Speeches

“War Is the Ultimate Failure!” By Rev. John Dear (Published on www.commondreams.org on March 20,2023) On Saturday, March 18, 2023—the 20th anniversary of the U.S. war on Iraq—22 demonstrations against U.S. warmaking were held across the nation, including Washington, D.C., New York City, and San Francisco. In Los Angeles, hundreds gathered...

(After Fr. John Dear’s talk, a panel responded with there reflections, then questions from the audience. The Panel included a city council member; a state senator; the district attorney; the head of the NAACP; the head of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence; and a leading church pastor in Albuquerque.)...

Today we are pleased to announce the launch of Campaign Nonviolence, a growing grassroots movement that begins this Sunday, September 21st, International Peace Day, with a week of over 225 protests, marches and rallies across the country in every state against war, military spending, poverty, the epidemic of violence and...

On May 9, 2007, the legendary Jesuit peacemaker Rev. Daniel Berrigan turned 86 years old. He’s still at it, still speaking out against war, still holding on to the vision and wisdom of peace and Gospel nonviolence. This summer, a series of his ten best books, including his autobiography, will be republished by...

The Struggle for Justice Continues: Remembering the Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador A Talk By John Dear, SJ St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO. Sept. 29, 2009 In 1985, I went to live and work for a summer in war-torn El Salvador. I was sent to help out at a...

Rev. John Dear was one of the featured speakers along with Rabbi Michael Lerner, Rev. Jim Wallis and Cindy Sheehan at the Spiritual Activism Conference sponsored by the new “Network for Spiritual Progressives” in Washington, D.C. Earlier in the day he spoke with Cindy at a rally across from the...

Dear Friends, today we remember that sixty years ago our country drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and vaporized 140,000 people in a flash, reducing them to ashes. This morning, some of us in Pax Christi New Mexico, a region of the international Catholic Peace Movement, took up the book...

“Concluding Prayer Offered by Fr. John Dear After the Pax Christi New Mexico, Hiroshima Day Sackcloth and Ashes Action at Los Alamos, NM,” August 6th, 2005 Dear friends, once again, let’s place ourselves in the presence of the God of peace, and bow our heads in prayer: God of peace,...

(John Dear’s keynote address to the National Conference on the Sacred Heart, on June 26, 2005, in Waltham, Massachusetts, to the association of religious congregations connected to the Sacred Heart.) Dear friends, like all of you, the Sacred Heart of Jesus has been central for me throughout my life. It...

San Diego, California Like all of you, Thomas Merton has been one of my teachers, and it’s a blessing to reflect on his exemplary life and astonishing witness. I’m 45, have been in the Jesuits almost 25 years now, went to college at Duke University, decided one day that I...

To order tapes or cds of this talk, go to Teach ‘Em: Phone 1-800-776-5454, or go to: www.audio-digest.org/cgi-bin/htmlos/05125.1.1152013954113370955/cta or www.teachem.net/cta audiotape of the talk are item# CTA/04071/411 cd disks of the talk are item # CTA/04071/cd411 Good morning and thank you all for all you do for peace and justice...

[Over 16,000 people gathered at the gates at Fort Benning, Georgia, to call for the closing of the so-called “School of the Americas.” John Dear spoke along with Martin Sheen, Susan Sarandon, Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls, and Sr. Helen Prejean before marching pass the gates and leaving crosses...

Today, in the name of peace, we say, “Don’t bomb Iraq,” and join our voices with over ten million people on six continents in over 600 cities who are marching for peace, singing for peace, praying for peace, demonstrating for peace, and demanding peace in the single largest day of...

(Over 300,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C. on January 18, 2003 to rally and march against the U.S. government’s plans to slaughter the people of Iraq. John Dear was a featured speaker along with many others including Liz McAlister, Mahti Bray, Al Sharpton, Jessica Lange, Tyne Daly and Jesse Jackson.)...

Call to Action National Conference. Milwaukee, WI. November 2, 2002 [To Order AUDIOTAPES OF THIS TALK BY JOHN DEAR, call 1-800-776-5454, or Write to “Teach ‘Em, 74-923 Hovley lane East, Suite 250, Palm Desert, CA 92260. Request tape number: CTA-216. Send $11.75, includes shipping and handling ] I just want...

Speech at the Rally (with 2500 people) outside Donald Rumsfield’s House, Taos, New Mexico,October 26, 2002. Dear friends, I’ve just moved here from New York City where I worked for the Red Cross after September 11th at the Family Assistance Center, helping to coordinate over 500 chaplains, and counseling over...

http://”The Road to Peace and Justice: Following the Nonviolent Jesus.”

The following is the text of a talk by John Dear to one thousand people at the Call to Action national conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, September 15, 2001, on the theme of peacemaking and nonviolence. It was transcribed and published in the Call to Action newsletter. For further...

Speech by John Dear at October 13th, 2001 Rally Against Star Wars Washington Square Park, New York, New York (Over 100 rallies occurred October 13th across the country and the world, against Star Wars. 1000 people attended the NYC rally.) Since the horrific events of September 11th, I’ve been working...

“IN THE NAME OF THE GOD OF PEACE” Speech at Rally Against Star Wars, in front of the White House, Sunday, June 10, 2001, Washington, D.C. Dear Friends, the God of peace created the universe, the stars and the sun and the moon and the earth, as a gift of...

The Reign of God Is At Hand: Close the SOA! Speech to over 7,000 people at the annual demonstration to close the School of the Americas Saturday, November 21, 1998, at Fort Benning, Georgia (The next day, over 2,370 people crossed the line, entered the base, were detained and released...

Speech at Anti-War Rally, Washington Mall Armistice Day, November 11th, 1998, Washington, D.C. Today’s gathering is about memory and honor. We gather to remember the end of World War I and to honor the dead and the veterans of war. As we reflect on the meaning of those words–memory and...

(A reflection offered at the Ash Wednesday Pax Christi prayer service and demonstration at the Ministry of Defense, London, England, on February 25th, 1998.) Now, now — it is the Lord who speaks — come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your hearts be broken,...