Centering Active Nonviolence in Catholic Social Teaching – Webinar Event, August 11, 12-1pm eastern

Pope Leo XIV has recently noted that “Nonviolence, as a method and a style, must distinguish our decisions, our relationships and our actions.” What could this method and style look like when we consider the tradition of Catholic social teaching? What do the social sciences have to say about the effectiveness of nonviolent movements, violent resistance campaigns, and war? How do we define and value nonviolence as distinct from violence? Considering questions of legitimate defense, what models might exist for Catholics, in the pews and in the streets, to embrace some form of nonviolence? 

Join this virtual dialogue as panelists Eli McCarthy, David DeCosse, and David Carroll Cochran discuss their contributions to a recent forum on Catholic Re-Visions, discussing these questions and more. Register here.

Confirmed Speakers:

Eli McCarthy, Ph.D., teaches at Georgetown University in Theology as well as Justice and Peace Studies. His recent book is an edited volume called A Just Peace Ethic Primer: Building Sustainable Peace and Breaking Cycles of Violence (2020). He has also published Becoming Nonviolent Peacemakers: A Virtue Ethic for Catholic Social Teaching and U.S. Policy (2012) Since 2012, he has worked on federal policy with advocacy coalitions on peacebuilding, foreign policy, immigration, environment, etc. Presently, he is a Just Peace Fellow with the Franciscan Action Network. and is the co-founder of the DC Peace Team.

David Carroll Cochran is Professor of Politics at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. His primary teaching and research areas are war and peace; religion, race, and ethnicity in American politics; political thought; and Irish studies. His most recent book is The Catholic Case Against War: A Brief Guide, which was published by the University of Notre Dame Press in March 2024.

David E. DeCosse is the Director of Religious and Catholic Ethics, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California. DeCosse received his A.B. from Harvard University, an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University, an M.A. in theology from Fordham University, and a Ph.D. in theological ethics from Boston College. He has worked as a journalist and editor, including a stint at Doubleday Publishing Company. He has taught in the Religious Studies Department since 1999. He has been Director of Campus Ethics Programs at SCU since 2002. His research interests focus on the intersection of Catholic social thought, moral agency, and democracy. You can follow DeCosse on Twitter @daviddecosse.

Invited Panelist: Elias Opongo is the director of Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations in Kenya. He is the author of numerous publications, including Elections, Violence and Transitional Justice in Africa (Routledge, 2022) and African Theology in 21st Century: A Call to Baraza (Paulines Publications Africa, 2021) edited with Paul Bere.