughout his pontificate...

No one ever said making peace would be easy. I became part of a small group convened by Father Gerry Reynolds that met regularly in Clonard monastery with some of the republican leadership, and alongside this, we intensified our contacts with loyalists over monthly lunches in the home of David McMillan... politics is not just what happens in the room; it is often dependent on the relationships we bring into the room. Relationships built through common interests and shared space, which had not been possible during the violence. Republicans were at the table, but not in the tearooms where these relationships could be made... Peacemakers, the children of God, surely have something distinctive to offer in the painful process of talking through the hurt and pain that governments cannot provide. At the heart of our faith is God’s invitation to God’s table, not because we merit the invite, but because God is a God of grace, mercy and love. Hospitality, without agenda, became the watchword... ‘Creating Tea Rooms’ came into being...

Groups of activists around Sudan have set up networks of medics, nurses and engineers to respond to citizens’ needs... When conflict erupted in Sudan on April 15, activists from hundreds of neighbourhoods mobilised to establish committees of medics, nurses and engineers across the country. Their tasks varied from providing shelter to the displaced, rehabilitating hospitals and saving lives amid shelling, gunfire and bombing. The efforts came from Sudan’s “resistance committees”, neighbourhood groups that have spearheaded Sudan’s pro-democracy movement since 2019... The violence has prompted aid groups to suspend operations, yet resistance committees have worked to fill the void by mobilising informal networks that were once used to organise anti-government protests... “The resistance committees maintain their legitimacy because they do something differently than political elites in this country and that is service provision. They have always centred all their political work around service and they are doing that much more now during the war”... Many use the hashtag #NotoWar. and publish updated information about which roads and side streets are safe to escape heavy clashes... Beyond service provision and escape routes, resistance committees also play a role in maintaining the social cohesion of their neighbourhoods. Murtada emphasised that activists have urged their communities not to side with either the RSF or the army since both parties could weaponise ethnic rhetoric to recruit more fighters. “Neighbourhood resistance committees can play a huge role in making sure that … the narratives of the army and RSF … doesn’t lead to communities getting divided”... Resistance committees have risen to the occasion through activities such as spray-painting anti-war messages on houses and buildings while forming groups on social media to urge their peers to join the humanitarian response – not the fighting...

with much of Sudan depending on resistance committees, the international community should effectively engage with them too. However, she predicts that Western officials will still favour political elites and generals when it comes to political decision-making. {The global community} makes excuses not to deal with {resistance committees} … because they don’t make efforts to understand them. They just understand militaries where there are people in charge and there are people underneath them,” she said. “But when you have independent and robust organisations that can carry out momentum for change and you still don’t find ways to engage with it. Well, that is almost criminal.”

In a letter marking the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Pope Francis asserted that the mere possession of nuclear weapons creates “a climate of fear and suspicion” and offers “only an illusion of peace.” The Vatican released a letter on May 20 that the pope wrote to Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima assuring his prayers as “the G7 Summit meets in Hiroshima to discuss urgent issues currently facing the global community.” “The choice of Hiroshima as the site of this meeting is particularly significant, in light of the continuing threat of recourse to nuclear weapons,” Pope Francis said... “Hiroshima, as ‘a symbol of memory,’ forcefully proclaims the inadequacy of nuclear arms to respond effectively to today’s great threats to peace and to ensure national and international security”... The pope added that “nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction represent a multiplier of risk that offers only an illusion of peace.” “We need but consider the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental impact that will result from the use of nuclear weapons, as well as the waste and poor allocation of human and economic resources involved in their development. Nor should we underestimate the effects of the continuing climate of fear and suspicion generated by their mere possession, which compromises the growth of a climate of mutual trust and dialogue,” he said...

The Catholic Bishop of Dori Diocese in Burkina Faso has offered prayer for the conversion of terrorists, who he says have taken up arms against their people. In his homily during Holy Mass to mark the end of a national day of fasting and prayer for peace and social cohesion that authorities in the West African nation organized, Bishop Laurent Birfuoré Dabiré advocated for peace, saying it is a necessity “for the people to live in harmony”... He added, “We also pray for those who, for one reason or another, have taken up arms against our country.” “May God touch their hearts so that they may come home, so that we can build this country of ours together”... The Catholic Church leader said the prayer day was an occasion to “ask God to grant all Burkinabe to feel like sons and daughters of this country and that each one can work so that no one feels excluded”... Also speaking during the May 20 Eucharistic celebration, the Archbishop of Ouagadougou, Philippe Cardinal Ouédraogo underscored the need for peace in the West African nation. “Peace is a gift from God; peace is also the fruit of human efforts,” Cardinal Ouédraogo said, and urged the people of God in Burkina Faso to “unite their voices to ask God for the grace of peace”...

