This discovery leads us to want to instill the peace that we have discovered within us in our personal relationships and the structures of today's society. The Franciscan Peace Center believes that the use of the principles of active nonviolence is the best way to address the issues of violence in our society. Active nonviolence is a philosophy growing out of the thought and practice of Mohandas Ghandi and developed by Martin Luther King, Jr., and others. It is not to be confused with passivity. Rather, it is a creative, powerful and effective process for addressing and resolving conflict and for breaking the spiral of violence in our world.
Active nonviolence holds that all human beings are meant to love and be loved.
In fact, the nonviolence practioner yearns to transform all that separates human beings from themselves, from one another and from the earth. We find that some of Francis' actions, though preceding the formulation of the principle of active nonviolence, nevertheless reflected it. We believe that this reflection on the violence within ourselves and within our society cannot take place in a vacuum. It needs to be based on practical experience. In this light, we feel that as we help others to become peacemakers, we need to be involved in being peacemakers ourselves.