Theology of Peacebuilding

Many have called for a theology of peace that is comparable in sophistication to the Church’s teaching on war. CPN stimulates further reflection on peacebuilding as a conceptually coherent, theologically accurate, spiritually enlivening, and practically effective contribution to the Church’s broader teaching on justice and peace. This effort helps to deepen the religious dimension of the practice of peacebuilding, discover and articulate theological resources to support peacebuilding, and make the language and idea of peace more prominent in the mainstream life of the Church. 

The 2010 publication of Peacebuilding: Catholic Theology, Ethics, and Practice, edited by Robert J. Schreiter, R. Scott Appleby, and Gerard F. Powers (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis), represents a concrete contribution to this area. And CPN continues to support reflection on the theology, ethics, and praxis of peacebuilding in other ways. One is through participation in and sponsorship of academic conferences on peacebuilding. Another is by partnering with Catholic Relief Services on a fellowship program whereby CRS peacebuilders are welcomed at Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies to complete research and scholarship projects. CPN is also currently working on a research project on applying the lens of the Catholic theology of peacebuilding to issues of mining, including publication of Catholic Peacebuilding and Mining: Integral Peace, Development, and Ecology, and helping to renew Catholic theological engagement on nuclear disarmament. In addition, through efforts to make available academic resources on peacebuilding on this website, CPN works to encourage the ongoing development of a theology of peacebuilding.

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Events

Carrying Forward Drew Christiansen’s Legacy Catholic Social Teaching, Environmental Justice, Just War, and Peacebuilding
Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, Georgetown University
November 15-16, 2022

When Berkley Center and Georgetown colleague Rev. Drew Christiansen, S.J., passed away in April 2022, he left behind a significant legacy applying the rich tradition of Catholic social teaching to issues of peacebuilding, just war, nuclear disarmament, and environmental justice. This two-day conference gathered influential scholars and practitioners—many of whom worked for decades with Fr. Christiansen—who honored his contributions and explored current and future challenges related to these topics. Panels addressed interreligious peacebuilding, with a focus on the Middle East; just war, peacebuilding, and non-violence; current challenges in nuclear arms control and disarmament; and fostering environmental justice.

Video of the conference sessions are available on the Berkley Center event site.

See also the Berkley Center Forum on the event.

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Catholic Peacebuilding in Times of Crisis: Hope for a Wounded World, "Critical Assessment of Catholic Social Teaching Through the Lens of Peacebuilding"
June 22, 2022

Catholic Social Teaching is a robust tradition of ethical reflection that offers a great deal of resources to support Catholic peacebuilding. This panel casts a critical eye on Catholic Social Teaching and considers ways in which it could develop to better support emerging challenges of peacebuilding. Moderator: Maria Power, University of Oxford. Panelists: Marites Guingona-Africa, The Peacemakers’ Circle Foundation, Inc.; Eduardo Gutierrez Gonzalez, University of Oxford; Léocadie Lushombo, IT, Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University.

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