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Gandhi was convinced that much of the violence in society and in our personal lives stems from the passive violence that we commit against each other. He even made a list of the “seven pillars” of this kind of daily violence.
The great theologian David Tracy recently said, when asked what the future of theology in the U.S. would look like: “For the next 200 years, we’ll be trying to catch up with Merton.” It was this hermit, this mystic, this peace fighter who once wrote: “The chief difference between violence and nonviolence is that violence depends entirely on its own calculations. Nonviolence depends entirely on God and God’s word.”
We have spent the last 1,700 years denying Jesus’ final command. We have justified warfare, led our crusades, and stamped every bombing raid and nuclear weapon with our blessing. But the commandment remains: “Put down the sword.”
In prison… in South Africa? No, I was not charged of any crime! When the scholasticate was looking for new forms of ministry at the beginning of 2006, one of the proposals was to start a prison ministry in Pietermaritzburg. I readily volunteered because of my previous experience in the New Bilibid Prison in the Philippines. And I must confess: being in prison has enriched my understanding of being a Christian.
The Philippine prison system is described in a recent book as a living hell, more in tune with the 19th century than the modern age. Due to overcrowding, many inmates sleep standing up; the toilets run like rivers; disease and death are the only way to “rehabilitation.”
Francis embodies the Gospel journey from violence to nonviolence, wealth to poverty, power to powerlessness, selfishness to selfless service, pride to humility, indifference to love, cruelty to compassion, vengeance to forgiveness, revenge to reconciliation, war to peace, killing enemies to loving enemies.
Twenty-five years ago, some friends and I professed a vow of nonviolence, as Gandhi did a hundred years ago. Not long afterwards, Pax Christi asked Eileen Egan and me to draft a vow, which they offered to Pax Christi members as a way to dedicate our lives to the Gospel path of nonviolence. Since then, tens of thousands have professed it.
