International Conference Advances the Way of Nonviolence
Participants in the Rome conference on nonviolence. Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
In the first days of December I joined with people from across the globe in taking one more step toward encouraging the Catholic Church to recover the centrality of nonviolence that marked the vision of Jesus and the tradition’s first three centuries. Pace e Bene and DePaul University, and many other entities, have been part of this long-term process that was launched with the historic 2016 “Nonviolence and Just Peace Conference” co-sponsored by the Vatican and Pax Christi International. It has been a long road thus far, with many twists and turns, but I am happy to be part of this global process, inspired by the prophetic call of Pope Francis for the Church and the world to confess our violence and build a more loving and just planetary“common home” through the power of transformative nonviolence. This spirit was on display in this, our third conference, again sponsored by Pax Christi International. Below is a conference report from PCI, which has tirelessly worked for a nonviolent shift.
I invite you to reflect deeply on the faces of those who gathered in Rome for this special set of reflections on the possibility of a nonviolent Church and a nonviolent world. Many of these sisters and brothers have faced enormous violence and injustice as they have struggled to foster more just and peaceful societies in their own contexts and around the world. I am grateful to Martin Pilgram of Pax Christi International for the use of these images in the following report and in the gallery at the bottom of this page. Peace.
PAX CHRISTI INTERNATIONAL REPORT ON:
Pope Francis, Nonviolence, and the Fullness of Pacem in Terris:
A Conference in Rome, December 5-7, 2022
Global Voices Share Nonviolent Impacts at Landmark Gathering,
Urge Church to Enshrine and Activate
Pope Francis’ Call for ACTIVE Nonviolence
Catholic Church leaders and local change makers from nearly 30 countries gathered in Rome, Italy December 5-7, 2022, to reflect on Pope Francis’ relentless work for nonviolent change throughout his ten-year papacy; to share their own experience of nonviolent change in the face of acute violence and injustice; and to explore next steps in advancing the spirituality, way of life, strategies, and universal ethic of nonviolence in the Church and the world.
The conference, entitled “Pope Francis, Nonviolence and the Fullness of Pacem in Terris,” was sponsored by Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative and the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Commission of the Union of Superiors General-Union of International Superiors General (USG-UISG), the international unions of superiors of women's and men's religious orders.
“The consistent practice of nonviolence,” Pope Francis writes, “has broken barriers, bound wounds, healed nations.” Since his installation in 2013, Pope Francis has called the Church and the world to “make active nonviolence our way of life.” The pope has implored us to nonviolently challenge and transform systems that oppress, marginalize, and destroy, while also creating new options for justice, peace, and a sustainable world. Nonviolence is the path of Jesus and a powerful practice for building social peace.
Participants from 28 nations - Mexico, Kenya, Guatemala, Romania, the Philippines, Italy, Nigeria, Peru, the UK, El Salvador, Japan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Indonesia, Germany, Belgium, Sri Lanka, Austria, South Sudan, Brazil, Netherlands, France, Cameroon, Lebanon, Palestine, Colombia, Rwanda and the US – shared rich experiences of nonviolence practiced at a grassroots level in contexts of egregious violence in its many different forms.
Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Together, participants reflected on Pope Francis’ own experience of nonviolence; his vision that so clearly points toward a global ethic of nonviolence in the context of a “world war fought piecemeal;” and the urgent need for a paradigm shift from violence to nonviolence. Woven into the conference were times of reflection and prayer that drew on the beauty of the Advent season to move through the reality of God incarnate in different ways in the world: in silence, darkness, light, humanity, and all of creation.
Speakers from around the world
Participants heard from many presenters, including:
Emilce Cuda, Secretary of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for Latin America, from Argentina, and Sr. Wamuyu Wachira, co-president of Pax Christi International from Kenya, who reflected on Pope Francis’ reference to the “prophecy of nonviolence” and his attention to those on the peripheries, popular movements, youth and Indigenous peoples as the agents by which our societies will change.
Bishop Peter Kohlgraf (Diocese of Mainz, Germany) and Sr. Wamuyu Wachira (Pax Christi International co-president, Kenya). Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Kai Brand-Jacobsen, senior researcher for the Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR), who is working extensively with practitioners of nonviolence in Ukraine and Russia, where nonviolent strategies have effectively protected some sectors of society and interrupted the Russian invasion.