French media have lauded a young "hero with a backpack" for his attempts to thwart a knife attack in Annecy which left four children seriously injured. Henri, 24, was filmed chasing the suspect and swinging his bag at him. The Catholic pilgrim - who has been touring France's cathedrals - said he had followed his instincts and did what he could to "protect the weak". He was praised for his bravery by President Emmanuel Macron when the two met in the town on Friday afternoon. Mr Macron told Henri that his actions were a "source of hope", but that the young man had "lived through... a trauma"... Footage of the incident itself and the immediate aftermath appeared to show Henri swinging one of his backpacks at the attacker, who tried to slash at him in return. Another clip showed him chasing the knifeman across a grassy area... Henri posted on Instagram to say: "Pray for the children, I am doing fine." Henri received messages of thanks, not only for his actions but also his apparent modesty... Henri said: "All I know is, I was not there by chance." He explained that it was "unthinkable to do nothing... I followed my instincts and did what I could to protect the weak"...

Veteran Vatican diplomat Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher last week defended what he described as Pope Francis’ “strong and courageous” push for peace in Ukraine in the face of criticism from some who have said the Holy Father should take a harder line against Russia as the aggressor in the conflict... “What moves the Holy Father is nothing but the will to make dialogue and peace possible,” Gallagher said, “inspired by the principle that ‘the Church must not use the language of politics, but the language of Jesus.’” Francis has often raised the issue of the war, calling it a “negation of God’s dream” and lamenting “the sacrifice of human lives, the suffering of the population, the indiscriminate destruction of civilian structures”... Quoting partly from “Ukrainian Lessons,” Gallagher said that “interpreting {Francis’ positions} as ‘acts of empty pacifism’ and ‘theatrical’ expressions of ‘pious desire’” is a misguided analysis of what the pope believes. Such a dismissal, Gallagher said, “does not do justice to the vision and intentions of the Holy Father, who does not want to resign himself to the war and who stubbornly believes in peace, inviting everyone to be creative and courageous weavers and artisans of peace”...

When the president of the Italian bishops' conference headed a Vatican delegation to Moscow in late June, there was intense speculation as to what might result. Three weeks on, observers await Bologna Cardinal Matteo Zuppi's next step. Doubts remain, not least in Ukraine, as to whether the Vatican should be drawn into attempts to settle a bloody conflict whose outcome looks set to be decided on the battlefield... Zuppi insisted he had been pursuing "humanitarian causes and the protection of innocent lives," rather than trying to mediate the conflict. A "real peace" could still be secured, he added, based "first of all on coexistence." But "dialogue is a canvas that can be woven in different ways — it's necessary to encourage many initiatives to reweave the delicate lace of peace," the cardinal said. "There is no peace plan and no mediation, only a great desire for the violence to stop." Zuppi's modified claim was repeated by the state-run Vatican News and endorsed by the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, prompting speculation that Zuppi's wider peace appeals had been turned down...

Citing growing conflict and instability around the world, Pope Francis shared an unequivocal message in mid-June: "The time has come to say an emphatic 'no' to war" and state decisively "that wars are not just"... The conditions for a just war are enshrined in the doctrine of the Catholic Church (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2309). While we may debate whether there has ever been a truly just war, Francis' claim — that the wars of today cannot be justified — is widely apparent. Our wars are not of last resort or of just cause. And they are no longer executed with rightful intention — the predominant theme in the wars of the 21st century is the dramatic rise in the harm and death of civilians. Ninety percent of wartime casualties today are civilians. Nonviolent activists, peace builders, and peace organizations, such as the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, have been sounding the alarm bell about this focus on "just wars" for decades. We've called for the church to adopt a just peace ethic. A just peace is "a way of political cooperation for the common good, respect for the dignity of all persons and the natural world, preventing violence before it begins, and the transformation of conflict by nonviolent strategies." Part of our limitation to adopting a just peace is our lack of moral imagination of what is possible without violence when faced with complex global, regional and interpersonal conflict. When we choose to look, however, examples abound of what peace and nonviolence makes possible... If Francis wants the church to join him in an emphatic "no" to war, he must actively promote nonviolent practices and strategies, such as unarmed civilian protection and conflict transformation. He must direct clergy to share homilies filled with stories of peace building in local communities, and of nonviolent resistance in times of war. He must use the full breadth of tools at his disposal to lead the church in seeing the current, lived reality of his vision of peace and, by extension, developing doctrine to match it (a consistent call from the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative has been for the pope to write an encyclical on a just peace ethic)...

