WEBVTT 00:00:14.990 --> 00:00:17.870 Welcome to the Nonviolent Jesus Podcast. I'm 00:00:17.870 --> 00:00:20.530 John, Father John Deere, and today I would like 00:00:20.530 --> 00:00:23.449 to reflect with you on our beloved Pope Francis, 00:00:23.530 --> 00:00:27.550 who died on Easter Monday. This podcast is a 00:00:27.550 --> 00:00:30.570 project of BeatitudesCenter .org, where you can 00:00:30.570 --> 00:00:33.649 find many other podcasts and Zoom programs on 00:00:33.649 --> 00:00:36.829 the nonviolence of Jesus, practicing nonviolence, 00:00:36.829 --> 00:00:39.490 and working for a more just, more nonviolent 00:00:39.490 --> 00:00:42.770 world. So let's begin with a little prayer. So 00:00:42.770 --> 00:00:45.920 I invite wherever you are, just to take a deep 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:50.140 breath and to relax. Notice how you're feeling 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:54.520 and recenter yourself. And I invite you to enter 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:56.979 into the presence of the God of peace who loves 00:00:56.979 --> 00:01:01.579 you infinitely and personally and everyone. And 00:01:01.579 --> 00:01:04.439 let's welcome the risen nonviolent Jesus here 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:08.239 with us and ask for the grace to follow the nonviolent 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:10.819 Jesus ever more faithfully and to do God's will. 00:01:17.129 --> 00:01:20.069 God of peace, thank you for all the blessings 00:01:20.069 --> 00:01:24.010 of life, love, and resurrection peace that you 00:01:24.010 --> 00:01:26.150 give us. Thank you for the extraordinary life, 00:01:26.329 --> 00:01:29.709 witness, teaching, and example of Pope Francis. 00:01:30.129 --> 00:01:32.890 Be with us now as we reflect together on his 00:01:32.890 --> 00:01:36.430 life and witness. Bless us, inspire us, disarm 00:01:36.430 --> 00:01:40.750 us, strengthen us. Renew us in hope and send 00:01:40.750 --> 00:01:43.450 us out to do your will that we might carry on 00:01:43.450 --> 00:01:47.010 and, like him, proclaim your way of love and 00:01:47.010 --> 00:01:50.349 peace and nonviolence. That, like him, we might 00:01:50.349 --> 00:01:53.709 do our part to end poverty, racism, corporate 00:01:53.709 --> 00:01:57.689 greed, injustice, war, environmental destruction, 00:01:57.890 --> 00:02:00.609 and the whole culture of violence. that like 00:02:00.609 --> 00:02:03.430 him we might be your holy beatitude people of 00:02:03.430 --> 00:02:07.409 universal love, compassion, and peace, your holy 00:02:07.409 --> 00:02:13.289 peacemakers. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, a few 00:02:13.289 --> 00:02:16.669 years ago, three French peace activists went 00:02:16.669 --> 00:02:19.810 and met with Pope Francis, and they asked him 00:02:19.810 --> 00:02:23.469 for advice. And you know what he said? Immediately, 00:02:23.849 --> 00:02:28.889 start a revolution. Go shake things up. The world 00:02:28.889 --> 00:02:32.750 is deaf. You have to open its ears. That's what 00:02:32.750 --> 00:02:35.650 Pope Francis did. He started a nonviolent revolution, 00:02:35.729 --> 00:02:39.389 and he invited all of us to join in. I think 00:02:39.389 --> 00:02:42.229 Pope Francis was the most radical, most progressive, 00:02:42.550 --> 00:02:46.289 most nonviolent, most prophetic, most peace activist 00:02:46.289 --> 00:02:48.870 -oriented pope in history, and therefore the 00:02:48.870 --> 00:02:52.590 greatest pope in history, hands down. And I give 00:02:52.590 --> 00:02:55.990 thanks to God for Francis for many reasons, but 00:02:55.990 --> 00:02:58.819 mainly because he did such a great job. because 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:01.939 he spoke out so boldly, so prophetically, in 00:03:01.939 --> 00:03:05.520 word and deed for justice, the poor, disarmament, 00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:08.939 peace, creation, mercy, nonviolence, and the 00:03:08.939 --> 00:03:11.460 nonviolent Jesus, and that we had him for 12 00:03:11.460 --> 00:03:14.400 years, and that he didn't resign and retire, 00:03:14.680 --> 00:03:17.860 but he kept at it till his last day, Easter Sunday. 00:03:18.419 --> 00:03:21.219 And I give thanks that we all got to live during 00:03:21.219 --> 00:03:24.659 his time. I think he's one of our greatest saints. 00:03:25.469 --> 00:03:28.270 right up there with Francis of Assisi, Dorothy 00:03:28.270 --> 00:03:31.430 Day, and Oscar Romero. And I hope he will also 00:03:31.430 --> 00:03:35.550 be named a doctor of the church. Well, we've 00:03:35.550 --> 00:03:37.909 been hearing since he died how he was the first 00:03:37.909 --> 00:03:41.889 non -European pope in centuries, the first Jesuit 00:03:41.889 --> 00:03:44.530 pope, the first Latino, the first pope from Latin 00:03:44.530 --> 00:03:47.469 America, the first pope trained after Vatican 00:03:47.469 --> 00:03:51.240 II, the first pope who was... not a Vatican insider, 00:03:51.500 --> 00:03:54.259 the first to take the name of St. Francis, which 00:03:54.259 --> 00:03:57.479 was a bold and daring thing to do. I like the 00:03:57.479 --> 00:03:59.379 fact that he was the first pope who worked as 00:03:59.379 --> 00:04:02.500 a bouncer at a pub before he entered the seminary. 00:04:03.659 --> 00:04:06.379 But I think Pope Francis lived and proclaimed 00:04:06.379 --> 00:04:09.639 the Beatitudes. And I wrote him and told him 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:12.750 that. I wrote him a lot. And he sent me encouraging 00:04:12.750 --> 00:04:15.430 messages. He said he liked all my books on Jesus, 00:04:15.650 --> 00:04:19.029 peace, and nonviolence. And when I started this 00:04:19.029 --> 00:04:21.629 Beatitude Center, he sent me a message about 00:04:21.629 --> 00:04:24.089 how much he liked it and all this work to promote 00:04:24.089 --> 00:04:27.990 the nonviolent Jesus. I also asked him for many 00:04:27.990 --> 00:04:31.850 things and repeatedly for 10 years for an encyclical 00:04:31.850 --> 00:04:34.949 on Jesus and nonviolence. Once I asked him to 00:04:34.949 --> 00:04:38.850 call for a new Vatican III on Jesus and nonviolence. 00:04:39.550 --> 00:04:42.069 I think last year I wrote him and asked him to 00:04:42.069 --> 00:04:45.110 declare a holy year on the Beatitudes or peacemaking. 