Pax Christi USA is a partner in the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative (CNI), a project of Pax Christi International, which affirms the vision and practice of active nonviolence at the heart of the Catholic Church, and is committed to the long-term vocation of healing and reconciling both people and the planet. 

CNI was launched soon after the Nonviolence and Just Peace conference — co-sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (now part of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development), Pax Christi International, and other international bodies — in Rome in April 2016. Lay people, theologians, members of religious congregations, priests and bishops from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania gathered to call on the Catholic Church to take a clear stand for active nonviolence and against all forms of violence. In his message to the conference, Pope Francis said, “Your thoughts on revitalizing the tools of nonviolence, and of active nonviolence in particular, will be a needed and positive contribution.”

Two subsequent conferences were held in Rome, one in April 2019 and one in December 2022.

Click here to read Pax Christi USA’s Michelle Sherman’s report on the December 2022 conference.

Click here to read the report on the December 2022 conference that was submitted to the Vatican for Pope Francis’s review.

Click here to read the homily offered by Cardinal Michael Czerny at the closing Mass at the December 2022 conference.

For further introduction of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative:

Learn more about how the Church can more fully embrace and embody nonviolence.

Advancing Nonviolence and Just Peace

in the Church and the World

Pax Christi International and its Catholic Nonviolence Initiative have published Advancing Nonviolence and Just Peace in the Church and the World, the culmination of a three-year global conversation among church leaders, community organizers, activists, social scientists and theologians about how the Catholic Church might return to its Gospel nonviolence roots and transform the world.

Read more at this link.

Pax Christi USA members receive a special 15 percent discount on the book when ordering through this link and using the special code, PCM15!

Two ways to study the book individually or in groups:

  • Use this free downloadable study guide from the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative.
  • Pax Christi USA conducted study circles on the book from February through April 2021. Find our five-part study guide, videos of our Zoom sessions with authors of the book and contributors to the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, and more archived for your use at this link.

Other resources from the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative:

Catholic Nonviolence Days of Action, September 21 to October 2

In solidarity with our 120+ sister organizations in the Pax Christi International network from around the world, Pax Christi USA with our regions, local groups, members and partners prays, studies, acts and celebrates the power of nonviolence each year between September 21 (International Day of Peace) and October 2 (International Day of Nonviolence and Gandhi’s birthday).

2020 was the first year for the Catholic Nonviolence Days of Action. The theme was, “Making active nonviolence our way of life in the Church and the world”.

Find out more about our observance of these days of action in: