Catholic Church Moves Toward Nonviolence?

On October 6 and 7, 2017 the University of San Diego’s Frances G. Harpst Center for Catholic Thought and Culture hosted a conference entitled, “The Catholic Church Moves Towards Nonviolence? Just Peace/Just War in Dialogue.”  This event was a follow-up to the landmark “Nonviolence and Just Peace Conference” held in Rome in 2016 and co-sponsored by the Vatican, Pax Christi International and other organizations, including Pace e Bene. 

The San Diego conference brought together members of the military, peace educators and activists.  Presenters from the Rome assembly included Pace e Bene’s John Dear and Ken Butigan, Maria Stephan, Marie Dennis, Eli McCarthy, Terrence Rynne, and Gerald Schlabach.

The Saturday evening keynote address was delivered by Cardinal Peter Turkson, the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, who played a critically important role in the Rome conference.

Visit the USD conference’s home page here to watch the keynote addresses by Maria Stephan and Cardinal Peter Turkson.

See more presentations from the conference here, including:

The Church and Nonviolence, by John Dear

Grappling with Monumental Nonviolence: A Personal Journey, by Ken Butigan

How the Sermon on the Mount Can be the Church’s “Manual” for Peacemaking, by Gerald W. Schlabach, and

Nonviolence and Just Peace, by Eli McCarthy.