Pax Christi and the gospel of peace – “Making the case for the abolition of war”

Reflection from Pax Christi USA, December 17, 2013

by Scott Wright, Pax Christi Metro D.C.-Baltimore

Part of the title (in quotes) is borrowed from an essay by Stanley Hauerwas, a moral theologian who was deeply influenced by the late Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder, both of whom taught at Notre Dame.[1] The title is challenging, but we cannot deny that our deepest longings and aspirations move us toward this goal for peace. In fact, the abolition of war forms the opening of the United Nations Charter: “We, the people of the United Nations, [are] determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war… and to live in peace with one another as good neighbors…” The times require great moral imagination, and great moral courage.

Particularly when we look at the state of the world today, and begin to measure our humble efforts for peace against such a stark reality of war and violence, we tend to get discouraged, and may be tempted to give up hope in ever seeing the day when war is finally abolished. Yet history is full of surprises. Who could have predicted that non-violent movements for democracy would usher in the end of the Cold War, or that dialogue between arch-enemies in South Africa would lead to the end of apartheid?

Surely, others before us were discouraged and tempted to lose hope; for instance, in the long struggle to abolish slavery and torture. Why should the struggle to abolish war be any different? We know that slavery continues to exist even today, and it is a very serious problem. Torture, too, continues to be practiced, as we know very well from the pictures and stories that have been broadcast to the world from Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Still, it was a very significant step to abolish the moral and legal justifications for both slavery and torture; and it would be a very significant step to do the same regarding the practice of war.

I believe there are good grounds for hope in this struggle to finally abolish war. The witness of the Mennonites and other peace churches over the past several centuries is a reason for hope. The teachings of the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council give rise to hope, particularly the eloquent and urgent pleas of the popes, from Paul VI’s impassioned plea to the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1965: “Never again war! No, never again war!”[2] to John Paul II’s repetition of that plea in his encyclical Centesimus Annus in 1991,[3] and later his Jubilee message on the World Day of Peace in 2000: “War is a defeat for humanity!”[4] And finally today, Pope Francis’ words opposing war during an evening prayer service for Syria in St. Peter’s Square:

“How many conflicts, how many wars have mocked our history?” he asked the faithful. “Even today we raise our hand against our brother…We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves as if it were normal we continue to sow destruction, pain, death. Violence and war lead only to death.”

In each of these instances, we find a step in the conversion of the Catholic Church toward becoming an authentic peace church, rooted in the Gospel of peace and the passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This change of emphasis in the Catholic Church is marked by an increased use of the just war theory to restrain and oppose modern warfare, rather than to justify it, and a “seismic shift”[5] to nonviolence as a public witness for peace, both key elements in making the case for the final abolition of war.

Continue reading “Pax Christi and the gospel of peace – “Making the case for the abolition of war”” →

New resource: Just Peace: Ecumenical, Intercultural, and Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Christian theology and ethics have wrestled with the challenge to apply Jesus’s central message of nonviolence to the injustices of this world. Is it not right to defend the persecuted by using violence? Is it unjust if the oppressed defend themselves—if necessary by the use of violence—in order to liberate themselves and to create a more just society? Can we leave the doctrine of the just war behind and shift all our attention toward the way of a just peace?

In 2011 the World Council of Churches brought to a close the Decade to Overcome Violence, to which the churches committed themselves at the beginning of the century. Just peace has evolved as the new ecumenical paradigm for contemporary Christian ethics. Just peace signals a realistic vision of holistic peace, with justice, which in the concept of shalom is central in the Hebrew Bible as well as in the gospel message of the New Testament. Continue reading “New resource: Just Peace: Ecumenical, Intercultural, and Interdisciplinary Perspectives“ →

Two bishops dialogue with Catholic peace activists

Baltimore Catholic peace activist Tony Magliano, in a November 25 article, describes the recent supper and dialogue involving his city’s Catholic Worker community and two bishops who were present for the U.S. Catholic bishops’ annual meeting (the plans for this dialogue were reported here).

On the evening of Nov. 12, several blocks away from the Waterfront Marriott Hotel, where the bishops were meeting, Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis and Bishop John Michael Botean, head of the Romanian Catholic Eparchy (diocese) of St. George in Canton, Ohio, sat down with us to talk about war-making, peacemaking, poverty and military chaplains in light of the teachings of the compassionate, nonviolent Jesus.