00:04:46.350 --> 00:04:51.850 When I was at the Vatican in December 2022, I 00:04:51.850 --> 00:04:55.069 gave Cardinal Czerny, who's a Jesuit and a friend 00:04:55.069 --> 00:04:58.329 and the number two to Pope Francis, a letter 00:04:58.329 --> 00:05:01.029 in Spanish, which he put in Francis's hands. 00:05:03.209 --> 00:05:06.050 I asked Francis to write a forward to my latest 00:05:06.050 --> 00:05:08.970 book, The Gospel of Peace, a commentary on the 00:05:08.970 --> 00:05:11.290 Gospels from the perspective of nonviolence. 00:05:11.370 --> 00:05:14.009 And then I said in the letter, well, while I'm 00:05:14.009 --> 00:05:16.449 at it, let's write a book together. I'll come 00:05:16.449 --> 00:05:18.449 over and spend the summer with you. And I called 00:05:18.449 --> 00:05:20.529 it The Things That Make for Peace, and I drafted 00:05:20.529 --> 00:05:22.730 an outline for it. And then I said, and while 00:05:22.730 --> 00:05:27.139 I'm at it. How about giving me a job? How about 00:05:27.139 --> 00:05:29.540 inviting me to Rome and let's open the Vatican 00:05:29.540 --> 00:05:32.899 Office of Nonviolence to promote gospel nonviolence 00:05:32.899 --> 00:05:35.379 full time around the world? And Cardinal Czerny 00:05:35.379 --> 00:05:38.000 sent me an email later that day saying the Pope 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.079 read it and said, kind of shaking his head, tell 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:43.399 John, dear, I'm way too busy to do all that, 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:46.699 which I thought was kind of funny. I was just 00:05:46.699 --> 00:05:49.939 about to invite him to be a guest on this podcast, 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:53.279 the Nonviolent Jesus podcast, when he got sick. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.000 I had every intention to do that because I knew 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.579 he'd made phone calls. Francis had a universal 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:02.100 perspective and looked at the whole human race 00:06:02.100 --> 00:06:06.660 and all of creation all the time. We Americans 00:06:06.660 --> 00:06:10.639 together as a people don't do that. I think we're 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:16.300 very self -centered, egotistic. We practice a 00:06:16.300 --> 00:06:20.339 kind of collective narcissism. But Francis, now 00:06:20.339 --> 00:06:23.689 this is so important, was looking at... Everyone, 00:06:23.910 --> 00:06:28.209 every human being, all creation, all the time, 00:06:28.350 --> 00:06:31.110 the whole world, through the eyes of the nonviolent 00:06:31.110 --> 00:06:34.430 Jesus. And that's why he spoke boldly about universal 00:06:34.430 --> 00:06:37.529 love, universal compassion, universal justice, 00:06:37.750 --> 00:06:40.389 and universal peace, because he had a universal 00:06:40.389 --> 00:06:43.649 vision. And I think that's the spiritual life. 00:06:43.870 --> 00:06:46.430 That's the politics of the nonviolent Jesus. 00:06:46.769 --> 00:06:49.509 That's the direction we all need to move in. 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:54.420 And it leads. to universal nonviolence. I think 00:06:54.420 --> 00:06:57.819 every one of us is called by Jesus to be empowered 00:06:57.819 --> 00:07:01.720 like that, to have a universal perspective, and 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:05.399 therefore to practice and promote universal love, 00:07:05.500 --> 00:07:08.399 compassion, and peace. So what I'd like to do 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:10.939 is reflect on a few of his great themes leading 00:07:10.939 --> 00:07:14.519 up to, for me, the great themes of peacemaking 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:17.439 and nonviolence. So first, his commitment to 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:21.339 the poor. Remember, he began his papacy That 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:24.519 first day scene, he envisioned a church that 00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:29.160 is poor and for the poor. It's remarkable. Yes, 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:31.879 do charity work, he said, and serve the poor 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:35.000 and marginalized. But here is the key. Have real 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.259 relationships with real poor, marginalized, and 00:07:38.259 --> 00:07:41.000 disenfranchised people. Get involved in their 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:44.019 lives personally. And then join their struggle 00:07:44.019 --> 00:07:49.019 to end injustice and end systemic violence and 00:07:49.019 --> 00:07:53.779 poverty. And do it through the love for them, 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:57.259 for actual suffering people. I love that he opened 00:07:57.259 --> 00:08:00.180 a homeless shelter in the Vatican, that he visited 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:04.860 prisoners regularly, and that he spoke out passionately 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:09.259 about and met with migrants and refugees. Next, 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:11.779 of course, is his commitment to Mother Earth. 00:08:12.220 --> 00:08:15.980 He wrote many great books and great encyclicals 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:19.870 like Fratelli Tutti. where he called for a global 00:08:19.870 --> 00:08:22.870 fraternity rooted in love, solidarity, and respect 00:08:22.870 --> 00:08:26.370 for all people, where everyone moves beyond divisions 00:08:26.370 --> 00:08:29.750 and tries to work together to build a more just, 00:08:29.930 --> 00:08:33.509 compassionate world. But his encyclical on the 00:08:33.509 --> 00:08:36.730 environment, Laudate Si, is one of the greatest 00:08:36.730 --> 00:08:40.870 documents in history. Not only does he denounce 00:08:40.870 --> 00:08:42.610 our destruction of the planet and the creatures, 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.379 But he denounces capitalism, corporate greed, 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:50.860 and war as root causes of climate change. The 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:53.200 earth, he says, is, quote, beginning to look 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:55.740 more and more like an immense pile of filth. 