Retired Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton has been a member of Pax Christi USA since the national Catholic peace movement's founding in 1972. As Pax Christi nears its 50th anniversary, he spoke to NCR about its impact.
Tom Cornell once described the Catholic Worker movement as a community "marked by a cooperative social order without extremes of wealth and poverty and a nonviolent approach to legitimate defense and conflict resolution."
Inspired by Fratelli Tutti, a recent conference explored ways the Catholic community can bring bold, creative proposals to current problems and help build a post-pandemic world more attuned to a Catholic vision.
Commentary: A group of U.S. priests have proposed a new eucharistic prayer that reflects a shift away from the just war theory and toward reclaiming the message and ministry of the nonviolent Christ.
In addressing the violence of Russia's war against Ukraine, the pope is trying to shift our gaze. It is a shift that Jesus models, toward pastoral accompaniment and a focus on how we might break the violent dynamic.
Commentary: The nonviolent strategies being used by Ukrainians in many locations are vitally important and illustrate powerful and effective ways to defend their communities and to break the cycles of violence.
Our generation is frustrated with U.S. Catholic and civic leaders who do not seem to grasp the gravity of our crisis and are unwilling to enact church teaching.
A Kansas City, Missouri, judge praised four anti-nuke activists for trying to change the world. "While in the eyes of the law you are guilty, I recognize that there is a higher power that compelled you to act," he said.
Perspective: We don't always hear about Catholic bishops drawing us to the active nonviolence of Jesus. Yet, a pattern is emerging, especially with Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester's recent pastoral letter urging nuclear disarmament.