Pope Francis announced Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba a cardinal-designate on July 9, the date of South Sudan's 12th anniversary of independence -- making it a double celebration for the church and the nation, considered the world's youngest. The 59-year-old prelate has been on the front lines of the peace and reconciliation efforts in the conflict-ridden East African nation. After over 21 years of civil war, the longest running in Africa, the country gained independence in 2011. Despite this, South Sudan continues to struggle with conflicts linked to ethnicity, politics and resources, and climate change-related disasters. Soon after the announcement, Ameyu Mulla said the church in South Sudan was happy "with this gift on Independence Day." "It's a double happiness. We need to take care of it. (May the) Lord strengthen us in the search for peace … so that every time we receive news like this, we may celebrate with peace being a reality," he said...

Donald Fields Jr faced a life sentence after he was charged with his father’s murder. Instead, his case became a pioneering instance of restorative justice... Don Jr was charged with the murder of his father, Donald Fields Sr, in 2016. He faced a possible life sentence and had not spoken to members of his family since he was taken into custody in June that year. But today was the first step in a long journey that would see a tragedy transformed into a pioneering case of compassion in America’s punitive criminal justice system. It marked the first time that restorative justice – the act of resolving crimes through community reconciliation and accountability over traditional punishment – had been used in a homicide case in the state of North Carolina. And probably the first case of its kind in the US... “I just want you to know that what you did was horrific,” Alex said. “It’s been four years and your entire family is still suffering. But I have to forgive you. I want to forgive you. And I want you to forgive yourself.” It had taken Alex Fields the better part of three years to forgive his nephew...

“I learned that the healing from the restorative justice process is more complete for survivors... They feel far more heard and involved”... “He can be rehabilitated”... “Victims want to feel some sense of control, and they want to feel some feeling of healing. And unfortunately our system doesn’t offer anything apart from criminal charges. We are taught from a very young age that justice in America means a criminal conviction. It means prison"... principles of restorative justice have existed for centuries in ancient and Indigenous societies... victim-influenced alternatives to incarceration in violent crimes... solutions must be centered on survivors’ needs. They also should be driven by accountability, with the perpetrator acknowledging harm and expressing remorse. Any resolution in a case should place public safety at its center and also be guided by racial equity. There is increasing evidence that use of restorative justice lowers rates of recidivism...

Two Nigerian Catholic Prelates, John Cardinal Onaiyekan and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, have been listed among 100 Most Notable Peace Icons in Africa... “This initiative stands as a testament to our commitment to acknowledging and applauding the remarkable individuals and collectives that have played key roles in nurturing peace, harmony, and positive change on the African continent,” Amb. Kinsley Amafibe, Project Director Africa for the 100 Most Notable Peace Icons, Africa said...

Criminal justice traditionally asks, “Who did it? What law did he break? How are we going to punish him?” Restorative justice asks, “What harm was done? What is needed to repair the harm? Who is responsible for repairing it?”

The practice of forgiveness is the “only way” to bring an end to violence in Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of the country’s Abuja Archdiocese has said... Archbishop Kaigama advocated for genuine and quick forgiveness, and cautioned Nigerians against “poorly practiced” forgiveness, inviting them to “a change of heart”. “Our situation in Nigeria invites us to undergo a change of heart and to learn to forgive genuinely and quickly too as the only way to end political, religious, and ethnic violence which badly retard our effort in building a just and peaceful society devoid of rancor, hatred, and strife”... The Nigerian Catholic Archbishop faulted the way forgiveness is practiced in Africa’s most populous nation, saying, “In the Nigerian society, made up of adherents of Christianity, Islam, and African Traditional Religion where forgiveness is professed, it is very poorly practiced.” “Some of the recurring communal clashes and violent conflicts” in Nigeria, he said, emanate from “bitterness” and “an unforgiving spirit”...

Three quarters of a century ago, in the years immediately following the destruction of the Second World War, the association “Pax Christi” was founded. It is a movement from society that is committed to peace and justice worldwide. She is guided by the two basic principles of Christian social teaching: the inalienable dignity of the human person, 'human dignity', and the general well-being, the 'common good'.

