{"id":30626,"date":"2023-05-05T21:07:24","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T19:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=30626"},"modified":"2023-05-05T21:07:24","modified_gmt":"2023-05-05T19:07:24","slug":"review-of-against-war-building-a-culture-of-peace-a-book-by-pope-francis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=30626","title":{"rendered":"Review of Against War: Building a Culture of Peace – a book by Pope Francis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .<\/p>\n

Excerpts from an article by William J. Collinge in The Journal of Social Encounters<\/a><\/p>\n

Against War: Building a Culture of Peace. Pope Francis. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2022, paper, viii + 132 pp., ISBN 978-1-62698-499-8.<\/p>\n

Against War is a collection of excerpts from the writings of Pope Francis on war and peace. The occasion for the book is the war begun by the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. <\/p>\n

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The book begins with an introduction by Pope Francis, dated March 29, 2022. Eight sections of selections follow. The first section, \u201cWith War, No One Wins,\u201d consists almost entirely of texts after the outbreak of the Ukraine War. The second section, \u201cA Culture of Death,\u201d gathers texts on the harmfulness of war and the foundations of peace. The third section is titled \u201cThe Criminal Folly of Nuclear Weapons,\u201d and it is followed by a section comprising excerpts from Francis\u2019s trip to Japan in 2019, chiefly the speeches he made at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The next section, \u201cPeace and Fraternity,\u201d contains texts from the Pope\u2019s journey to Iraq in 2021. A major theme is collaboration across religious lines to rebuild Iraq\u2019s war-torn society. The next two sections, \u201cA Better World,\u201d and \u201cAn Artisanal Path,\u201d discuss peace and the way to build it. The last section consists of prayers. The book concludes with \u201cAfterword: A Century-Long Magisterium of Peace,\u201d by Andrea Tornielli, the Editorial Director of Vatican News, setting Francis\u2019s teaching in the context of that of his predecessors. <\/p>\n

I will summarize what the book says about war and peace in general before turning specifically to what Francis says about the Ukraine War in this book and in subsequent statements. <\/p>\n

It is clear that for Francis the enemy is not Russia or any other combatant. It is war. Francis\u2019s emphasis is always on the effects of war, not the state of mind or character of those who declare wars or fight in them. The second line of text speaks of \u201cthe disaster caused by war\u201d (p. 1). Francis goes on to speak of the death and wounding of innocent people, especially children, the destruction of homes and displacement of people, the state of fear in which people live, and the transfer of resources from human needs to weaponry. All of this is consistent with recent popes\u2019 increased opposition to modern warfare due to its destructive capacity.<\/p>\n

(Continued in right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Question for this article:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

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What are the most important books about the culture of peace?<\/a><\/p>\n

(Continued from left column)<\/p>\n

Two themes that are characteristically, though not uniquely, Francis\u2019s are his consistent \u201coption for the poor\u201d and his attention to the environmental costs of war. He urges us to \u201cgive first place to those who suffer\u201d (p. 83), to look through the eyes of victims \u201cand listen with an open heart to the stories they tell\u201d (p. 31). He reminds us, \u201cWar always does grave harm to the environment\u201d (p. 28), and he calls on us to develop a peaceful relationship to our common home and all who dwell in it (pp. 106\u2013107). <\/p>\n

Nuclear weapons, if used, greatly amplify the death and destruction caused by war. The sheer building and possession of them is a huge waste of resources and increases the danger of their deliberate or accidental detonation. \u201cThe use of atomic energy for purposes of war is immoral, just as the possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral\u201d (p. 51). Nuclear weapons should be made illegal as well (p. 43). Nuclear deterrence generates a climate of fear and a false sense of security. \u201cPeace and international stability are incompatible with attempts to build upon the fear of mutual destruction or the threat of total annihilation\u201d (pp. 45\u201346).<\/p>\n

What is the alternative to war? Francis would reject that way of formulating the question. For him, there is today \u201cno real alternative to peacemaking\u201d (p. 85). Peacemaking calls for dialogue and encounter, two words that recur frequently in these texts. It calls for \u201cimmersing ourselves in situations\u201d (p. 83). In the \u201cculture of fraternal encounter\u201d we must set aside fear and allow ourselves to be vulnerable (p. 98). \u201cFraternity\u201d is another word that appears very often in this book. It is an awkward term in English, with its etymological gender-exclusiveness (though in American English \u201cfraternity and sorority\u201d would be worse). The Pope\u2019s intention in speaking of fraternity, however, is inclusive, to emphasize that we are all brothers and sisters \u201cas children of the one heavenly Father\u201d (p. 98). He links fraternity to Jesus\u2019s call to love one another, which includes those we might otherwise regard as enemies (pp. 113, 90). Love of enemies implies the rejection of violence in resolving differences: \u201cTo be true followers of Jesus today also includes embracing his teaching about nonviolence\u201d (p. 91).<\/p>\n

Peace is not a \u201cpossession\u201d one can hold on to; rather, it \u201cputs you in motion\u201d (pp. 86\u201387). It is an \u201cartisanal path\u201d (p. 95), one which everyone can \u201cbuild \u2026 day by day through small gestures and acts\u201d (p. 93). It requires \u201ccraftmanship\u201d to build \u201cprocesses of encounter\u201d (pp. 99\u2013100). Francis concludes, \u201cMay the Lord help us to journey together on the path of fraternity and thus to become credible witnesses of the living God\u201d (p. 115).<\/p>\n

On the second page of the book, Francis turns to the Ukraine War. He deplores the death and destruction the war has caused (pp. 2, 7) and also the increased arms race it has sparked (p. 9). He worries that it might escalate to nuclear war (p. 4). He calls for \u201cthe good sense to negotiate\u201d (p. 17).<\/p>\n

Click here <\/a> to continue reading remarks on the Ukraine War and to read the list of references.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDUCATION FOR PEACE . Excerpts from an article by William J. Collinge in The Journal of Social Encounters Against War: Building a Culture of Peace. Pope Francis. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2022, paper, viii + 132 pp., ISBN 978-1-62698-499-8. Against War is a collection of excerpts from the writings of Pope Francis on war and … Continue reading Review of Against War: Building a Culture of Peace – a book by Pope Francis<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,76],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-30626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education-for-peace","category-global","tag-global"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}