As members of the Vincentian Family we have become accustomed to using terms such as Advocacy, Aporophobia, Homelessness, Collaboration, Systemic Change, etc., to describe either situations that we encounter in our work/ministry or actions that we carry out. To deepen our understanding of these concepts from the perspective of our charism, we have developed this series of posts, entitled a “Vincentian Dictionary”, with the aim of offering each week an explanation of the various words/phrases from a social, moral, Christian and Vincentian perspective. Inspired by the charism of St. Vincent de Paul, we hope to deepen our understanding and reflect on service, social justice and love of neighbor. At the end of each article you will find some ideas for personal reflection and/or group dialogue.

Follow the complete thread of this Vincentian dictionary at this link.

IV. A Call to the Christian Conscience

1. The World on Fire

In 2025, the world remains ablaze. War rages in Ukraine, claiming lives in a brutal conflict now entering its fourth year. Sudan is trapped in a deadly internal war, displacing millions and leaving famine in its wake. In Gaza, violence and retaliation continue to devastate civilians, deepening generational trauma. And in Myanmar, a military coup has plunged a nation into chaos, leaving countless dead and tens of thousands in prison camps or fleeing across borders. These are not distant tragedies. They are the daily crucifixions of our brothers and sisters.

The images come to us in real time: bombed hospitals, crying children, razed homes, mass graves, desperate eyes behind barbed wire. These horrors are not confined to history books or dark corners of forgotten continents—they are happening now, under our watch, in a globalized world where no one can say, “I didn’t know.”

The Christian conscience must be reawakened.

2. Beyond Condemnation: Building Peace in Practice

It is no longer enough to condemn war in theory, to nod solemnly at papal statements or United Nations resolutions. Christianity is not a passive religion. It calls us not only to mourn injustice but to overturn it.

Jesus did not merely say, “Blessed are the peacemakers” as a poetic ideal. Rather, He declared it as a mission and a mark of true discipleship (Matthew 5:9). To be a Christian in this world is to embody an active, uncomfortable peace—one that refuses to compromise with systems of violence, exploitation, and fear.

Peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice. It must be forged in our homes, our schools, our economies, our churches, our neighborhoods, and our politics. It must shape our votes, our purchases, our conversations, our theologies. A Christianity that does not bring peace is not Christ-like.

3. The Cry of the Poor and the War-Torn

The Gospel is always heard first in the cry of the poor … and today, the poor cry out from trenches, refugee camps, and mass graves. They speak through the silence of child soldiers drugged and manipulated into murder. Through the exhausted tears of mothers who bury their sons before they become men. Through fathers who carry their families across deserts and seas with only hope as luggage.

To be Christian is to make their pain our own—not in a sentimental way, but in a profoundly political and spiritual way. The incarnation of Christ teaches us that God takes on human suffering, not from a distance, but from within. To ignore the suffering caused by war is to ignore Christ Himself, crucified again in every bombed apartment, every starving village, every sinking refugee boat.

We must let their stories disturb our comfort. We must read their testimonies. Donate to their causes. Advocate for their rights. Walk beside them. Weep with them. Speak for them.

4. A Theological Reckoning: Peace Rooted in the Cross

At the heart of Christian identity is the Cross—a symbol not of violence inflicted, but of violence suffered and transformed. The Cross does not glorify pain, but it exposes the cruelty of a world without love, and calls us to overcome it not with vengeance, but with resurrection.

In every age, Christians have been tempted to bless the weapons of war, to wrap bombs in the flag of faith, to confuse patriotism with discipleship. This temptation must be resisted with all our strength. To follow Christ is to stand at the foot of the Cross and say “no” to violence and “yes” to peace—not a fragile peace of silence, but a peace rooted in truth and justice.

