#17, “Start a revolution! Shake things up! The world is deaf. You have to open its ears.” Fr. John Dear on Pope Francis—The Most Radical Pope in History.

Fr. John shares his own outreach to Pope Francis and the Vatican on nonviolence; reflects on the great themes of Pope Francis; and in particular, reviews Francis’ extraordinary efforts at peacemaking and how he started to turn the church back to its roots in Gospel nonviolence. In this episode he reflects on the life and death, of Pope Francis on Easter Monday.

He calls Francis “the most radical, most progressive, most nonviolent, most prophetic, most peace-activist-oriented pope in history, and therefore, the greatest pope in history, hands down.”

“I give thanks because Francis spoke out so boldly, so prophetically in word and deed for justice, the poor, disarmament, peace, creation, mercy, nonviolence, and the nonviolent Jesus; that we had him for 12 years; that did not resign and retire, but kept at it till the last day, Easter Sunday, and that we got to live during his time.

I think he’s one of our greatest saints, and I hope he will be named a Doctor of the Church.”

“Let us pray for a more widespread culture of nonviolence,” Francis said, “that will progress when countries and citizens alike resort less and less to the use of arms.” Fr. John calls us to honor Pope Francis by rising to the occasion, speaking out, and resisting war, injustice, poverty, racism, corporate greed, fascism, genocide in Gaza, nuclear weapons and environmental destruction, that we might be Gospel peacemakers like Francis.

Listen as Fr. John recounts the times Pope Francis went into the world at risk of his own safety to actively promote peacemaking and reconciliation in the world, many of which never made the media headlines. A truly unique POV on the most radical Pope ever in history and certainly in our lifetime.

#TheNonviolentJesus

BeatitudesCenter.org

#16 "We are experiencing the thrashing of empire and death throes of capitalism", says Dorothy Day's granddaughter Martha Hennessy in this week's conversation with Fr. John Dear. Dorothy Day was an activist, author, anarchist, and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement.

Martha Hennessy, also a longtime peace activist, lives on her family farm in Vermont and volunteers part time for the last fifteen years at Maryhouse Catholic Worker in New York City. She speaks regularly on the issues of war, poverty, the works of mercy, and nuclear weapons, and has traveled to Russia, Iraq, Iran, Palestine/Israel, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Korea to witness for peace.

She reminds us that "solutions will never come from the state... we need to "find one's niche...to create a new world from the shell of the old world, to create a society where it's easy to be good."

John asks Martha about Dorothy’s shocking, brilliant statement after Pearl Harbor saying “Our manifesto is the Sermon on the Mount.” Even if everyone else runs off to war, they will obey the teachings of Jesus and not support war. Dorothy Day said "No" to every. single. war.

Martha says that "the U.S. church desperately needs her (Dorothy Day) as a saint: (as a) laywoman, a mother, a grandmother...and Pope Francis recognizes her as a saint. She was a mystic, she was touched by God. She was an extraordinary grandmother."

Martha tells about her recent arrest on Ash Wednesday outside the U.S. Mission to the United Nations calling upon the U.S. to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; her work at Maryhouse; her imprisonment for the King’s Bay Plowshares disarmament action; and her grandmother’s impending canonization.

beatitudescenter.com

catholicworker.org

#15: "Contrary to what a lot of people see or think, there is more protest and resistance to Trump than you see or read in the mainstream media" with Eric Stoner, co-founder and editor of WagingNonviolence.org

On Feb 28 up to 4oM people participated in the economic blackout boycott, making it one of the most successful acts of non-compliance in U.S. history.

John Dear speaks with Eric Stoner, founding editor of WagingNonviolence.org, an independent, non-profit media platform that covers social movements and grassroots activism around the world on all issues of justice, disarmament and creation. Since 2009, it has published original reporting on nonviolent action from contributors in more than 90 countries.