00:08:56.019 --> 00:08:59.299 He called climate change, quote, a moral crisis 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:02.440 and denounced what he called, quote, an economy 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:05.559 that kills. It was very important. A system, 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.519 he said, that discards both people and creation 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:12.460 in pursuit of profit. So he denounced what he 00:09:12.460 --> 00:09:16.240 called our throwaway culture as a moral failure. 00:09:16.580 --> 00:09:19.639 See, no wonder so many people are against him. 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:23.559 And he named indifference as one of the greatest 00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:27.259 threats to our future. He insisted that, quote, 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:31.000 we can no longer turn our backs on reality, what's 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:34.139 happening in the world, war, climate change, 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.820 and there. and the harm and injustice toward 00:09:36.820 --> 00:09:39.120 the poor. And he called everyone to take action 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:42.419 for justice, compassion, and Mother Earth, which 00:09:42.419 --> 00:09:44.600 he called over and over again our common home. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:50.039 Third, his commitment to mercy. Mercy, mercy, 00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:53.159 mercy. Over and over again, he called us to show 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:59.860 mercy, to grant general clemency, to let go of 00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:04.350 all grudges, and forgive everyone. and put down 00:10:04.350 --> 00:10:07.309 our swords, our guns, our weapons, and reconcile 00:10:07.309 --> 00:10:11.830 and seek peace. But in particular, he changed 00:10:11.830 --> 00:10:15.330 the fine print of canon law so there's not one 00:10:15.330 --> 00:10:18.169 sentence of support for the death penalty. No 00:10:18.169 --> 00:10:20.850 Catholic, he would say, no Christian can support 00:10:20.850 --> 00:10:24.090 the death penalty. Of course, Jesus was, first 00:10:24.090 --> 00:10:26.950 of all, a victim of capital punishment. So he 00:10:26.950 --> 00:10:30.440 tried many times personally. to intervene and 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:33.299 stop impending executions, for which I'm so grateful. 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:37.399 Fourth, his commitment to diversity, equality, 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:42.200 and inclusion. Hello. Which started early on 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:44.500 when the reporter on the plane asked him about 00:10:44.500 --> 00:10:48.480 LGBT folks, and he said, who am I to judge? Which 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:50.559 shocked the whole world. And that's precisely 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:53.059 why the right hates him so much. Because unlike 00:10:53.059 --> 00:10:57.080 Trump and so many others, he refused to scapegoat 00:10:57.080 --> 00:11:00.159 people. or to judge anyone, which, by the way, 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:01.919 is one of the commandments in the Sermon on the 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:06.879 Mount. But, however, he did judge and vehemently 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:10.720 condemned corporate greed, hatred, prejudice, 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:14.960 racism, war, bombings, genocide, nuclear weapons, 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:19.679 and really the whole U .S. itself because of 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:24.460 its imperial domination. Fifth, his commitment 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:27.879 to reform the church. especially through the 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:31.820 Synod, if you followed his process, which he 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:34.039 gave his heart to these last few years, which 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:36.320 has the potential to transform the global Catholic 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:39.840 Church and make it more egalitarian with a real 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:43.919 bottom -up decision -making process. If priests 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:46.259 are to be good shepherds like Jesus, then he 00:11:46.259 --> 00:11:49.659 said, they need to, quote, smell like sheep, 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:53.200 smell like the sheep. Quote, he said, the church 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:57.320 is like a field hospital after battle. That's 00:11:57.320 --> 00:11:59.759 a powerful sentence, which he said early on. 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:03.379 It's the place where people go for healing, recovery, 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:06.299 and comfort. So it's going to be messy and stressful 00:12:06.299 --> 00:12:09.539 because it serves the suffering. All of that, 00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:11.440 of course, is about the opposite of the way it 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.759 is here in the first world. Could he have done 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:15.659 more? Of course he could have. I wish he had 00:12:15.659 --> 00:12:19.000 ordained women as deacons, for starters. and 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:21.000 said that priests could marry. I wish he had 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:23.980 placed women as the head of many, if not all, 00:12:24.100 --> 00:12:26.700 decision -making bodies within the Curia and 00:12:26.700 --> 00:12:29.960 the Church. As Joan Chidester wrote this week, 00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:33.120 my friend