St. Joseph Church
Bristol, Connecticut

Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min
Pastoral Minister

Introduction

The Christian call to justice-seeking and the peacemaking in a world so often afflicted by violence must get beyond mere sentimentality in the gospel is truly to be enflesh in the midst of the signs of the times. The world in which we live is a beautiful and sometimes dangerous place. As Christians, we know that we have been called to be co-creators with god and others, in the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ, to work for justice and to be peacemakers in our world (Mt. 5:7-9). We also know that the Christian mission is driven by the hope that one day the Lord will return with the fullness of the reign of God--the time of universal shalom (Is. 2:1-4; Rev. 21:1-5). This version of universal shalom; of a new heaven and a new earth, is one in which the fullness of justice reigns in the universe in the perfect and absolute love of the Holy Spirit in all things (Romans 8:18-25; I Cor. 15:20-28).

We know that such a time to come will be a gift of God, but we also know that human beings have been called to a covenant with the Lord, others, and the creation in Christ, to work to help bring this promise about. Therefore, human passivity in the light of the challenges and opportunities of the times is a denial of the covenant Christian have committed themselves to in baptism, and reaffirmed in the Eucharist. (1)

This council exhorts Christians, as citizens of two cities, to strive to discharge their earthly duties, conscientiously and in response to the gospel spirit. They are mistaken who, knowing that we have here no abiding city but seek one which is to come, think that by the faith itself they are more obliged than ever to measure up to these duties, each according to his proper vocation. Nor, on the contrary, are they any less wide of the mark who think that religion consists in acts of worship alone and in the discharge of certain moral obligations, and who imagine they can plunge themselves into earthly affairs in such a way as to imply that these are altogether divorced from the religious life. This split between faith which many profess and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the more serious errors of our age....The Christian who neglects his (her) temporal duties, neglects his duties toward his neighbor and even God, and jeopardizes his(her) salvation."

Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, #43

The work for justice and peace in our world, in the imitation of the nonviolent Christ, is an essential or constitutive dimension of the proclamation of the gospel and the Church's evangelizing mission (cf. One Hundred Years of Catholic Social Teaching; Ten Economic Principles for Justice; Six Major Principles of Catholic Social Teaching)

"Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the gospel, or, in other words, of the Church's mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation."

World Synod of Bishops, Justice in the World, 1971, #6

Pope John Paul Ii, Centesimus Annus, 1991.

This call to justice and peace is an integral part of discipleship in the Lord. It is the call to the imitation of Christ in the light of the signs of the times as we approach the twenty-first century. It is a call to bring the nonviolent compassion and love of the lord to every aspect of human life and creation.

Throughout the centuries Christians have given discipleship various forms in the world. In the twentieth century the imitation of Christ has taken one form known as Principles Nonviolence. This form of nonviolence is directed toward engagement with the world in order to confront and overcome evil, and to promote that which is life-giving in the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ (Phillippians 2:6-11) by the use of nonviolent ethics and techniques in Christian love (agape).

Practitioners of Principled Nonviolence maintain that: (2)

+ their intention is to conduct and resolve conflict without violence;

Such a witness these people believe to be consistent with Christian discipleship. Furthermore, it is a discipleship that is more concerned with being faithful to the Lord than demonstrating quantifiable results--though these are important ! In effect a person of principled nonviolence is one who has made this integral to his or her lifestyle, not merely a tactic for social change. (3)

"This, in brief, is the method of nonviolent resistance. It is a method that challenges all people struggling for justice and freedom. God grant that we wage the struggle with dignity and discipline. May all who suffer oppression in this world reject the self-defeating method of retaliatory violence and choose the method that seeks to redeem. Through using this method wisely and courageously we will emerge from the bleak and desolate midnight of man's inhumanity to man into the bright daybreak of freedom and justice."

