The Nonviolent Jesus

“ Catholicism has something vital to learn from other religious traditions,” says Cyprian Consiglio, Sec. Gen. of Monastic Interfaith Dialogue On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with my friend Fr. Cyprian Consiglio, a well-known composer and musician, the former prior of the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, Cal., and now the Sec. General of Monastic Interfaith Dia...

Today I speak with Wamuyu Wachira from Nairobi, Kenya, Pres. of Pax Christi International Sr. Wamũyũ, president of Pax Christi International, the official global Catholic peace movement, is a scholar, educator and peace practitioner with a PhD in Peace Studies. She serves as Senior Lecturer and Program leader in Peace and Conflict Studies at St. Paul University in Nairobi. “Nonviolence is a way of...

This week I speak with my friend Dennis Kucinich, former congressman from Ohio from 1997 to 2013 who has been an outspoken voice against war. He was perhaps the leading voice against the US war on Iraq, which killed hundreds of thousands of people. He also called for the impeachment of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. I met Dennis about a month after 9/11, when New Jersey Peace Action decided to gi...

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with my friend Robert Jonas about the legendary spiritual writer Henri Nouwen, who died 30 years ago on September 26, 1996. Henri and I corresponded regularly for many years, right up until his death. Much to my surprise, he offered steadfast support for my peacework, especially when I was in jail for my plowshares action, when he w...

This week I speak with my friend Fr. Greg Boyle, one of the most well known and beloved religious leaders in the world. A Jesuit priest, he has spent decades accompanying and working with young people and gang members in Los Angeles, and creating new alternatives with them. Fr. Greg is the founder and director of Homeboy Industries and Homeboy Global Network with 300 organizations in the US and 50...

This episode is dedicated to the victims of September 11, 2001, and to the countless families whose lives were forever altered by that day. As we reflect on a message of profound peace, healing, and the pursuit of a nonviolent world, we pause to honor the memory of those we lost. May their legacies inspire us to reach across divides, comfort those who mourn, and work tirelessly toward a future def...

This week The Nonviolent Jesus podcast brings 2 special episodes: Today (part 1 of 2), I speak with my friend Colleen Kelly, who lost her brother in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. A few years earlier, I had baptized Colleen’s daughter at a very happy family event. On Thursday’s episode, (part 2 of 2), I’ll share my own stories as the Red Cross coordinator of chaplains at Gro...

One of the key prophets, saints, teachers and models for me is Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador who was assassinated while saying Mass in San Salvador on March 24, 1980. I lived and worked in a refugee camp in 1985, and traveled back nearly twenty times, including his beatification Mass in San Salvador. To me, he is the epitome of the modern day prophet who denounces war, poverty, and killin...

On this episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with Tim Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, a global movement to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities. Tim expanded the organization from one million athletes to over six million athletes in more than 170 countries around the world. After passing on the CEO torch, he wondered how the spirit of the athlet...

This week I speak with David Beckmann, former president of Bread for the World, one of the best groups fighting poverty in the world ( www.bread.org ). His many books include: Eden Revival; The Overseas List; Grace at the Table; Exodus from Hunger , and his latest book , “Poverty Abolitionists: Faith, activism, and Hope for Difficult Times. www.davidbeckmann.org “In recent decades, the world has m...

On this week's episode of The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast, I reflect on Franz Jagerstatter, one of the most important saints in history. In the late 1970s, while a student at Duke University, wondering what to do with my life, my grandmother gave me a pamphlet about Franz. I was amazed by the story of a young Austrian farmer, born on May 20, 1907, who in 1936 married Franziska, the local sacristan at...

This week marks the 81st anniversary of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I plan to take part in several demonstrations in California as part of my ongoing penance, prayer and witness against nuclear weapons and God’s call for peace on earth. I speak with my friend Jack Cohen-Joppa, who along with his wife, Felice, has published The Nuclear Resister newspaper since 1980. With over...

