Paradoxically, Pope Francis calls for nonviolence yet accepts self-defense, for example, in the case of Ukraine.  How can he hold these two positions together?  On the one hand, he realizes that armed force can be justified as a last resort in very limited circumstances (humanitarian intervention, self-defense). Yet he is convinced that nonviolence is required by the gospel, and the only way to lasting peace. Thus he prioritizes building attitudes and social institutions that embody the social virtue of just peace, while granting that armed force—despite its moral ambiguity—may sometimes be just.  

Lisa Cahill

Lisa Sowle Cahill, Ph.D., is the J. Donald Monan, S.J., Professor, Theology Department, Boston College.  Dr. Cahill is a past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America (1992-93) and of the Society of Christian Ethics (1997-98).  She received her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago Divinity School and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  Her works include Blessed Are the Peacemakers:  Pacifism, Just War and Peacebuilding (Fortress, 2019); A Theology and Praxis of Gender Equality (Bangalore:  Dharmaram Publications, 2018); and Global Justice, Christology and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2013). 

Conferências Eutopos

Este ano queremos, com humildade, abrir caminhos que nos ajudem a encontrar lugares, pessoas e modos de vida que sejam bons e transformadores. Para isso, no segundo trimestre do ano apresentamos três conferências sobre três topoi nos quais o bem e o que é bom se podem revelar: a construção da paz, a boa utilização da água e procura de encontrar sistemas financeiros justos e adequados aos nossos dias. Queremos com isto ajudar a mostrar que a eutopia e a busca pelos lugares onde o bem se revela é um caminho mais promissor do que a utopia, lugar no qual a revelação do bem é eternamente adiada.