The global Christian community is moving toward a third option to peace, one that is neither pacifist or just war. The 2011 International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Kingston, Jamaica was a major step in that process.

1. If War Is Wrong,
What Is Right?
The New Approach to Peace

2. Kingston
Jamaica

3. Kingston
Jamaica

4. Kingston
Jamaica

5. Kingston
Jamaica

6. May 2011
International
Ecumenical
Peace
Convocation

7. About 1,000 people
are expected

8. About 1,000 people
are expected
• Representatives of the WCC communions

9. About 1,000 people
are expected
• Representatives of the WCC communions
• Representatives of other communions,
including the Roman Catholic Church

10. About 1,000 people
are expected
• Representatives of the WCC communions
• Representatives of other communions,
including the Roman Catholic Church
• Activists, theologians, and other interested
individuals

11. Conclusion to the
Decade to Overcome Violence
(DOV)
• A ten year process involving Christians throughout
the world.

12. Conclusion to the
Decade to Overcome Violence
(DOV)
• A ten year process involving Christians throughout
the world.
• Initiated by the WCC, but not limited
to WCC members.

13. Conclusion to the
Decade to Overcome Violence
(DOV)
• A ten year process involving Christians throughout
the world.
• Initiated by the WCC, but not limited
to WCC members.
• Input from both institutional and
non-institutional groups.

14. “The IEPC will be a place and time for…”
•
celebrating God's peace and the good will
of God's people

15. “The IEPC will be a place and time for…”
•
celebrating God's peace and the good will
of God's people
•
working on our theology of peace and
relinquishing any theological justification
of violence

16. “The IEPC will be a place and time for…”
•
celebrating God's peace and the good will
of God's people
•
working on our theology of peace and
relinquishing any theological justification
of violence
•
telling our stories of failure and success,
and listening to examples of good practice

17. • equipping ourselves with creative and effective
tools for preventing and overcoming violence,
and promoting peace and justice

18. • equipping ourselves with creative and effective
tools for preventing and overcoming violence,
and promoting peace and justice
• committing ourselves to a theology and practice
of nonviolence, peace and justice

19. • equipping ourselves with creative and effective
tools for preventing and overcoming violence,
and promoting peace and justice
• committing ourselves to a theology and practice
of nonviolence, peace and justice
• proclaiming an Ecumenical Declaration on
Just Peace

20. Initial Draft
•
“The older traditions of Christian pacifism and just war theory no
longer control peace thinking.”

21. Initial Draft
•
“The older traditions of Christian pacifism and just war theory no
longer control peace thinking.”
•
“The notion of „just peace‟, going beyond the „just war‟ concept
[has become] a guiding concept in many churches.”

22. Initial Draft
•
“The older traditions of Christian pacifism and just war theory no
longer control peace thinking.”
•
“The notion of „just peace‟, going beyond the „just war‟ concept
[has become] a guiding concept in many churches.”
•
“Shalom means wholeness and well-being…The absence of
conflict and war does not exhaust the meaning of shalom.”

23. Initial Draft
•
“The older traditions of Christian pacifism and just war theory no
longer control peace thinking.”
•
“The notion of „just peace‟, going beyond the „just war‟ concept
[has become] a guiding concept in many churches.”
•
“Shalom means wholeness and well-being…The absence of
conflict and war does not exhaust the meaning of shalom.”
•
“The responsibility to protect those directly endangered by
conflict has begun to receive greater attention.”

24. Initial Draft
•
“Just peace-building confronts a double challenge…the challenge
of securing, on a healthy planet, the goods of the community of all
beings God has created—and at the same time addressing the
obscenity of superfluous wealth and the offense of needless
poverty.”

25. Initial Draft
•
“Just peace-building confronts a double challenge…the challenge
of securing, on a healthy planet, the goods of the community of all
beings God has created—and at the same time addressing the
obscenity of superfluous wealth and the offense of needless
poverty.”
•
“How the churches choose to live in the world, and where they
draw the line in the face of violence is part of [their] prophetic
witness. Here the historic peace churches play a particularly
important role.”

26. Initial Draft
•
“Just peace-building confronts a double challenge…the challenge
of securing, on a healthy planet, the goods of the community of all
beings God has created—and at the same time addressing the
obscenity of superfluous wealth and the offense of needless
poverty.”
•
“How the churches choose to live in the world, and where they
draw the line in the face of violence is part of [their] prophetic
witness. Here the historic peace churches play a particularly
important role.”
•
“Peace-building is not just about repairing what has been broken,
but about expanding and completing relationships that make the
oikos [the world] the mirror of the Trinity.”