On this week's episode I reflect on the Gospel of John, chapter 11, the story of the raising of Lazarus, based on my book, Lazarus Come Forth! I propose that John rewrote the Gospel story to portray Jesus as the God of life who calls humanity in the person of Lazarus out of the tombs of death, out of empire, violence and war, and command us to unbind humanity from the trappings of death and let hu...

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with my friend Dr. Catherine Meeks, a nationally recognized leader in racial healing and founder of the Turquoise & Lavender Institute for Transformation and Healing. Her latest book is .Bridging the Rivers of Difference: A Proclamation of Unity in Resistance Her other books include The Night Is Long but Light Comes in the Morni...

“My mantra now is, ‘Let it go, let it go, let it go,’” theologian Ron Rolheiser tells John Dear On today’s episode I speak with my friend writer and theologian, Fr. Ron Rolheiser, one of the most popular Catholic writers in the world, about his new book, Insane for the Light: A Spirituality for Our Wisdom Years , the conclusion of his trilogy of modern spiritual classics, following The Holy Longin...

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with my friend scripture scholar Wes Howard-Brook, author of several great books, including his commentary on the Gospel of John, Becoming Children of God. He also has a free YouTube channel “The Radical Bible,” his study of the Bible as a whole called, Come Out My People!: God’s Call out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond . He also...

Today I speak with my friend Lisa Sharon Harper. Lisa is a theologian, speaker, author, activist and trainer who has worked in Ferguson and Charlottesville, as well as South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Ireland and across the U.S. Her 2022 book, Fortune: How Race Broke My Family And The World--And How To Repair It All, was named “Book of the Year” by Word and Way. Her 2016 book, The Very Good Gospel...

Today I speak with one of the great peacemakers of our time, my friend Zoughbi Zoughbi of Bethlehem, Palestine. Zoughbi is a lifelong Catholic Palestinian activist, organizer and teacher of Gospel nonviolence. Long ago he founded the Wi’am Center, the Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center in the center of Bethlehem. Wi'am is widely recognized as a place of nonviolent conflict resolution that...

Dear friends, This week I speak with one of the great peacemakers of our times, my friend Mel Duncan about unarmed civilian protectors and the Nonviolent Peaceforce that has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016. Mel has been a leader in developing the practice of unarmed civilian protection for over two decades: He started providing nonviolent protective presence along Nicaragua’s nort...

This week I speak with the beloved spiritual writer Joyce Rupp. An international retreat leader and conference speaker, Joyce is the author of three dozen bestselling books on compassion, grief, aging in midlife and in the later years, prayers and poems for every occasion, reflections on nature, and a memoir. Among her bestsellers are Boundless Compassion; Return to the Root; Jesus Guide of My Lif...

Today is Part 2 of my conversation with scripture scholar John Dominic Crossan along with Michael Okinczyc-Cruz, about their new book, Jesus and Justice: Organizing for God’s Reign on Earth Then and Now. Co-author Michael Okinczyc-Cruz is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership in Chicago where he is a community organizer. He is also a professor a...

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with my friend author and theologian John Dominic Crossan, perhaps the most widely read scripture scholar in the world. This is the first of two episodes with Dom. John Dominic Crossan is an Irish-born biblical scholar with post-doctoral diplomas in exegesis from Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute and in archeology from Jerusalem’...

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with legendary Bishop Michael Curry who served as the 27th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church. Elected in 2015, he retired in 2024. Throughout his forty years of ordained ministry, Bishop Curry has been a prophetic leader, particularly in the areas of racial reconciliation, climate change, evangelism, immigration p...

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with Kate Common on the nonviolent origins of the Hebrew community as she describes in her new book, Undoing Conquest: Ancient Israel, the Bible, and the Future of Christianity ( Orbis ). Dr. Kate Common is the Assistant Professor of Public and Practical Theology at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and the Theologian-in-Residen...

This week I speak with my friend Bishop Mariann Budde of the National Cathedral. She received global attention last year during the interfaith prayer service at the National Cathedral when she called upon Trump to show “mercy” to people. Here is that excerpt of her sermon: "Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you and, as you told the nation yesterday, you ha...