who was recently on our podcast, quote, 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:37.840 he failed women. I wish he had made a much stronger 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:41.230 response to the horrific sex abuse scandal. But 00:12:41.230 --> 00:12:44.129 I liked that he tried vigorously to get bishops 00:12:44.129 --> 00:12:47.570 and priests not to run around like aristocrats, 00:12:47.610 --> 00:12:51.549 but to let go of power and pride and be of humble 00:12:51.549 --> 00:12:54.830 service to all people. He kept saying, todos, 00:12:55.049 --> 00:13:00.230 todos, todos, everyone, everyone, everyone. Well, 00:13:00.470 --> 00:13:02.529 now we're getting to where, for me, it's the 00:13:02.529 --> 00:13:06.730 heart of it, his great commitment to peace and 00:13:06.730 --> 00:13:10.320 peacemaking. and eventually nonviolence. Everything 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:13.759 Francis did, I think, was a form of gospel peacemaking. 00:13:14.179 --> 00:13:18.159 Like Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Dr. King, and St. Francis, 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:25.100 Pope Francis was against all war. All wars, no 00:13:25.100 --> 00:13:28.740 matter what the reason, and that's the leap very 00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:32.879 few people make. Not just bishops and priests, 00:13:33.019 --> 00:13:35.259 by the way, but people around the world. Few 00:13:35.259 --> 00:13:37.840 people make that total leap, which is what Jesus 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:41.200 calls us to. One of his last books, for example, 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:45.000 which I highly recommend, which hardly anybody 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:48.659 in the U .S. knows about, is called simply Against 00:13:48.659 --> 00:13:52.100 War. It's a whole book about why we can't be 00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:55.519 involved in war. And if you study carefully the 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:57.860 response to his death, the tributes in the mainstream 00:13:57.860 --> 00:14:01.120 press, I think you will notice that very few 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:04.580 mention his consistent stand against war, his 00:14:04.580 --> 00:14:07.340 total opposition to nuclear weapons, his efforts 00:14:07.340 --> 00:14:10.019 to end all the wars in Africa, and in particular, 00:14:10.059 --> 00:14:13.419 the Russian war on Ukraine. That's amazing to 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:16.639 me. And, you know, when Russia invaded Ukraine, 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:22.159 he broke all protocol. much to the shock of the 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:24.480 Curia, and immediately went across town to the 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:27.080 Russian embassy and begged for an end to the 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:30.600 war. That's what the Pope should do. But most 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:34.340 of all, he denounced the horrific Hamas attack 00:14:34.340 --> 00:14:37.840 and kidnappings, and from then on, every day, 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:42.019 denounced U .S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, 00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:46.259 which has killed over 51 ,000 people as of today. 00:14:47.149 --> 00:14:50.370 And then nearly every night since the war began, 00:14:50.570 --> 00:14:53.750 at 7 o 'clock, he called the one Catholic church 00:14:53.750 --> 00:14:57.769 in Gaza, right up through Holy Saturday, to see 00:14:57.769 --> 00:15:00.889 how they were holding up. His last public words 00:15:00.889 --> 00:15:03.730 on Easter Sunday were a call for a lasting ceasefire 00:15:03.730 --> 00:15:07.450 in Gaza. Wow, what a challenge. I hope all of 00:15:07.450 --> 00:15:11.389 us can try to speak out publicly until the day 00:15:11.389 --> 00:15:15.620 we die, calling for an end to all war. All nuclear 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:19.500 weapons, the wars in Ukraine and Africa, and 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:23.559 the Israeli genocide in Gaza. What a gift he 00:15:23.559 --> 00:15:27.100 was. Francis went to many places around the world, 00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:30.240 but places that few people visit and no popes 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.679 had visited. And he was trying to fulfill Jesus' 00:15:32.919 --> 00:15:35.539 commandment to make peace and practice the universal, 00:15:35.580 --> 00:15:38.639 compassionate love of God. So Francis went to 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:42.740 Iraq, something I tried to get John Paul to do 00:15:42.740 --> 00:15:45.960 and later Benedict. He went to Myanmar, North 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:50.740 Macedonia, Bahrain, Mongolia, the Congo, South 00:15:50.740 --> 00:15:53.340 Korea, and Morocco. When he was in Palestine, 00:15:53.700 --> 00:15:59.059 wow, he drove by the wall, made them stop the 00:15:59.059 --> 00:16:02.639 car, got out, went up to the evil Israeli wall 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:04.840 of occupation, put his hand on it and prayed 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:07.419 there, just as he had done a few days before 00:16:07.419 --> 00:16:11.200 at the Wailing Wall. In the United Arab Emirates, 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:14.080 He had a historic and fruitful meeting with the 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:17.679 Muslim leaders. In Canada, he apologized for 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:20.460 the church's treatment of indigenous people over 00:16:20.460 --> 00:16:24.279 the centuries and finally tore up the doctrine 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:27.840 of discovery. Remember the statement from 1493? 