The first principle, human dignity, is unconditional and non-negotiable, it is inscribed in human nature before every organization of society and before every civil legislation and every political decision-making. It is the basis of human rights, which, as recognized in our Constitution, are inviolable and indivisible. 1) Human dignity applies to 'every person', without distinction. It is unacceptable that people are denied access to it due to inhumane living conditions, living below the poverty line, without education and medical care, due to discrimination, oppression, terrorism, war or genocide. 2) It also applies to 'the whole person'. The human "person" is not only a physical individual, she is also psychological, social, political and cultural, moral and spiritual; as an indivisible living being. The whole person includes in particular the relational bond with fellow man and with the One who transcends us all.

The second principle, the common good, is complementary to the first. People are all part of a community, dependent on each other and co-responsible for each other. The aim of the common good is to create the best possible conditions for a humane and humanizing existence for all. This not only concerns the basic physical needs of the people, but also the promotion of their integral development. Poor and vulnerable people at the bottom of society must be given priority

These principles of social teaching transcend both politics and economics, they are 'meta-political' and 'meta-economic'. The human rights arising from human dignity are not constituted by the state. The state, politics and the economy are obliged to respect and guarantee human rights at all times, even when this would be contrary to a perceived national or personal interest.

The common good requires the application of solidarity or the willingness to contribute effectively to the realization of the 'common good' at all levels. This requires attention and care for needs in one's own society and elsewhere, with moderation of one's own interests and with actual support from manpower and resources. This applies first and foremost in our own country, where hundreds of thousands of people still live without physical and 'human' security of existence, in poverty and social exclusion. This also applies to a large extent to solidarity worldwide.

These principles of social teaching are not about life or religious views, but about 'ethical' principles that apply to every person, without distinction of religion or philosophy of life. This means that not only civil authorities, politicians and entrepreneurs, but also leaders of church and social groups, must always test their policy plans and decisions against 'human dignity' and the 'common good'. Only through joint efforts can they arrive at the right considerations regarding universal values in response to current problems and challenges.

This does not require a discussion or debate in which only one's own insight and right are defended, but an authentic dialogue. This is an open exchange of views, in which no one is excluded, but together we strive for better understanding and appropriate policies for the challenges we face. An authentic dialogue first and foremost requires self-criticism from all interlocutors, because without the ability to self-correct, feelings of superiority and fundamentalism become obstacles to progress. The conversation partners must then be open to positive elements in other cultures, philosophies or religions, so that mutual enrichment is possible. Then, finally, a joint effort is required for the common good, so that the partial interests are brought into balance. Where necessary, sacrifices may also be asked, especially from those who are more decisive and have a voice, in favor of the less fortunate and the most vulnerable in society.

This dialogue is becoming increasingly relevant and urgent, given the many crises and dangers that threaten peace and justice worldwide. a) Humane reception of migrants and refugees is not possible without solidarity at European, national and also municipal level. b) Restoring confidence in politics requires a government that is always and without exceptions guided by the 'human dignity' of all citizens. c) The climate crisis can only be combated if governments, companies and citizens do not let their policies and behavior be guided by short-term interests, but always align themselves with the 'common good'. d) Peace in Europe (Ukraine!) and worldwide requires lasting international solidarity with people who suffer from war violence, geopolitical power seeking, capitalism and repression. . . . . . . . We could summarize all crises under one heading: how much does our responsibility now weigh for the coming generations?

It would be naive to assume that all governments and decision-making bodies will suddenly embrace peace and justice. The Christian peace movement will therefore have to continue to critically monitor global developments in injustice and conflict, and work together with the 'local capacities for peace' in conflict areas. That conviction and commitment were the intention of the founders of the PAX and still are the intention of the Christian peace movement: to bring peace and justice in the world closer through authentic dialogue and actual solidarity.

I would also like to encourage PAX to engage in conversation with the younger generation. They in particular should be interested and heard in the pursuit of a humane and humanizing future for humanity. They and the generations after them will later be confronted with the disastrous consequences of irresponsible policies and culpable negligence now. The intergenerational dialogue is therefore indispensable and urgent.

Utrecht, 21 sept. 2023
+ A.H. van Luyn, sdb, emeritus-chairperson Pax Christi

Pat Arrowsmith, the activist and co-founder of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), has died at the age of 93... Her work as a peace campaigner began with protesting against the Vietnam war, before co-founding CND in 1958... Arrowsmith’s activism frequently brought her into conflict with the authorities. She served the first of her 11 prison sentences in 1958. Her convictions included 18 months in prison for handing out leaflets at a British army base in order to encourage soldiers to refuse to serve in Northern Ireland... As well as co-founding CND, Arrowsmith was also part of the Direct Action Committee against Nuclear War, a precursor to CND, as well as of the Committee of 100 – the civil disobedience movement led by Bertrand Russell in the early 1960s...

