Pax Christi Metro DC Baltimore

Saturday, November 16, 2024, at 5:30 PM EST

A PDF version of this announcement is available for download by clicking here.

Join Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore for our 17th Annual Peacemaker of the Year celebration, honoring Eli McCarthy!

Eli S. McCarthy, Ph.D., teaches at Georgetown University in Theology, as well as Justice and Peace Studies. His recent book is A Just Peace Ethic Primer: Building Sustainable Peace and Breaking Cycles of Violence (2020). Eli also published Becoming Nonviolent Peacemakers: A Virtue Ethic for Catholic Social Teaching and U.S. Policy (2012).

From 2012-2020, he was the Director of Justice and Peace for the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. From 2020-2022, he served as a Senior Policy Advisor for the Catholic Labor Network. Since 2023, Eli has been a Just Peace Fellow at the Franciscan Action Network with a focus on the wars in Ukraine and Palestine.

Eli is on the steering committee for the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, a project of Pax Christi International, and is the co-founder and Director of Programs for the DC Peace Team.

Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore is a region of Pax Christi USA, a national section of Pax Christi International. Rooted in the Gospel and Catholic Social Teaching, we witness to Jesus’ teaching and example of nonviolence, rejecting war and affirming the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the human person.

Monthly Reflection

Statement on the Eve of the 2024 Elections

2024-11-04 17:44:40

In the spirit of Pope Francis's call for fraternity and social friendship in Fratelli Tutti, his plea for the care of our earth in Laudato Si, and his understanding of our Gospel mission in Evangelii Gaudium, Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore recognizes the elections as a crucial moment for shaping a society grounded in peace, accountability, and the common good.

Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore

Priorities

Human Dignity

The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred. Our passion for peace is rooted in respect for life. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops summarizes the proud tradition of Catholic Social Teaching under seven themes. Life and Dignity of the Human Person is listed first, as the foundation of all succeeding principles and “the foundation of a moral vision for society.” Abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, and war are cited together as violations of our God-given dignity.

Nuclear Weapons

The time has come for new thinking on how to challenge complacency surrounding the belief in nuclear deterrence. Changed circumstances bring new responsibilities for decision-makers. The apparent benefits that nuclear deterrence once provided have been compromised, and proliferation results in grave new dangers. The time has come to embrace the abolition of nuclear weapons as an essential foundation of collective security. . . .

Just Peace

“No one has greater love,” Jesus said, than “to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13), not “to kill others for one’s friends.”