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:33.039 The papal bulls that said, okay, any Christian 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.559 emperor or king... can go and invade the new 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:39.000 world and take any land for the indigenous people 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:40.940 for Christ and kill them, whatever you have to 00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:45.259 do. That only ended two years ago. In Greece, 00:16:45.340 --> 00:16:47.960 he made a surprise visit to a refugee camp and 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:50.399 then brought three Muslim families back on the 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:53.379 plane to Rome with him. In the Central African 00:16:53.379 --> 00:16:57.539 Republic, he went right into the war zone. I'm 00:16:57.539 --> 00:17:00.480 not kidding you. It's a miracle he wasn't killed. 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:03.720 He literally placed himself in harm's way. You 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:05.859 know, just as you kind of wish the Pope had done. 00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:07.779 Of course, it's got no publicity in the West. 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:11.900 In Hiroshima. He denounced all nuclear weapons 00:17:11.900 --> 00:17:14.579 and said that the mere possession of them and 00:17:14.579 --> 00:17:16.920 the threat to use them as a deterrent was immoral. 00:17:17.140 --> 00:17:19.619 And he begged the world's leaders to abolish 00:17:19.619 --> 00:17:21.960 all nuclear weapons. Now, I know this sounds 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:25.960 obvious to us now, but that's not what John Paul 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:28.700 had said. He said, yeah, we're against them, 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:30.579 but, you know, if you really need to nuke the 00:17:30.579 --> 00:17:33.960 world, you can do that for Jesus. You know, that's 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:36.539 always been what the leaders of the world have 00:17:36.539 --> 00:17:41.750 said. Francis... has changed all of that. I never 00:17:41.750 --> 00:17:44.410 thought I'd live to see all of this. No Catholic, 00:17:44.569 --> 00:17:46.630 and therefore for him, no Christian can build, 00:17:46.809 --> 00:17:50.369 work with, support, threaten, or profit from 00:17:50.369 --> 00:17:53.589 nuclear weapons, he said. But perhaps the most 00:17:53.589 --> 00:17:56.329 dramatic peacemaking act he did was in April 00:17:56.329 --> 00:18:00.450 2019, which you can watch online. There's videos 00:18:00.450 --> 00:18:04.430 of it. Wow. When he brought the president of 00:18:04.430 --> 00:18:08.000 South Sudan and the rebel leaders together at 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.819 the Vatican for a two -day retreat. They're in 00:18:10.819 --> 00:18:14.339 the middle of the war. And at the end, you know, 00:18:14.339 --> 00:18:16.420 they're being filmed. It's like in a living room. 00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:21.500 He pleads for negotiations, urges them to end 00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:26.200 the killing and to stay on track for peace. And 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:30.339 then he goes around the room and the poor old 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:35.269 guy got down on his knees. and begged each one 00:18:35.269 --> 00:18:38.349 of them, the arch enemies, killing each other 00:18:38.349 --> 00:18:43.470 directly for peace. And he kissed each person's 00:18:43.470 --> 00:18:49.410 feet in the room. That's way beyond St. Francis 00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:52.170 and Gandhi and Martin Luther King. We've never 00:18:52.170 --> 00:18:55.910 had such a symbolic peacemaking act in history, 00:18:56.009 --> 00:19:00.730 I propose. Of course, that was so ignored here 00:19:00.730 --> 00:19:02.710 in the West that he was doing things like that. 00:19:02.869 --> 00:19:05.990 And I know because of my contacts in South Sudan 00:19:05.990 --> 00:19:10.690 that that inspired. Many people start using the 00:19:10.690 --> 00:19:13.029 word nonviolence and building a grassroots movement 00:19:13.029 --> 00:19:15.569 of nonviolence. I was personally inspired that 00:19:15.569 --> 00:19:18.869 he spent two hours every morning, every single 00:19:18.869 --> 00:19:22.069 day in prayer and meditation from 4 a .m. to 00:19:22.069 --> 00:19:25.769 6 a .m. Just as Gandhi spent two hours in meditation 00:19:25.769 --> 00:19:29.170 every single day. And by the way, both of them 00:19:29.170 --> 00:19:32.789 were very busy people. So it's a challenge to 00:19:32.789 --> 00:19:36.130 all of us. I really liked his address to Congress. 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:39.440 when he urged us to follow what he said were 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:41.940 the four greatest Americans. Okay, Abraham Lincoln 00:19:41.940 --> 00:19:45.039 for abolishing slavery. Right. I was expecting 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:47.480 him to say George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:50.640 and FDR. And he goes, Martin Luther King Jr., 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:56.500 Dorothy Day, and Thomas Merton. Wow. I had concelebrated 00:19:56.500 --> 00:19:59.240 mass with him and many other priests at Catholic 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:02.660 University the day before. And he seemed to me 00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:05.359 like a very sweet, gentle, old parish priest. 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:08.839 But that day in Congress, he stood up like a 00:20:08.839 --> 00:20:12.640 mighty prophet. I liked all his harsh critiques 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:15.339 of President Trump and the many U .S. Catholic 00:20:15.339 --> 00:20:17.519 bishops and priests who support Trump in the 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:20.099 Republican Party. I liked that the weekend he 00:20:20.099 --> 00:20:24.240 died, he had a cardinal read a long statement 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.359 on the fundamentals of compassion and welcoming 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:31.299 immigrants to J .D. Vance. I liked that he fired 00:20:31.299 --> 00:20:34.019 everyone at the Vatican Bank. People don't realize 00:20:34.019 --> 00:20:37.660 that. He excommunicated the Italian mafia. I 00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:39.599 didn't know that until I first went to Rome. 00:20:39.799 --> 00:20:42.920 I mean, I was always amazed he was not assassinated. