nuclear_explosion

Nuclear weapons: Moving toward elimination

Fifty years ago, the 13 days of the Cuban missile crisis left U.S. residents with a stronger recognition of the danger that nuclear weapons pose to the entire planet. Today, over 20,000 nuclear weapons exist throughout the world. The nuclear posture review by the current U.S. administration can be an opportunity to make progress toward a nuclear weapon free world. The following article was published in the November-December 2012 NewsNotes.

Central America: Promoting restorative justice

Escalating violence and crime in Central America during the last decade and the devastating toll they take on society demand urgent attention. The following article was written by Rhegan Hyypio and published in the November-December 2012 NewsNotes Despite increased requests for alternative initiatives to curb violence and crime (for instance, see the Caravan for Peace,…

John XXIII signs Pacem in Terris April 1963

Pacem in Terris and the new challenge of peace

Two notable characteristics of Pope John XXIII’s great encyclical, Pacem in Terris, written almost 50 years ago in 1963, were its scope and its optimism. The sweeping content of the document says relatively little directly about war, concentrating instead on describing the kind of political, social, economic and cultural conditions that generate peace/shalom on earth – right relationships based on justice, respect, love and solidarity – from the interpersonal to the national to the global. The following reflection is written by Marie Dennis.