Eric and friends started this clearinghouse of nonviolent movements in the 2000s from scratch, and today it regularly gets over 1.3 million readers looking for news about people power movements that you will never hear on the mainstream media.

John asks Eric about the signs of movement and hope in recent months against the growing authoritarianism and oligarchy, as well as stories of movements from around the world, and Eric says surprisingly that covering the world from the perspective of nonviolence actually gives him hope because so many people are struggling hard for positive social change.Eric also shares the 10 points based on Daniel Hunter's article published on November 6,

Eric Stoner: "Boycotting is the most important tool in protesting, hands down".

wagingnonviolence.org

choosedemocracy.org

beatitudescenter.org

🎙Bryan Stevenson: "If I am successful at all, it is because I got close to a condemned man and heard his song."

This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear speaks with the legendary lawyer, founder and executive director of Equal Justice Initiative, professor of law at New York University law school, and author of the best-selling book, JUST MERCY, which was made into a great movie of the same name starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx.

Bryan graduated from Harvard and moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where he started a non-profit to serve those on death row, the poor, the wrongly condemned, and those trapped in the furthest reaches of our criminal injustice system. He tells us that "going to death row completely changed me" and at the heart of his story is Walter McMillian, an innocent man sentenced to die for a notorious murder he did not commit.

After a profound struggle, Walter was released.

Bryan has won relief for dozens of condemned prisoners, argued five times before the supreme court, and won many awards, including the MacArthur Foundation Genius grant. A few years ago, he raised millions of dollars and built 2 museums in Montgomery: the National Museum of Peace and Justice, the nation’s first comprehensive memorial dedicated to the legacy of Black Americans who were enslaved and terrorized by lynching; and “the Legacy museum: from Enslavement to Mass Incarceration,” which displays the history of slavery, racial lynchings, and segregation.

Archbishop Tutu called Bryan “America’s young Nelson Mandela,” and deservedly so.

John asks Bryan for his take on the current national crisis under Trump, the rise of fascism, racism, and ongoing systemic injustice, as well as his understanding of nonviolence, what he has learned from so many unjust incarcerated people, and where he finds hope. “

The politics of fear and anger are reigning. We need to become hopeful, courageous, faithful truth-tellers,” Bryan Stevenson says. "Truth is the antidote to the abuse of power: the truth will set us free." Join us!

beatitudescenter.org

eji.org

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4916630/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Mercy_(book)

Episode #13 – "Jesus is a nonviolent general leading a peace revolution:" How to Build a Nonviolent Movement Today with Fr. John Dear

Jesus wasn’t just a teacher—he was a movement builder, a grassroots organizer, and a radical leader of nonviolent resistance. This week on The Non-Violent Jesus, John Dear unpacks Luke 10, where Jesus sends out 72 disciples in pairs—not to conquer, but to disarm, disrupt, and dismantle empire through radical peace.

What if following Jesus meant joining a real, organized, strategic movement of nonviolence?

What does it mean to be “lambs among wolves” in a world of rising fascism, white supremacy, and war? How do we mobilize like Jesus, Gandhi, and MLK to create real change today?

"Jesus isn't just a community organizer," Dear says. "He's a nonviolent general leading a peace revolution. But instead of war, he wages peace." Like Gandhi’s Salt March and MLK’s Selma-to-Montgomery march, Jesus calls us to get moving, start organizing, and take action.

Are you ready to step into the movement? Listen now and learn how to carry on Jesus’ campaign of daring, active nonviolence.

For more, check out John Dear’s book, The Gospel of Peace.

Learn more at www.johndear.org beatitudescenter.org

#JesusTheOrganizer #NonviolenceNow #GrassrootsResistance #TheNonViolentJesus #FaithInAction #ResistEmpires

Episode #12 – "Our love doesn't stop at our own borders" with author, activist and founder of Red Letter Christians, Shane Claiborne

This week, Fr. John Dear has a dynamic conversation with Shane Claiborne in about public organizing, bold resistance, and living out the Gospel where it matters most—on the streets, in communities, and on the frontlines of change; how we need to respond to the worsening violence, racism, war making, greed, lies, death and destruction that are overtaking our nation and the world. Shane reminds us: "The closer we are to the pain, the more urgent we respond to it."