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:46.519 I like that he jailed the cardinal who stole 00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:49.380 millions from the Vatican fund for the poor and 00:20:49.380 --> 00:20:52.539 had a really posh penthouse apartment in Rome. 00:20:53.339 --> 00:20:57.500 He put the guy in the old Vatican jail. I don't 00:20:57.500 --> 00:20:59.420 even know if I would have done that, but it was 00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:02.839 amazing. I was impressed how he consistently 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:05.279 met with leaders of popular grassroots movements 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:08.799 from the global south regularly. Of course, that 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:11.000 was ignored too. And he encouraged them in all 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:13.579 grassroots movements. And because I was going 00:21:13.579 --> 00:21:16.460 regularly to the Vatican, I noticed that he did 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:18.799 not do that with movement leaders here in the 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:21.579 United States. And then it dawned on me, that's 00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:25.119 precisely the point. He's from the global south. 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:27.960 So he's determined to listen to their voices, 00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:32.180 not ours. From the rich, wealthy, global north. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.900 I have been working over the years for the release 00:21:35.900 --> 00:21:41.599 of the indigenous leader, American Indian, Leonard 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:46.440 Peltier, who spent 49 years in prison. And I 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:49.319 know that the Pope called President Biden last 00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:52.400 December and made a personal appeal to release 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:55.359 Leonard. And that, along with the campaign, is 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.440 why Leonard Peltier was released from prison. 00:21:59.579 --> 00:22:02.599 the day Trump was inaugurated. Once when I was 00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:05.279 visiting Julian Assange, you remember he was 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:08.019 in exile in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, 00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:10.539 which is something I did periodically and we 00:22:10.539 --> 00:22:13.859 became friends. I got there and Julian said, 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:17.180 you wouldn't believe it, but yesterday Pope Francis 00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:19.619 called him out of the blue and they talked for 00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:24.579 an hour and it really helped him. I remember 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:27.160 The Pope never told the world that he did that, 00:22:27.259 --> 00:22:29.839 and so Julian never did, and I never said anything 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:34.480 either. And I really liked that. That was Francis 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:38.299 being a pastor to Julian. In the end for me, 00:22:38.299 --> 00:22:41.579 though, it was his commitment to active, creative, 00:22:41.819 --> 00:22:44.779 daring nonviolence that gives me the most hope. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.359 Francis learned, as we all have to learn, that 00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:52.069 the only way forward, really our only hope, As 00:22:52.069 --> 00:22:55.069 if every human being tries to practice, teach, 00:22:55.329 --> 00:22:59.150 and promote the total nonviolence of Jesus and 00:22:59.150 --> 00:23:02.910 work together for what Francis called a new culture 00:23:02.910 --> 00:23:07.049 of nonviolence. So as some listeners may know, 00:23:07.109 --> 00:23:10.210 my friends and I went to the Vatican many times 00:23:10.210 --> 00:23:14.950 over the years asking for an encyclical on Jesus. 00:23:15.609 --> 00:23:18.230 and nonviolence, to make this the official teaching, 00:23:18.569 --> 00:23:21.630 position, and law of the church. We wanted a 00:23:21.630 --> 00:23:26.250 statement as great as Laudato Si. And while Francis 00:23:26.250 --> 00:23:30.170 was doing so much for peace, he wrote and changed 00:23:30.170 --> 00:23:34.890 laws around Laudato Si and the earth and care 00:23:34.890 --> 00:23:39.390 for the poor and mercy, you know, like St. Francis. 00:23:40.029 --> 00:23:43.920 But he didn't change the canon law. And that's 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:46.920 what we were going for, to make this the new 00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:49.839 path of the church. We never got what we were 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:53.740 looking for. But wow, did he do a lot to turn 00:23:53.740 --> 00:23:56.299 the church back to its roots in gospel nonviolence. 