The Long Journey Back to Humanity

This chapter begins an inquiry into the experiences of Catholic leadership with armed groups and actors. The purpose is two fold. First, an initial empirical exploration will provide an overview of the types of experiences, approaches, and challenges faced by church leaders in contexts of open violence where they face and must deal with armed actors. At best we must emphasize the ideas of beginning an inquiry and exploratory based on contact and discussion with leaders primarily in Colombia, the Philippines, and Uganda. Second, and far more difficult to address, a theology of peacebuilding will be proposed and explored that suggests an initial framing of how the ortho-praxis, the face-to-face interaction of church leadership with the phenomenon of armed actors, is informed by and informs their ortho-doxa, the theology and belief system supporting that action…