Dr. Martin Luther King, jr., Nonviolence and Racial Justice

Principles of Nonviolence

The central values or principles of nonviolence in Christian discipleship is thou shalt not kill (Exodus 20:13) and love your enemies (Luke 6:27-38) (cf. Roman Catholic Teaching On War and Peace). Furthermore, in the Christian tradition five principles have emerged over time that typify a Christian understanding and praxis of nonviolent love:(4)

+ the redemptive power of God's suffering love.

For the individual Christian witness such a life may be possible. The challenge to principled nonviolence is taking it into the midst of social and international conflict. There have been examples of taking principled nonviolence into these arenas of human conflict in the examples of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's work in civil rights in the United States in the 1960's, the Phillippine Revolution in the 1980's and the Polish Solidarity Movement in 1980's.

One of the foremost proponents and practitioners of nonviolence was Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. Inspired by the example of Jesus Christ and the methods of M. Ghandi of India, King set out to end segregation in the United States by living and using principled nonviolence. in his Letter From A Birmingham Jail he responded to those who felt that his actions were ill-timed. He also responded to those who did not understand his methods. For King it was a matter of bringing a creative tension into a situation so that the immoral nature of the situation could be demonstrated and eventually changed. He explained the four basic steps to any nonviolent campaign in the following manner:

"In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: (1) collection of the facts to determine where injustices are alive, (2) negotiation, (3) self-purification, and (4) direct action. (cf. Glossary for Justice and Peace in Nonviolent Resistance)

The religiously inspired civil rights movements in the United States have inspired other such movements in East Germany in 1989, Guatemala and other nations. (5) Many of these movements are religiously inspired with the prophetic vision of a call for justice and human rights that we see in the Hebrew Scriptures (Amos. 5:21ff; Jeremiah 7), and in the person of Jesus Christ (Matthew 5-7) and in modern voices such as, Dr. Martin Luther King jr., Dorothy Day, Archbishop Oscar Romero and others. (cf. Modern Martyrs and Heroes of Faith: An Ecumenical Perspective). Over time five values have emerged as necessary and typical for the application of principled nonviolence in the context of political movements for justice and peace. (6) These values are:

Dialogue: There is a need for dialogue to help open communication, create more informed perceptions, and to give the opponent a human face. One enters in to the dialogue with a willingness to learn from the other. Therefore, compassion is essential.

Nonviolent Tactics: To help open communication when another party refuses to talk the application of certain nonviolent tactics can be employed to generate a creative tension that brings the other party to the table for negotiation. (7) Such tactics include fasting, personal witness, vigils, boycotts, marches and civil disobedience or divine obedience. (cf. Glossary for Catholic Teaching on War and Peace).

Courage: A commitment to refrain from violence, to accept suffering rather than to inflict it--perhaps, even unto death is fundamental to this form of discipleship. This is preferred to either accepting injustice or harming others !

Love: A rejection of any form of violence, emotional or physical abuse while expressing love and support for the adversary, but rejecting the evil they may be doing

Persistence: A commitment to pursue an objective for the long run in the face of obstacles while exploring a mutually acceptable solution. (cf. The Vow of Nonviolence)

Principled Nonviolence: Between Political Communities (8)

In the arena of international relations power, and its shifts from one nation or group of nations to another, has been the constant feature of the relations among states. The understandings as to how power functions in the international system, and how nations behave in that system is usually associated with three theoretical perspectives which are: Political Realism, Liberalism and Socialism. (cf. Charted Political Approaches to War and Peace: Realism, Liberalism and Socialism). The quest for justice and peace takes place in the context of international anarchy--which is somewhat orderly much of the time. Nations are related to one another in a world that still maintains that each nation is sovereign and that each nation is responsible for its own defense. That is the great challenge of bringing principled nonviolence into an international arena that uses war and violence to secure interests at the expense of other nations. So much involved in the relations between nations such as: power in relations to other nations, land, security and economic benefits of the system. Given the fact that these relations take place in a world of thousands of nuclear weapons, and new Weapons of Mass Destruction means other than war to settle grave disputes between nations must be explored and advanced for the next century.