00:23:56.480 --> 00:24:01.420 So all this led up to April 2016, when he welcomed 00:24:01.420 --> 00:24:04.140 the first ever conference on nonviolence at the 00:24:04.140 --> 00:24:07.519 Vatican, which was organized by Marie Dennis, 00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:10.720 who was on this podcast recently, and Pax Christi 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:13.700 International. And it was one of the greatest 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:17.059 experiences of all of our lives. And at the end, 00:24:17.059 --> 00:24:20.200 we issued a joint statement between Pax Christi 00:24:20.200 --> 00:24:22.019 and the members of the conference and the Vatican 00:24:22.019 --> 00:24:26.420 saying there is no such thing as a just war and 00:24:26.420 --> 00:24:29.019 calling everyone to practice nonviolence. Well, 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:32.779 as far as I can tell, that had never been said 00:24:32.779 --> 00:24:36.079 before. So, right, just a brief... timeline, 00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:38.559 the first three centuries of the church practiced 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:41.400 radical nonviolence. That's what Jesus did and 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:44.859 commanded. But then in 315, the emperor legalized 00:24:44.859 --> 00:24:47.480 Christianity, said you can all join the army, 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:50.140 threw out the Sermon on the Mount, turned to 00:24:50.140 --> 00:24:52.839 the Cicero, the pagan, and they began the just 00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:56.180 war theory to justify warfare. And here we are 00:24:56.180 --> 00:24:59.759 today. We're trying to change that. Francis started 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:02.339 the process. And it was there at the conference 00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:05.619 that Cardinal Peter Turkson asked me to draft 00:25:05.619 --> 00:25:09.160 the Pope's next World Day of Peace message. The 00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:11.660 Pope always issues a statement on peace every 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:15.299 January 1st. And it came out January 1st, 2017, 00:25:15.660 --> 00:25:20.759 called Nonviolence, a Style of Politics for Peace. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:23.359 And if you haven't read it, please go look it 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:26.920 up. I call it the first ever statement on nonviolence 00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:29.640 in the history of the church since the Sermon 00:25:29.640 --> 00:25:34.569 on the Mount. So he says, to be true followers 00:25:34.569 --> 00:25:38.490 of Jesus today includes embracing his teachings 00:25:38.490 --> 00:25:42.890 on nonviolence. In the most local and ordinary 00:25:42.890 --> 00:25:46.170 situations and in the international order, may 00:25:46.170 --> 00:25:49.230 nonviolence become the hallmark of all our decisions, 00:25:49.650 --> 00:25:53.329 our relationships, and our actions, and indeed 00:25:53.329 --> 00:25:58.420 of all political life in all its forms. everything 00:25:58.420 --> 00:26:01.519 we would want the Pope to say. From now on, folks, 00:26:01.619 --> 00:26:04.140 we have to be people of total nonviolence, like 00:26:04.140 --> 00:26:07.140 Jesus. And he ends by saying, may we make active 00:26:07.140 --> 00:26:10.319 nonviolence our way of life. And I pledge the 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:13.019 assistance of the church in every effort to build 00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:15.519 peace through active and creative nonviolence. 00:26:15.579 --> 00:26:19.319 And he did. And we saw, because we kept going 00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:22.579 back, and Marie and our friends continue to go 00:26:22.579 --> 00:26:26.380 back, We saw certainly the Curia change. The 00:26:26.380 --> 00:26:28.819 Vatican has changed completely on the questions 00:26:28.819 --> 00:26:31.180 of peace and justice and nonviolence since we 00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:33.960 started going there. It's a noticeable change, 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:38.099 thanks to Marie Dennis's great leadership. And 00:26:38.099 --> 00:26:39.920 then through the years, he continued to speak 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:42.339 about nonviolence. Here's some quotes. I think 00:26:42.339 --> 00:26:45.799 of nonviolence as a perspective and a way of 00:26:45.799 --> 00:26:48.980 understanding the world, to which theology must 00:26:48.980 --> 00:26:53.289 look as one of its constitutive elements. Nonviolence, 00:26:53.329 --> 00:26:56.490 he said, is a universal value that finds fulfillment 00:26:56.490 --> 00:27:00.829 in the gospel of Christ. Wow, that's perfect. 00:27:01.230 --> 00:27:05.089 He called for like a new nonviolent lifestyle, 00:27:05.450 --> 00:27:08.710 that we all live new lives of nonviolence. And 00:27:08.710 --> 00:27:12.490 he said, quote, it's not the same as weakness 00:27:12.490 --> 00:27:16.509 or passivity. That means it presupposes firmness. 00:27:16.970 --> 00:27:19.690 courage and the ability to face issues and conflicts 00:27:19.690 --> 00:27:23.950 with intellectual honesty and truly seeking the 00:27:23.950 --> 00:27:27.529 common ground. And he writes, we have seen outstanding 00:27:27.529 --> 00:27:31.049 examples of how nonviolence, embraced with conviction 00:27:31.049 --> 00:27:34.170 and practice consistently, can yield significant 00:27:34.170 --> 00:27:37.509 results, even in the social and political plane. 00:27:38.130 --> 00:27:41.849 Some people, indeed entire nations, thanks to 00:27:41.849 --> 00:27:45.230 the efforts of nonviolent leaders, Peacefully 00:27:45.230 --> 00:27:48.549 achieve the goals of freedom and justice through 00:27:48.549 --> 00:27:51.829 nonviolence. This is the path to pursue now and 00:27:51.829 --> 00:27:56.430 in the future. This is the path of peace. In 00:27:56.430 --> 00:28:00.170 2019, I remember he gave his talk to the Anti 00:28:00.170 --> 00:28:03.789 -Defamation League, and he said, Faced with so 00:28:03.789 --> 00:28:06.089 much violence spreading throughout the world, 00:28:06.250 --> 00:28:10.589 we are called to a greater nonviolence. Wow. 00:28:11.529 --> 00:28:14.849 That really speaks to me. I think that's a challenge. 00:28:14.910 --> 00:28:19.150 We have to go beyond Gandhi and Dr. King and 00:28:19.150 --> 00:28:22.329 really pursue nonviolence in much greater ways 00:28:22.329 --> 00:28:25.069 than we ever have before. And elsewhere he writes, 00:28:25.289 --> 00:28:28.430 let us remember that even in cases of self -defense, 00:28:28.809 --> 00:28:33.190 peace is the ultimate goal and that a lasting 00:28:33.190 --> 00:28:37.190 peace can exist only without weapons. So let's 00:28:37.190 --> 00:28:40.369 make nonviolence our guide for all our actions. 00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:43.680 both in daily life and in international relations. 