Pope Francis: May charity and nonviolence guide the world

By Edoardo Giribaldi

“Active non-violence is not passivity. It is an effective method of confronting the evil that exists in our world that often engenders conflict.”

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar, and Cardinal Robert McElroy, Bishop of San Diego, took part on Sunday in the inauguration of the new Catholic Institute for Nonviolence, founded by Pax Christi International, a movement that promotes peace and consists of 120 organizations from all around the world.

The Rome-based Institute will be dedicated to promoting nonviolence as a central teaching of the Catholic Church, embarking on the mission of making research, resources, and experiences in nonviolence more accessible both for Church leaders and global institutions.

The event was held at the “Istituto Maria Santissima Bambina” in Rome, and featured the presence of Sister Teresia Wachira, from the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as renowned author and researcher Dr. Maria Stephan, who moderated the event and conversation.

Nonviolence as the foundation of the Church

In an interview with Vatican News ahead of the event, Cardinal McElroy stressed the difficulty in sharing the ideal of nonviolence in the current context, which is marred by conflict and violence. “However, it seems to me it's the only message we have in the light of the Gospel and in the times that we are living in,” he said.

The way forward, said the Cardinal, is the one “indicated by Fratelli tutti,” which questions “how can we show forth that love that we are called to have towards brothers and sisters in the world in these most difficult situations, including that of armed conflict.”

The answer to such questions cannot be “continuing war and returning attack for attack or generating new attacks.”

On the contrary, said Cardinal McElroy, the answer must “be founded in a willingness to take steps and sometimes to take risks to achieve peace, preserve peace or enhance peace.” In this is embodied the “call of the Gospel,” he said, painting a definition of nonviolence capable of eschewing mere passivity to the cruelties of the world.

Make no mistake, noted the American Cardinal, nonviolence “does not solve all problems” but stands, nevertheless, as “the fundamental position that the Church should have, rooted back in our early traditions in the life of the Church, and certainly articulated by Pope Francis very effectively and consistently.”

Nonviolence represents the “foundation” of the Church and “its witness and its efforts should tend to assist particular situations of conflict in the world.” This will involve a “difficult” task, “not always effective,” but still “the Christian way in its essence.”

Pope Francis’ message

The conversation among the four speakers was preceded by a brief speech by Archbishop Giovanni Ricchiuti, president of Pax Christi in Italy, who reported Pope Francis’ greetings. He said the Pope was “warmly pleased with the praiseworthy initiative” and wished “a renewed adherence to the values of peace and fraternity” for the participants in the event.

Pope Francis, said the Archbishop, urged everyone to work together “to ensure the defense of the rights of every creature,” as well as seeking to be “builders of a society founded on mutual love.”

“May it be charity and nonviolence that guide the world and the way we treat one another,” said the Pope in his message.

Peace built on nonviolence is unshakable

The first to take the floor was Cardinal Bo, who explored the figure of Jesus, “Prince of Peace,” alongside those of other great “apostles of peace: Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.”

They urge us “to march forward with courage, toward a promised land where every brother and sister lives in dignity, peace, and prosperity.” The Cardinal recalled the sufferings of the Israeli, Palestinian, and Ukrainian peoples, as well as those in his homeland of Myanmar.

“We are called to pause and reflect: Can we continue on this destructive path?” he wondered. “Or must we, as one human family, make a profound shift from a paradigm of war and violence to one of peace and nonviolence?”

Picking up on the concept expressed by Cardinal McElroy, Cardinal Bo explained how “Jesus’ rejection of violence was not weakness; He proclaimed that love is stronger than hate, that peace endures longer than war, and that justice, when built on the foundation of nonviolence, is unshakeable. As He told us in the Beatitudes, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God’.”

In this context, the creation of the Institute “will help us reclaim the nonviolence of Jesus, drawing from the wisdom of theological reflection, the practical strategies for addressing violence, and, most importantly, the lived experiences of marginalized communities who embody this radical call to peace.”

A dream that can come true

Sister Teresia Wachira recalled that the basis of nonviolence is “welcoming everyone, even the enemy.” She said this was a lesson she learned from her childhood years in Kenya, traced through her recollection of her mother's teachings, as opposed to the notions she was taught in university.

“We were discussing gender-based violence, and it was said that it was okay for a man to beat his wife,” she said. “This is because our culture says that when a man beats his wife, he loves her. And I was wondering, how can that be?”

Too often, said Sr. Wachira, “in African culture, the one I can speak for, structural violence can become a norm.”

The moderator, Dr. Maria Stephan, then invited Cardinal McElroy for his input, and he pointed out that nonviolence remains “a dream,” yet something “much better than the nightmare we are living in these days, which is destroying people and their connections.”

Anyone who participates in the Institute's activities will “dream” and help others recognize how nonviolence “can work.”

“This is the great obstacle,” according to the Cardinal. “That everything remains just a dream. Instead, we must say that it can become reality.”

The Institute's first seminars

As part of the Institute’s activities, theologians, researchers and key practitioners of nonviolence will be invited to become associates of the Institute, working in areas such as Gospel nonviolence, nonviolent practices and strategic power, and contextual experiences of nonviolence.

Members of the Advisory council already include María Clara Bingemer, a professor in the department of Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Archbishop Peter Chong of Suva in Fiji, and Erica Chenoweth, who, as dean and professor at Harvard University, is considered a leading authority on strategic nonviolence.

As early as October 2024, following the considerations on the topic of nonviolence reported by the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod, the Institute will offer seminars addressing precisely these issues in relation to both self-defense and large-scale conflict management.