2024 Speaking Tour

Host Fr. John Dear on his 2024 Speaking Tour for his Forthcoming Orbis Book: “’The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence.” For more info, click here

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Listen on Apple, Spotify, all major platforms,
and the National Catholic Reporter

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November 24th, 2025

Episode #47, John Dear in conversation with filmmaker and author Gerry Straub, on his journey from Hollywood to Haiti

This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear speaks with filmmaker and author Gerry Straub about his life making films about extreme poverty around the world, and then his move to Haiti where he founded the Santa Chiara Children’s Center, an orphanage for children in war-torn Port au Prince.
 
Last year, he had to flee Haiti because of the total violence and anarchy that has swept through the country. Since then, he’s been living in Florida and helping the orphanage online and via zoom. He has now written a new book about his mythic journey from Hollywood, where he was once the director of the soap opera “General Hospital,” to Assisi, where he wrote his award- winning book about St. Francis called The Sun and the Moon Over Assisi, to his founding Pax Et Bonum Communications, where for twenty years he traveled into the poorest slums on the planet and made some 20 movies about extreme poverty. All those films can now be watched for free online at www.paxetbonumcomm.org (including the film he made about my work for nonviolence, “The Narrow Path.” Check it out!)
 
“I was just trying to understand St Francis’ love of the poor and poverty itself,” he tells me at the start. “I knew I could put the power of film to the service of the poor.”
 
Then, he moved to Haiti itself and started the orphanage. His new spiritual memoir, The Cross of Love, The Pain of Poverty, (with a foreword by me) is available online and all proceeds go to the orphanage. To learn about Santa Chiara, visit www.santachiaracc.org
 
“We wanted the children to live a nonviolent life. In this horrible place of screaming kids and gun shots, something beautiful was created.” Listen in and be inspired! God bless you all, Fr. John

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes Rep. Jamie Raskin! For more information, visit here.

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Listen on Apple, Spotify, all major platforms,
and the National Catholic Reporter

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December 1st, 2025

Episode #48, John Dear in conversation with Rep. Jamie Raskin

This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear speaks with Congressman Jamie Raskin, one of our strongest voices and advocates for democracy and truth, about movements, democracy, and nonviolence. He represents Maryland’s 8th Con. District in the U.S. House of Representatives. After the violent insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, he led the 2nd impeachment trial of Donald Trump. It ended in the most sweeping bipartisan vote to convict an impeached president in history. He also served on the committee to investigate the Jan. 6th attack.
 
Before that, Raskin was a state senator in Maryland where he helped abolish the death penalty and gain marriage equality. Before that, he was a professor of constitutional law at American University for more than 25 years. He has authored several books, including the New York Times best-seller Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy, about the death of his beloved son Tommy followed two weeks later by the Jan. 6th insurrection led by Trump.
 
“We’re in the fight of our lives and have been since the beginning of this nightmare,” he says at the start. “But people are galvanized and mobilizing all across the country. Where would we be without the No Kings marches?
 
“Democracy is a project, an unfinished draft, and is always moving forward. Democracy and voting rights are always either shrinking or expanding. We’ve got to get back on the growth track for democracy. Democracy gives us the chance for common sense to prevail and the best moral instincts to prevail. The whole Constitution is under attack, and we need the whole people to defend it. Democracy is the system that relies on nonviolent expression.” At the end, he urges everyone: “Live hopefully! Be the Hope!” Listen in, learn, be inspired, and take action! God bless everyone!

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes Mike Martin! For more information, visit here.

John Dear’s new book now available!

“The Gospel of Peace:
Reading Matthew, Mark & Luke
from the Perspective of Nonviolence”

For info, click here
 
To order, call Orbis Books at 1-800-258-5838
 

To invite John Dear to speak in your city, write to: john@beatitudescenter.org 

National Catholic Reporter Review of “The Gospel of Peace,” click here
 
To watch Fr. John’s interview with Dean Young of Grace Cathedral about the book, click here
 
To watch Fr. John’s sermon at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, on Jan. 21, 2024, (at the 30 minute mark) click here
 
The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast, a free weekly podcast with John Dear
click here

Recent Books

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“The Sacrament of Civil Disobedience”
Revised 2022 Edition, with new foreword by Shane Claiborne,
Available on amazon, in the U.K.  To order, visit: https://labora.press/product/the-sacrament-of-civil-disobedience/

Recent Articles

John Dear Talks Nonviolence with Joan Baez: A Conversation

Read More

The Peacemaking Life of Pope Francis

A few years ago, three French peace activists met with Pope Francis and asked him for advice. “Start a revolution,” he said. “Shake things up! The world is deaf. You have to open its ears.” That’s what Pope Francis did — he started a nonviolent revolution and invited us all to join. 

I’m grateful for him for so many reasons, but mainly because he spoke out so boldly, so prophetically in word and deed for justice, the poor, disarmament, peace, creation, mercy and nonviolence. It is a tremendous gift that we had him for 12 years, that he did not resign or retire, but kept at it until the last day, Easter Sunday.

Read More

My Long Lost Conversation with John Lewis

Last summer, after Congressman John Lewis died, I posted a photo on social media of me and John from a memorable afternoon we spent together in his congressional office. It was 26 years ago. We had talked for a while, and then filmed a formal conversation on nonviolence.

Needless to say, it was one of the greatest days of my exciting life.

Read More

Recent News

“Nonviolence,” a new 147 page special edition
of Richard Rohr’s journal Oneing, now available from www.cac.org

John Dear on “Democracy Now” talking about Thich Nhat Hanh and Archbishop Tutu 

Visit
www.DanielBerrigan.org

“Jesus was totally nonviolent and calls us to practice and teach Gospel nonviolence and welcome God’s reign of peace and nonviolence, which means from now on, we work for the abolition of war, poverty, racism, gun violence, the death penalty, nuclear weapons, environmental destruction, and all violence.” – Fr. John Dear

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Visit Fr. John Dear’s Work at:
The Beatitudes Center for the Nonviolent Jesus

Free, weekly podcast: “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast“

Contact Fr. John Dear via the email or mailing address at: www.beatitudescenter.org