The Gospel never legitimizes aggression, expansionism, or domination. On the contrary, it subverts the logic of empire and replaces it with the logic of mercy. “Put your sword back into its place,” Jesus says to Peter (Matthew 26:52). “For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”

5. Christian Complicity and Silence

We must also examine the complicity of Christians, especially in affluent nations, who support wars through silence, taxes, consumer choices, or nationalism disguised as faith. Too many Christians remain indifferent when their countries sell arms to regimes that bomb civilians or imprison activists. Too many confuse their flag with their faith.

When the Church fails to speak clearly and consistently against war, it forfeits its prophetic power. When bishops bless battalions instead of grieving for the dead on both sides, the Gospel is mocked. When Christians prioritize political alignment over Gospel fidelity, the Body of Christ is wounded.

This is not a call to partisan activism—but to Gospel activism.

6. Nonviolence: A Powerful Alternative

Christian nonviolence is not weakness. It is not passivity. It is spiritual courage, the power to love in the face of hatred, to resist evil without becoming evil.

Jesus modeled this. So did Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, Oscar Romero, Desmond Tutu, and countless unnamed believers who chose to absorb hatred rather than reflect it. Christian nonviolence is a radical refusal to cooperate with the machinery of death, a creative insistence on peace that shames the warmongers and confounds the cynics.

It means resisting unjust systems with protest, persuasion, prayer, and presence. It means opening safe houses, advocating for peace legislation, boycotting products tied to war industries, and educating future generations to resolve conflict without violence.

7. A Call to Public Witness

If Christians are to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13–16), we must not hide our opposition to war in private prayer. We must be visible, vocal, and persistent in every forum available to us: parishes, universities, media platforms, political spaces, family tables.

Wherever there is a debate on military action, Christians must show up and say: “There is another way.” Whenever budgets are proposed, Christians must say: “Spend on schools, not bombs.” When war is glorified in films or campaigns, Christians must ask: “Who profits? Who dies?”

Let our churches hold peace vigils. Let our pulpits preach mercy. Let our catechesis train children in reconciliation. Let our votes reflect the values of the Prince of Peace.

8. The Vicentian Option: Standing with the Most Vulnerable

For Vincentians and those inspired by the legacy of Vincent de Paul, Louise de Marillac, Frederic Ozanam, Elizabeth Ann Seton, and many others, this call is particularly urgent. Our charism binds us to the poor. And no one suffers more from war than the poor.

In every conflict, it is the poor who are displaced, conscripted, raped, starved, and silenced. Our option for the poor must therefore be an option for peace. Advocacy for the vulnerable means advocacy for disarmament, diplomacy, and development.

Let us bring the poor not only bread and blankets, but also solidarity and systemic change. Let us stand with them when the bombs fall, and let us speak for them in the halls where those bombs are funded.

9. Hope in the Midst of Despair

Peace is not naive. It is not utopian. It is necessary. And it is possible.

History offers glimpses of what is possible when Christians dare to live their convictions: the fall of apartheid, the civil rights movement, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of colonialism. Each of these victories was forged by people of faith who refused to accept violence as the final word.

Peace begins with each of us. With how we speak, how we live, how we pray, and how we love. It grows in community and flows outward like living water.

10. “Blessed Are the Peacemakers”

This is a call to the Christian conscience—not just to feel bad about war, but to fight for peace with Gospel tools. We are called not to be neutral, but to be prophetic. Not to withdraw, but to engage. Not to retreat into piety, but to advance with courage.

Jesus has already shown us the way. He has walked the way to the Cross and beyond. Now He waits for us to follow—not with swords, but with scars; not with tanks, but with truth; not with anger, but with love.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

— – —

War remains one of the gravest scandals of our world. Yet the Christian message is not one of despair. It is a call to transformation: of hearts, systems, and structures. Rooted in the Gospel, enriched by tradition, and empowered by grace, the Church stands as a sign of hope in a world that often forgets the dignity of the human person.

From Christ’s call to love our enemies to St. Vincent’s humble service to war victims, the Christian and Vincentian witness is clear: peace is not only possible—it is the only path worthy of our humanity.

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