Common Security: One Promising Possibility (9)

This approach to international security places emphasis on the fact that we live in an interdependent world. Furthermore, we live in a world of nuclear weapons, whose use--even limited use, could threaten to end life on this plant. (cf. The Effects of Nuclear Explosions; Excerpts From Nuclear Crash--The U.S. Economy After Small Nuclear Attacks; Statement on Nuclear Weapons by International Generals and Admirals, 1997; Nuclear Weapons Cannot Be Justified and Deserve Condemnation; Seventy-five U.S. Catholic Bishops Condemn Policy of Nuclear Deterrence). The developing doctrine of Common Security is an attempt to find a new way of providing nation with security in this nuclear world. This doctrine recognizes that only if all nations feel secure and are secure will war be a less likely threat to the peaceful intercourse among nations. The Common Security doctrine employs the use of nonviolent political techniques combined with an emphasis on defense postures and weapons for military purposes that would not be capable of offensive use. This doctrine places great emphasis on economic interdependence, constant communication, confidence-building measures among nations, the application of technical means for verifying arms agreements, disarmament and transarmament to lessen the likelihood of armed conflict, a strengthened United Nations and the development of other international and regional organizations to promote the value of the oneness of the human family. (cf. Glossary for Catholic Teaching on War and Peace; Glossary for Justice and peace in Nonviolent Resistance and Charter of the United Nations Preamble).

The Christian call to justice-seeking and peacemaking is a call to metanoia, a change of heart that shows itself in the concrete way we run our lives and the way we structure our world (cf. Catholic Social Teaching and the Universal Declaration on Human Responsibilities, 1997 and Catholic Social Teaching, the United Nations and Human Rights). It is by the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the Christian is called to this task as a disciple of the Lord. It is by the power of this Spirit that the Church is called to proclaim the good news , the evangel of the new world in Christ (Revelation 21:1-5).

Footnotes

(1) Drew Christiansen, S.J. and Walter Grazer, "And God Saw That It Was Good (Washington, D.C.: USCC/NCCB, 1996); Bernard Cooke, Sacraments and Sacramentality (Mystic, Ct.: Twenty-third Publications, 1983); Regis Duffy, Real Presence: Worship, Sacraments and Commitment (New York: Harper and Row, 1982) pp. 1-28; Monica Hellwig, The Eucharist and the hunger of the World ( New York: Paulist Press, 1976) and Juan Luis Segundo, The Sacraments Today ( MaryKnoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1975).

(2) Roger S. Powers and William B. Vogele, eds. Protest, Power, and Change: An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action from ACT-UP to Women's Suffrage (New York: Garland Publishing, 1997) pp. 357-361.

(3) ibid., p. 357

(4) ibid., p. 357-358

(5) Douglas Johnston and Cynthia Sampson, Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994) pp. 119-147. See also, Donald W. Shriver, An Ethic For Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995 and Daniel L. Buttry, Christian Peacemaking: From Heritage to Hope (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1994).

(6) Powers, Protest, Power and Change, p. 357-358.

(7) ibid., p. 358.

(8) Michael W. Doyle, Ways of War and Peace (New York: W.W. Norton and Sons, 1997).

(9) Harry B. Hollins, Averill L. Powers and Mark Sommer, eds., The Conquest of War: Alternative Strategies for Global Security ( Boulder: Westview Press, 1989) pp. 177-189; Burns H. Weston ed., Toward Nuclear Disarmament and Global Security: A Search for Alternatives ( Boulder:Westview Press, 1984); Owen Grenne, Ian Percival and Irene Ridge, Nuclear Winter (Oxford: Polity Press, 1985) Kathleen C. Bailey, Doomesday Weapons in the Hands of Many: The Arms Control Challenge of the 90's ( Urbana and Chicago: Illinois University Press, 1991).

Compiled by Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D. Min.
Created 10/22/1998