Catholic Peacebuilding in Times of Crisis: Introduction

Abstract

In June 2022, the Catholic Peacebuilding Network hosted Catholic Peacebuilding in Times of Crisis: Hope for a Wounded World, an international virtual conference with Church leaders, scholars, peacebuilding specialists, and other practitioners from more than 30 countries. The intent of the conference was to examine how Catholic peacebuilding can respond in an integral way to the diverse challenges and crises of today. This essay introduces that conference and four essays adapted from it that make up this special symposium. These four symposium essays provide a glimpse of the ways in which Catholic peacebuilding can ask questions of Catholic moral theology and ethics. Some are practical and some theoretical, some are critical and some supplementary. The hope is that they help set the table for additional conversation between these areas of praxis and thought, as the work of moral theologians and theological ethicists is vital for making peacebuilding a living part of the church’s mission.