27. Initial Draft
•
“No one can be whole in a broken world. Institutions, policies,
systems, and the ways in which our lives are organized, shape
who we are, how we experience the world and see it, and what we
are able to do in it.

28. Initial Draft
•
“No one can be whole in a broken world. Institutions, policies,
systems, and the ways in which our lives are organized, shape
who we are, how we experience the world and see it, and what we
are able to do in it.
•
“Every part of our being…is affected by the worlds that we inhabit
and that inhabit us. If we are to be whole, so too must they be.
Thus peace-building at the levels of just institutions in a just
order is the indispensable partner of soul-craft.”

29. Initial Draft
•
“No one can be whole in a broken world. Institutions, policies,
systems, and the ways in which our lives are organized, shape
who we are, how we experience the world and see it, and what we
are able to do in it.
•
“Every part of our being…is affected by the worlds that we inhabit
and that inhabit us. If we are to be whole, so too must they be.
Thus peace-building at the levels of just institutions in a just
order is the indispensable partner of soul-craft.”
•
“The very disunity…within the churches themselves has
undermined the churches‟ credibility…as true signs of peace.”

30. Joint
Catholic-Mennonite
Position Paper
• Based on the final report of the first formal
international dialogue (1998-2003)

31. Joint
Catholic-Mennonite
Position Paper
• Based on the final report of the first formal
international dialogue (1998-2003)
• That report was entitled Called Together to Be
Peacemakers.

32. Joint
Catholic-Mennonite
Position Paper
• Based on the final report of the first formal
international dialogue (1998-2003)
• That report was entitled Called Together to Be
Peacemakers.
• Unprecedented for either Mennonites or Catholics to
issue a joint declaration of this kind.

33. Joint Mennonite Catholic Statement:
•
“The Church is called to be a peace church. This calling is based
on the conviction we hold in common as Catholics and
Mennonites, that the Church, founded by Christ, is to be a living
sign and an effective instrument of peace.”

34. Joint Mennonite Catholic Statement:
•
“The Church is called to be a peace church. This calling is based
on the conviction we hold in common as Catholics and
Mennonites, that the Church, founded by Christ, is to be a living
sign and an effective instrument of peace.”
•
“Reconciliation, nonviolence, and active peacemaking belong to
the heart of the Gospel.”

35. Joint Mennonite Catholic Statement:
•
“The Church is called to be a peace church. This calling is based
on the conviction we hold in common as Catholics and
Mennonites, that the Church, founded by Christ, is to be a living
sign and an effective instrument of peace.”
•
“Reconciliation, nonviolence, and active peacemaking belong to
the heart of the Gospel.”
•
“For both Catholics and Mennonites the ultimate personal and
ecclesial challenge is to spell out the consequences of the cross for
our teaching on peace and war, and for our response in the face of
injustice and violence.”

36. Joint Mennonite Catholic Statement:
•
“Spirituality consists in following the teachings and the life of
Jesus, making his manner of life our own.”

37. Joint Mennonite Catholic Statement:
•
“Spirituality consists in following the teachings and the life of
Jesus, making his manner of life our own.”
•
“[There is an] often narrow path between the cowardice which
gives in to evil and the violence which, under the illusion of
fighting evil, only makes it worse.” — John Paul II

38. Joint Mennonite Catholic Statement:
•
“Spirituality consists in following the teachings and the life of
Jesus, making his manner of life our own.”
•
“[There is an] often narrow path between the cowardice which
gives in to evil and the violence which, under the illusion of
fighting evil, only makes it worse.” — John Paul II
•
“How can we ask the world to live in peace when we ourselves fail
to heed the call to „maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace‟?”

39. Joint Mennonite Catholic Statement:
•
“In the absence of justice and human rights, peace is a mirage.”

40. Joint Mennonite Catholic Statement:
•
“In the absence of justice and human rights, peace is a mirage.”
•
“The Gospel‟s vision includes active nonviolence for defense of
human life and human rights, economic justice for the poor, and
solidarity among peoples.”

41. Joint Mennonite Catholic Statement:
•
“In the absence of justice and human rights, peace is a mirage.”
•
“The Gospel‟s vision includes active nonviolence for defense of
human life and human rights, economic justice for the poor, and
solidarity among peoples.”
•
“The education, training and deployment of Christians in the
practice of active nonviolence is an essential contribution of the
Church and church-sponsored organizations.”

42. The Emerging Consensus
If Catholics and Mennonites can agree
on a common statement regarding peace
we have reached a new stage
in the Christian Churches‟
approach to peace.

43. The Emerging Consensus
•
Neither the Just War Doctrine nor classical pacifism
is any longer being advocated.

44. The Emerging Consensus
•
Neither the Just War Doctrine nor classical pacifism
is any longer being advocated.
•
A third way, still not clearly defined or named, is emerging
across the global Christian community.