00:28:44.140 --> 00:28:47.420 And let us pray for a more widespread culture 00:28:47.420 --> 00:28:52.640 of nonviolence. Wow. That will progress when 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:55.539 countries and citizens alike resort less and 00:28:55.539 --> 00:28:59.119 less to the use of arms. In his last statement 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:02.519 on Easter Sunday, if you may have seen, he prayed 00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:06.500 for an end to all violence everywhere. Dear friends, 00:29:06.579 --> 00:29:10.859 I think that was his prayer, his message. his 00:29:10.859 --> 00:29:16.039 hope, his faith, his life. And I say that, too, 00:29:16.099 --> 00:29:18.940 because of my own experience getting challenged 00:29:18.940 --> 00:29:23.099 and objected to by so many bishops and priests. 00:29:23.299 --> 00:29:26.380 But, you know, I found this quote I put in my 00:29:26.380 --> 00:29:30.359 book as the frontispiece, Praise Be Peace, where 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:35.900 Francis says, God's name is peace. That's very 00:29:35.900 --> 00:29:39.480 profound theology. And if that's true, and I 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:42.259 believe it is, then no wonder he worked so hard 00:29:42.259 --> 00:29:45.579 for peace. Well, I keep pondering since he died 00:29:45.579 --> 00:29:47.779 what he said on 60 Minutes, which you can go 00:29:47.779 --> 00:29:50.819 watch on YouTube, which was very provocative 00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:54.180 and a total challenge to us Americans. I think 00:29:54.180 --> 00:29:57.099 it was actually kind of in your face because 00:29:57.099 --> 00:30:01.680 it's addressed to us. Here's the quote. I typed 00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:06.549 it out. There are so many punches pilots on the 00:30:06.549 --> 00:30:09.829 loose out there running around. You all see what 00:30:09.829 --> 00:30:12.589 is happening, all these wars, the injustices, 00:30:12.589 --> 00:30:15.609 the crimes, and then you shrug and say, that's 00:30:15.609 --> 00:30:19.589 okay. And then you wash your hands. That's indifference. 00:30:19.769 --> 00:30:23.069 That is what happens when the heart hardens. 00:30:23.660 --> 00:30:26.839 Please, we have to get our hearts to feel again. 00:30:27.059 --> 00:30:30.640 We cannot remain indifferent in the face of such 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:34.359 human dramas. The globalization of indifference 00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:39.960 is a very ugly disease. That's a very profound 00:30:39.960 --> 00:30:43.779 challenge to people here in the first world as 00:30:43.779 --> 00:30:48.350 comfortable people. The globalization of... You 00:30:48.350 --> 00:30:50.809 know, when Dan Berrigan was kicked out of the 00:30:50.809 --> 00:30:52.990 United States because of his opposition to the 00:30:52.990 --> 00:30:58.769 Vietnam War and was in Latin America, and I'm 00:30:58.769 --> 00:31:03.849 sure he knew Pope Francis, he wrote that famously. 00:31:03.890 --> 00:31:08.690 The opposite of love is not hate. It's indifference. 00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:12.559 It's indifference. And that's what Francis is 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:14.539 seeing, and he's challenging everybody. Wake 00:31:14.539 --> 00:31:16.880 up. That's why he said to those three French 00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:21.200 activists, start a revolution. Shout nonviolently. 00:31:21.220 --> 00:31:24.980 Wake people up. So what do we do? What's a good 00:31:24.980 --> 00:31:27.339 way to honor him? I think a good way to honor 00:31:27.339 --> 00:31:31.220 and remember Pope Francis' peacemaking life and 00:31:31.220 --> 00:31:34.339 his death at Easter is to renounce our indifference 00:31:34.339 --> 00:31:38.430 and to rise to the occasion as he did. and to 00:31:38.430 --> 00:31:42.630 claim our power as public peacemakers. And so, 00:31:42.710 --> 00:31:47.589 more than ever, to step out into the culture 00:31:47.589 --> 00:31:49.450 in this terrible moment we're going through, 00:31:49.589 --> 00:31:54.009 to speak out, march in the streets, take public 00:31:54.009 --> 00:31:58.349 action, and resist all violence, war, injustice, 00:31:58.809 --> 00:32:03.869 poverty, racism, corporate greed, fascism, authoritarianism, 00:32:03.990 --> 00:32:07.839 white supremacy. the U .S.-backed Israeli genocide 00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:11.599 in Gaza, nuclear weapons, and environmental destruction. 00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:15.940 He called this year a jubilee year of hope, and 00:32:15.940 --> 00:32:18.299 he called us to be, quote, pilgrims of hope. 00:32:19.160 --> 00:32:25.099 So I invite us in his Easter spirit to rise up, 00:32:25.099 --> 00:32:28.940 to rise and shine, reclaim gospel nonviolence 00:32:28.940 --> 00:32:31.559 as he tried to do, as he was beginning to do, 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:34.099 and to see the world through the eyes of the 00:32:34.099 --> 00:32:37.430 nonviolent Jesus as he did. and to do what we 00:32:37.430 --> 00:32:40.869 can publicly as gospel peacemakers to welcome 00:32:40.869 --> 00:32:46.509 God's reign of peace on earth. Amen. Thank you 00:32:46.509 --> 00:32:48.509 so much, dear friends, for listening to this 00:32:48.509 --> 00:32:51.789 Nonviolent Jesus podcast. You can hear many other 00:32:51.789 --> 00:32:55.170 podcasts and find other great Zoom programs at 00:32:55.170 --> 00:32:59.269 BeatitudesCenter .org. And please consider offering 00:32:59.269 --> 00:33:02.299 a donation to support this free work. If you 00:33:02.299 --> 00:33:04.900 can, please leave some positive feedback or review 00:33:04.900 --> 00:33:08.940 on NCR or Apple or Spotify or whatever platform 00:33:08.940 --> 00:33:11.559 you use. And please tell your friends and church 00:33:11.559 --> 00:33:14.079 groups about this podcast to help promote it. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:18.579 Thanks. May the God of peace bless us all. Keep 00:33:18.579 --> 00:33:21.859 on following the risen nonviolent Jesus. See 00:33:21.859 --> 00:33:23.720 you all next time. Thanks so much.