 Prophetic Voices
The Wisdom of Nonviolence:
Developing
a Culture of Peace
Fr John Dear SJ in conversation
in Brisbane
On Wednesday
28 February 2007 Fr John
Dear spoke on Jesus and
the Way of Nonviolence and then joined in
conversation with Professor Toh Swee-Hin
and Dr Anne Hickling-Hudson. The conversation was facilitated
by David Busch.
To be a peace-maker means
placing the God of peace at the centre of our lives,
as the goal of our journey, as the measure of all we
do. Nonviolence becomes a way of life, a journey of
peace to the God of peace.
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Pictured after the Jesus
and the Way of Nonviolence Conversation
are (back):
David Busch, Angela Ballard (SAO),
John Dear SJ,
and (front): Toh Swee-Hin, Anne
Hickling-Hudson, Carole Powell (Pace e Bene) |
On Thursday
1 March 2007 a day retreat and workshop
was held with Fr John and others exploring The
Road to Peace: the Way of Nonviolence, Jesus and Interfaith
Dimension.
Following in the tradition
of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, John invited
the group to consider nonviolence as a way of life as
described in the teachings and life of Jesus. In the
morning John offered presentations, lead discussions
and facilitated time for prayerful reflection and community
building. The afternoon program included a creative
participatory activity designed by Toh Swee-Hin and Virginia
Cawagas on peace education which integrated interfaith
perspectives on issues of local/global justice and sustainability.
This was co-facilitated by John, Swee-Hin, Virginia and
staff from the SAO. The day concluded with synthesis
and reflection from John. Below are some photos from
the day:
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John Dear is a Jesuit priest, peace activist and the author
of 25 books including Living Peace, Jesus
the Rebel, The
God of Peace, Mohandas Gandhi, Mary of
Nazareth - Prophet of Peace, The
Questions of Jesus, and Disarming
the Heart.
He served as director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation,
the largest interfaith peace organization in the US; led
a delegation of Nobel Peace Prize winners to Iraq; served
as Red Cross coordinator of Chaplains in New York City after
September 11; and has been arrested over 75 times in acts
of nonviolent civil disobedience to protest US warmaking.
He currently lives in New Mexico where he leads a campaign
to close Los Alamos where they build all US nuclear weapons.
For further information, see www.johndear.org.
John’s visit to Brisbane was sponsored
by Pace
e Bene Australia
and supported by the Social Action Office
(Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes Qld) |
The Pace E Bene Australia Gathering 2008 with the theme Engaging Nonviolence – Deep Listening to the Spirit will be held in Adelaide from 
When so much suffering caused through violence
is broadcast into our homes from around the globe (and massive
conflicts in places like the Congo go unreported) I am reminded
of something that Mother Theresa and Jean Vanier once exhorted
an audience to do with regards to peace – 
In
late 2004 the Social Action Office once again took on the southern
Queensland coordination of the 
Other good resources on the issue of peacemaking include:
