University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, USA
April 13-15, 2008

Since the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ 1983 peace pastoral called for further work on the development of a theology of peace, peacebuilding has received much greater attention in both secular and Church circles. This conference, held from April 13-15, 2008 at the University of Notre Dame, showcased and contributed to a larger effort to develop a conceptually coherent, theologically accurate, spiritually enlivening and practically effective approach to Catholic peacebuilding that can begin to match the sophistication of Catholic thinking on the ethics of war and peace. Peacebuilding was defined as a range of topics not addressed by the literature on the ethics of the use of force. The topics covered included conflict prevention, conflict management and transformation, and post-conflict reconciliation. The focus was not just on public policies that are a major concern of Catholic social ethics, but also on a range of other actors, relationships and practices at all levels of society that are integral to healing broken societies and building and sustaining a just peace.

Conference Program • Participant List

Archbishop John Onaiyekan, Archdiocese of Abuja, Nigeria
Homily-Fourth Sunday of Easter
The Role of Bishops in Peace Building: Plenary Contribution
The Church’s Work for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa

Archbishop Evariste Ngoyagoye, Archdiocese of Bujumbura, Burundi
Bishops’ Role in the Great Crisis in Burundi

R. Scott Appleby, University of Notre Dame
The Many Dimensions of Catholic Peacebuilding

Myla Leguro, CRS-Philippines
The Many Dimensions of Catholic Peacebuilding: Mindanao Experience

Msgr. Hector Fabio Henao, Caritas Colombia
Commentary on the text: The Long Journey Back to Humanity: A Catholic Theology of Dialogue with Armed Actors

Fr. Eliseo Jun Mercado, O.M.I., National Peace Council, the Philippines
Response to Prof. John Paul Lederach’s Paper

Fr. David Hollenbach, S.J., Georgetown University (then Boston College)
Response to William R. Headley, CSSp and Reina C. Neufeldt

Fr. Ferdinand Muhigirwa, S.J., Centre d’Etudes Pour I’Action Sociale (CEPAS), Democratic Republic of Congo
CRS: Catholic Social Teaching and the Practice of Building Peace (William R. Headley and Reina C. Neufeldt)

Fr. Cedric Prakash, PRASHANT, Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace, India
From Conflict Prevention to Conflict Transformation

Susan Hayward, U.S. Institute of Peace
Religious Contributions to Conflict Prevention and Transformation

Rev. Elizabeth Carmichael, St. John’s College, Oxford, UK
A Response to Robert Schreiter’s paper, A Practical Theology of Healing, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation

Fr. Emmanuel Ntakarutimana, O.P., Center Ubuntu, Burundi
Working for Reconciliation in Burundi

Joseph Donnelly, Caritas Internationalis
Emerging Norms of Peacebuilding in Key Political Institutions

Laura Vargas, Comision Episcopal de Accion Social, Peru
Human Rights and Reconciliation

Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga, Archdiocese of Tunja, Colombia
The Table of Peace-Homily for Mass of Peace
Peace in Colombia Today The National Reality and the Action of the Catholic Church

Marie Dennis, Pax Christi International
CPN on Ethics of War and Ethics of Peacemaking
Ritual, Liturgy, Spirituality of Peacebuilding Response by Marie Dennis to Robert Schreiter’s talk

Heinz-Gerhard Justenhoven, Institut für Theologie und Frieden, Germany
The Relationship Between War and Reconciliation in Europe

Laurie Johnston, Emmanuel College and Sant’ Egidio USA
Response to David O’Brien, Panel on Models of Church Engagement with Peacebuilding

Fr. Drew Christiansen, S.J., Georgetown University
Peacebuilding in Catholic Social Teaching A Response to Kenneth Himes, O. F. M.

Lisa Sowle Cahill, Boston College
A Theology for Peacebuilding

Fr. Robert Schreiter, C.PP.S., Catholic Theological Union
Closing Remarks at the Conference on the Future of Catholic Peacebuilding