John Dear calls Shane one of the greatest Christian peacemakers of our time. Shane has worked on the streets of Calcutta with Mother Teresa, spent time in Rwanda and Iraq, and journeyed with John to Kabul, Afghanistan during the war.

How do we follow the nonviolent Jesus in a world consumed by war, greed, and injustice? Shane Claiborne is an author, activist, and founder of Red Letter Christians—and he doesn’t just talk about it. He lives it. Shane has put radical love into action. He invites us to "proclaim a vision of a better world because our protest is a form of liturgy" and "we can bring joy in the midst of public lament".

If you’re ready to challenge injustice, reclaim Christianity from empire, and take action for peace, this episode is for you.

Listen now and join the movement for a nonviolent revolution!

Learn more at www.redletterchristians.org and beatitudescenter.org

#JesusForJustice #RedLetterChristians #Nonviolence #TheNonViolentJesus #Resist #FaithInAction

Episode #11 – "Decide how you want to show up: this is your one and only life!" with best-selling author, theologian and activist Brian McLaren

In a time of rising Christian nationalism, oligarchy, and fascism, here at home under the Trump administration, the Republican party and FOX news, as well as around the world, what does it mean to follow the nonviolent Jesus? Brian warns us: "we are going to have to keep our eyes and ears open for the right time to do the right thing".

This week, Fr. John Dear sits down with a provocative Brian McLaren - best-selling author, theologian, and activist - to explore how Jesus challenged the violent rulers of his day and how we can respond with bold, creative nonviolent action today: "Jesus was an agent of dissent" and "He is the absolute inverse of an authoritarian!"

Brian McLaren is Dean of Faculty for the Center for Action and Contemplation, founded by Fr. Richard Rohr, and a podcaster with Learning How to See, a leading voice in progressive Christianity. He brings deep wisdom from his books Faith After Doubt, Do I Stay Christian?, and Life After Doom. If you're questioning, resisting, or seeking a faith rooted in justice and peace, this episode is for you.

Listen now and join the movement for a fearless, nonviolent faith!

More at www.brianmclaren.net and beatitudescenter.org

#Nonviolence #ResistAuthoritarianism #FaithAfterDoubt #GospelRevolution #TheNonViolentJesus

🙏 Episode #10 – "Nonviolence is the only way forward" with Marie Dennis

❓What if the Church fully embraced the radical nonviolence of Jesus? Can the Church lead a nonviolent revolution?

This week on The Nonviolent Jesus, Fr. John Dear sits down with longtime peace activist and Catholic Nonviolence Initiative leader Marie Dennis to talk about shaking up the Vatican, challenging the outdated just war theory, and reclaiming the heart of the Gospel—active, world-changing nonviolence.

She states: "We can no longer view war as a solution...now we want to see nonviolence move to the center of the Catholic Church teaching."

Marie has spent her life pushing the Church toward justice, especially in recent years working behind the scenes at the Vatican and on the frontlines of global peacemaking. She calls nonviolence not just an ethic, but a way of life—a force capable of transforming entire societies. She tells us "Jesus teaches us to be more imaginative in how we deal with moments of crisis".

If you care about justice, social change, and living out the revolutionary message of Jesus, this is an episode you can’t miss! Marie Dennis reminds us that "Jesus on the cross is the ultimate witness to nonviolence!" and challenges us to a new way of thinking, a new way of living, and to carry on his witness of total nonviolence in our world of violence."

🎧 Listen in and join the movement for a Church that leads with peace, not war.

👉🏽 Learn more at www.paxchristi.net and beatitudescenter.org

#Nonviolence #Christianity #SocialJustice #GospelRevolution #PaxChristi #TheNonViolentJesus