Moving nonviolence from the periphery to the heart of the Catholic Church

By Johnny Zokovitch

This week I have been in Florence, Italy as part of Pax Christi International’s 80th anniversary world gathering, Building Bridges for Tomorrow. This is the third world gathering that I have taken part in, and at each, I come away with a deeper appreciation for how we who do our work in the United States have such dedicated and courageous friends and colleagues around the world witnessing – often at great personal cost – to the power of nonviolence.  

At the conclusion of the last world gathering in Bethlehem in 2015, I wrote words that seem especially poignant to the moment we are living in now:

“Viewed from the perspective of a single individual’s efforts, or even the work of a single organization, the work of peace seems all too often to be fruitless, pointless and ineffective. We struggle against powers far beyond what any one of us can match.

“But there is hope in knowing that others, all across the world, are throwing their own tiny ropes and trying to wrangle the beast (of greed and violence) to the ground. There is hope in knowing that at every minute of every day we are working alongside brothers and sisters in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and throughout the Americas who are doing their part. Coming together here and seeing their faces, learning their names, hearing their stories and holding their hands, if only for a few days, is empowering for me in a way that I did not anticipate. My back feels a little straighter after these days. My lungs a little more full. My legs a bit stronger. I am neither alone nor part of a small minority. I have partners, brothers and sisters in the struggle. We are many and strong.”

One of the compelling revelations of this year’s gathering is how the message of nonviolence has taken root and grown within the Catholic world over the past 10 years.

Coming out of the 2015 assembly in Palestine, representatives of many of the 100+ organizations that make up the Pax Christi International network signed a joint document called “The Bethlehem Commitment.” Part of that commitment read,

“The pathway we seek is defined by the practice of active nonviolence as a powerful alternative to extremist violence and militarization. While not all our members are pacifist, Pax Christi’s constant dialogue about and exploration of the Gospel message of nonviolence keeps this issue alive in our movement. In the coming five years we will further develop efforts with the Vatican and religious communities to deepen Catholic thought on active nonviolence and to augment our Pax Christi conversation.” (emphasis mine)

In the decade since, the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative – the program launched to carry out this work – has moved the conversation and consideration about nonviolence from the periphery to the heart of the Catholic church. Nonviolence is the chosen language of both Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV  in addressing the strategies to achieving peace in the world today. In 2024, Pax Christi International inaugurated the Catholic Institute on Nonviolence in Rome with its mission “to make nonviolence research, resources and experience, more accessible to Catholic Church leaders, communities and institutions in order to deepen Catholic understanding of and commitment to the practice of Gospel nonviolence.” Thousands of ordinary Catholics in parishes, schools and community groups pray, study and act for nonviolence during the Catholic Nonviolence Days of Action from September 21 to October 2 every year. Every speaker at this gathering in Florence – whether addressing the devastation caused by climate change, war, extractivism, poverty, authoritarianism, and so on – lifts up the promise of nonviolence and the concrete ways in which it takes shape.  

Nicolás Paz of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative articulated concisely that which has become more and more clear as Pax Christi International’s particular gift to the church and the world: “We are here to celebrate the historic leadership of Pax Christi International on just peace and nonviolence which began, following World War II, as a bold dream of taking the peace of Christ seriously, the peace of Christ which is nonviolence, love in action.”

Johnny Zokovitch is the former executive director of Pax Christi USA. He currently serves on the board of the Pax Christi International Fund for Peace and is in pastoral leadership at St. Cronan Catholic Church in St. Louis.