45. The Emerging Consensus
•
Neither the Just War Doctrine nor classical pacifism
is any longer being advocated.
•
A third way, still not clearly defined or named, is emerging
across the global Christian community.
•
The new way involves direct involvement in
political affairs, although the way in which this
involvement will occur is not yet clear.

46. Why?
Why this major change
in the Churches’ attitudes
to peace and war
at this point in history?

47. 1. Democratization
Why?
2. Science
3. Globalization
4. Compassion
5. Ecumenical Movement
6. 20th Century Wars
7. Peace Church Witness
8. Church in Global South

48. Democratization
Uganda

49. Democratization
Uganda
Beirut

50. Democratization
Uganda
Beirut
Israel

51. Democratization
India
Uganda
Beirut
Iran
Israel

52. Democratization
India
Uganda
Beirut
Iran
Israel

53. Science
Anywhere

54. China
Science
Anywhere

55. Science
China
Anywhere
Kenya

56. Science
China
Anywhere
Kenya
Mexico

57. Science
China
Anywhere
Kenya
Mexico
Space

58. Globalization
Greece

59. Globalization
Greece
Los Angeles

60. Globalization
Greece
Everywhere
Los Angeles

61. Globalization
U. S.
Greece
Everywhere
Los Angeles

62. G20
G20
Globalization
U. S.
Greece
Everywhere
Los Angeles

63. Compassion

64. Compassion

65. Compassion

66. Compassion

67. Compassion

68. Compassion

69. The Ecumenical
Movement
World Council of Churches - 1948

70. The Ecumenical
Movement
World Council of Churches - 1948
Roman Catholic Church - 1964

71. The Ecumenical
Movement
Lutheran
World
Federation
World Council of Churches - 1948
Roman Catholic Church - 1964
Mennonite
World
Conference

72. The Ecumenical
Movement
Lutheran
World
Federation
World Council of Churches - 1948
German Lutheran Conference
Roman Catholic Church - 1964
Mennonite
World
Conference

73. The
20th Century
Wars

74. The
20th Century
Wars

75. The
20th Century
Wars

76. The
20th Century
Wars

77. The
Peace Church Witness

78. The
Peace Church Witness

79. The
Peace Church Witness

80. The
Peace Church Witness

81. The
Peace Church Witness

82. Democratic Republic of Congo
The Churches in
the Global South

83. Democratic Republic of Congo
The Churches in
the Global South
Vatican

84. Democratic Republic of Congo
The Churches in
the Global South
Vatican
Brazil

85. Democratic Republic of Congo
The Churches in
the Global South
Vatican
Asia
Brazil

86. Democratic Republic of Congo
The Churches in
the Global South
Vatican
Asia
Brazil
San
Salvador

87. Sudan

88. Sudan
Warfare in the global south
is typically local, and within
national borders, using
small arms imported from
the West.

89. Sudan
Warfare in the global south
is typically local, and within
national borders, using
small arms imported from
the West.
As a result of their
experiences Christians in
the global south have
developed a doctrine of “the
Responsibility to Protect”.

90. “All these factors
force us to undertake
a completely fresh
appraisal
of war.”
Vatican II
Gaudium et Spes

91. How?
How does the
Christian community translate
this emerging consensus
into effective action?

92. Martin
Luther King

93. Martin
Luther King

103. Solidarity

104. Solidarity

105. Solidarity

106. The Cardinals

107. The War

108. The War

109. The War

110. Assisi „86

111. Assisi „86

113. “Today as a pilgrim of peace I have come
here to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi,
hero of humanity.

114. “Today as a pilgrim of peace I have come
here to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi,
hero of humanity.
From this place I wish to express...my
profound conviction that peace and
justice…will only be achieved along the path
which was at the core of his teaching…

115. “Today as a pilgrim of peace I have come
here to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi,
hero of humanity.
From this place I wish to express...my
profound conviction that peace and
justice…will only be achieved along the path
which was at the core of his teaching…
If [we] respect the unique dignity of every
human being, a new world order—a
civilization of love—can be achieved.”

116. “Today as a pilgrim of peace I have come
here to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi,
hero of humanity.
From this place I wish to express...my
profound conviction that peace and
justice…will only be achieved along the path
which was at the core of his teaching…
If [we] respect the unique dignity of every
human being, a new world order—a
civilization of love—can be achieved.”
— Address at the Gandhi Memorial
31 Jan. 1986

117. “In our
next campaign
we have to
institutionalize nonviolence
and take it
international.”
Martin Luther King
April 4, 1968

118. Youth
Australia

119. Nepal
Youth
Australia

120. Nepal
Youth
Cairo
Australia