Repairers of the Breach

If you remove the yoke from among you, the accusing finger, and malicious speech;
If you lavish your food on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted;
Then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall become like midday….
“Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you,
“Restorer of ruined dwellings.” —Isaiah 58:9–10, 12

Many of the Hebrew prophets maintain a restorative vision of “repairing the breaches” in our lives and world. Father Richard writes:

Polarities, dualisms, and seeming opposites are not opposites at all but part of a hidden and rejected wholeness. The task of true religion is to rebind (in Latin, re-ligio) that which is torn apart by temperament, ignorance, and institutionalized evil. Christians are led and grounded by Jesus the Christ, “in whom all things can be held together … and in whom all things are reconciled” (Colossians 1:17, 20).

Mere information tends to break things apart into competing ideologies. Wisdom received through contemplative seeing puts things back together again... the most radical, political, and effective thing we can do for the world and the church is to teach contemplation: a way of seeing beyond the surface of things that moves people toward credible action.

Contemplation, in non-mystified language, is the ability to meet Reality in its most simple and direct form. When I let go of my judgments, my agenda, my emotive life, my attachment to my positive or negative self-image, I am naked, poor, and ready for The Big Truths. Without some form of contemplative surrender, I see little hope for breakthrough, for new ground, for moving beyond ideologies, the small mind, and the clutching ego. Action without contemplation is the work of hamsters and gerbils. It gets us though the day, it gives us a temporary sense of movement, but the world is not made new by spinning wheels going nowhere.

Even religion has its own equivalent of hamster spinning wheels going nowhere. Since Jeremiah’s time, we clergy have been shouting, “The sanctuary, the sanctuary, the sanctuary!” And God keeps telling us through the prophets, “Only if you amend your behavior and your actions … if you treat each other fairly, if you do not exploit the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, if you do not shed innocent blood … only then will I be with you here in this place” (see Jeremiah 7:3–7).

Contemplation without action is certainly not contemplation at all. Jesus seemed to think it might even be the greater danger: “If the light inside you is, in fact, darkness, what darkness that will be!” (Matthew 6:23). Concrete action in the world of relationships keeps us from a world of self-delusion about our own “enlightenment.”

Adapted from Richard Rohr, foreword to Grace in Action, ed. Terry Carney and Christina Spahn (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1994), xiii–xiv, xv.

an old military bunker facing the shoreline. It was a relic of a border dispute between Chile and Argentina over a trio of uninhabited islands – Picton, Lennox and Nueva – just east of Isla Navarino that brought the countries to the brink of war in 1978. Despite fears of an invasion, mediation by Pope John Paul II ultimately helped to resolve the dispute peacefully and the islands remain part of Chile...

Pope Francis consecrated the Church and the world to the Blessed Virgin Mary in a Eucharistic adoration prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica on Friday, Oct. 27, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Holy Land. Invoking the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Peace and Mother of Mercy, Pope Francis implored her to “intercede for our world in danger and turmoil” and to “convert those who fuel and foment conflicts.” “Mother of God and Our Mother, we come before you and we seek refuge in your Immaculate Heart,” the pope prayed...

South Sudan New Cardinal during his arrival from Rome on 30th October 2023, called on young people to throw away guns that killed their brothers, and sisters and make a difference to develop the country. His Eminence Stephen Cardinal Ameyu Martin called on young people to live the love of God that unites everyone. “I call upon the young, you are the majority, and you can make a difference, we can bring peace to this Country, throw away the guns that killed your own brothers and sister, and let us live the love of God that unites all of us.” Cardinal Ameyu in his speech at Juba International Airport on Monday Said, time has come for young people to look at his or her own heart and forgive. “My dear people of God, we are a nation that is regarded as a war zone because we have been fighting all these 50 years without any turning back and say let us forgive one another. Today is a chance that each and every one of us should look at his or her own heart and say my dear brother I have forgiven you from the bottom of my heart”...

A woman whose teenage sister was killed by the IRA 50 years ago says she has come to forgive the gunman who shot her. Kathleen Feeney, 14, was killed near her home in the Brandywell area of Londonderry on 14 November 1973... Kathleen's sister Mary Morrison said it took a long time to forgive the man who killed her. "I myself forgive him - that has healed me," she told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme. "I was only hurting myself. "There were four people involved in it - two girls, two fellas - no-one has ever been convicted. It is their sin, not mine"...