Continue reading “Two bishops dialogue with Catholic peace activists” →

Bishops, at annual meeting, invited to Catholic Worker dinner for peace

Joshua J. McElwee | Nov. 11, 2013

Baltimore

As the U.S. bishops start their annual meeting here Monday morning, they are facing a number of tough choices: who to elect as their new president, what tone to adopt in the new Pope Francis era, and how to engage the wider culture.Another hard decision: Where to eat dinner each night, and with whom.

If the stakes on this one seem a bit more personal, perhaps they are. But Tomas Murray, a member of a Catholic Worker community in Ohio, thinks where the bishops choose to eat also sends a significant message about how they see the role of the U.S. Catholic church.

Murray is one of several people hosting an alternative dinner option for the prelates Tuesday night. They want the focus of their meal, held on the night of the annual assembly at which the bishops are also invited to a dinner in support of Catholic military chaplains, to be focused on peacemaking.

Read the rest of McElwee’s article at National Catholic Reporter.

Schedule of events for the celebration of the Feast of Saint Marcellus 2013

Shawn Storer, director of Catholic Peace Fellowship, has issued the following public invitation:

Peace. The Saint Marcellus Day 2013 events that will take place in South Bend and Notre Dame, Indiana on Marcellus’ feast day, Wednesday, October 30th, are as follows: Continue reading “Schedule of events for the celebration of the Feast of Saint Marcellus 2013” →

Three days celebrating “Pacem in Terris” in our times

Vatican City, 26 September 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Holy See Press Office a press conference was held to present the Days commemorating the 50th Anniversary of John XXIII’s encyclical, “Pacem in Terris”, which was published on 11 April 1963 and offered, as Bishop Mario Toso explained, “a structure for thought and political planning that ensured that the Church and believers were committed to social questions in the years to come, with a truly universal capacity for foresight and suggestion”. Continue reading “Three days celebrating “Pacem in Terris” in our times” →

Pope: Angelus appeal for peace

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has called for a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, in the entire Mideast region, and throughout the whole world to be held this coming Saturday, September 7th, 2013. The Pope made the announcement during the course of remarks ahead of the traditional Angelus prayer this Sunday. Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father’s Angelus appeal.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Hello!

Today, dear brothers and sisters, I wish to make add my voice to the cry which rises up with increasing anguish from every part of the world, from every people, from the heart of each person, from the one great family which is humanity: it is the cry for peace! It is a cry which declares with force: we want a peaceful world, we want to be men and women of peace, and we want in our society, torn apart by divisions and conflict, that peace break out! War never again! Never again war! Peace is a precious gift, which must be promoted and protected. Continue reading “Pope: Angelus appeal for peace” →

Pax Christi: Dialogue is the only way towards an end of the violence in Syria

Catholic peace organization Pax Christi has issued the following statement:

Pax Christi International is deeply concerned about the latest events in Syria.

While we unequivocally condemn the use of chemical weapons, regardless of who perpetrated the attack, Pax Christi pleads with the nations of the world to recognize the responsibility and authority of the UN Security Council to address this egregious violation of international law and morality and to work with the United Nations to protect – without escalating the violence – the Syrian people. This should be done through urgent diplomatic efforts to stop immediately the flow of arms to both sides and to all militant groups and to bring all stakeholders in the conflict to the negotiating table. Many states have helped fuel the armed conflict in Syria by sending weapons to the region; now it is time for the International community to cooperate fully on an arms embargo and to unequivocally back dialogue that alone can end the horrific violence.

Continue reading “Pax Christi: Dialogue is the only way towards an end of the violence in Syria” →

Pope: Faith and violence are incompatible

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday reiterated his call for peace in the ongoing crisis in Egypt saying, “we continue to pray for peace in Egypt together, Mary Queen of Peace pray for us.” The Holy Father also remembered those who were killed in a ferry disaster in the Philippines this week and prayed for the families in their grief.

The Pope was speaking following the recitation of the Angelus prayer from the Papal Apartments above St Peter’s Square.

During his Angelus address Pope Francis took his cue from Sunday’s Gospel liturgy. Continue reading “Pope: Faith and violence are incompatible” →