Maudilia Lopez, an Indigenous woman from Ixtahuacán, Guatemala, the leader of Pastoral Defensoras de la Madre Tierra, who spoke about resisting the destructive practices of the Canadian mining company, Goldcorp, and about the violence of the Church in forbidding traditional practices and dress central to the life of her Indigenous community.
Sr. Maudilia Lopez (Guatemala), Sr. Nathalie Kangaj (Democratic Republic of Congo), Eliane Lakam (USA), Fr. Rodrigo Peret, OFM (Brazil). Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Fr. Rodrigo Peret, OFM, a member of Franciscans International and of the Churches and Mining Latin America Network board, who also spoke about the violence of mining in many communities and about the struggle for agrarian reform in Brazil.
Sr. Nathalie Becquart (Undersecretary of the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops). Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Fr. Nandana Manatunga, Director of the Human Rights Office Kandy in Sri Lanka, who described persistent and creative civil society demonstrations that successfully ousted former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa nonviolently and have continued to protest the economic crisis and police brutality.
Sr. Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops from France, who contributed to a rich conversation about synodality as an expression of nonviolence, a theme to which Pax Christi’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative synod submission contributed.
Harun Njoroge and Sr. Sia Temu, MM, members of the Maryknoll Sisters Peace Team, who shared their successful experiences of “Conversations for Social Change” in Kenya.
Emilce Cuda (Secretary, Vatican’s Pontifical Commission on Latin America). Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Ogarit Younan, a pioneer advocate of nonviolence education in the Arab world, who spoke about the Academic University College for Nonviolence & Human Rights (AUNOHR) that she and her partner, Walid Slaybi, founded in Lebanon.
A different logic
Conference participants explored Pope Francis’ many messages, including in Fratelli Tutti, about the impossibility of a “just war.” They heard Fr. Francisco DeRoux, by video describe the consequences in Colombia of 50 years of what some called a “just war” and the urgent need for a different logic. They discussed the application of a just peace framework that would address the root causes of violent conflict, develop crucial nonviolent skills, break cycles of violence and build sustainable peace.
Matthew Pagan (South Sudan), Nico Plooijer (Netherlands/South Sudan), Nandana Manatunga (Sri Lanka), Kai Brand-Jacobsen (Romania), Zoughbi Zoughbi (Palestine), Sr. Sia Temu, MM (Kenta). Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
The closing Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development with conference participants, Bishop Marc Stenger, co-president of Pax Christi International, Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego CA, Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe NM, Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of the Philippines, and Bishop John Stowe, President of Pax Christi USA. The celebration concluded with a recitation of the “Vow of Nonviolence” in many languages.
Moving forward
In 2016, Pax Christi International co-sponsored with the Vatican the historic “Nonviolence and Just Peace” conference, which concluded by issuing the Appeal to the Catholic Church to Re-Commit to the Centrality of Gospel Nonviolence, a document that was presented again at the end of this conference. Since 2016, Pope Francis has shared with the Church many groundbreaking resources for the nonviolent journey, including the 2017 World Day of Peace message entitled “Nonviolence: A Style of Politics of Peace” and Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti.
Tireless interpreters translating four languages. Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
We are grateful for these signposts toward a nonviolent future and look forward to all the ways that the Church will strengthen its teaching and support for the practice of Gospel nonviolence in this time of crisis and opportunity, encouraged by Pope Francis’ message in 2017: “I pledge the assistance of the Church in every effort to build peace through active and creative nonviolence.”
News Articles
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Rome meeting focuses on grassroots efforts to promote nonviolence
Africa well-represented in Catholic Nonviolence Initiative on “just peace” in Rome
Czerny: God’s way is different, He never grows tired or weary
World Day of Peace message: 'We all need one another' - Pope’s annual peace message connected to Pax Christi International’s nonviolence conference
Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Pietro Amegio (Mexico). Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Emmanuel Katongole (Uganda). Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Eliane Lakam (US). Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Leo Guardado (El Salvador/US). Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International. Below gallery: Credit: Martin Pilgram/Pax Christi International.
