John Dear
Encyclopedia
John Dear is an American Catholic priest, Christian pacifist
, author and lecturer. He has been arrested over 75 times in acts of nonviolent
civil disobedience
against war, injustice and nuclear weapons.
, in Durham
, North Carolina in 1981. He then worked for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C.
, the Jesuits, at the Jesuit novitiate in Wernersville, Pennsylvania. He spent two years doing graduate philosophy studies at Fordham University
in the Bronx, New York
(1984–1986), and lived and worked for the Jesuit Refugee Service in a refugee camp in El Salvador for three months in 1985. He taught at Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton, Pennsylvania from 1986-1988. He worked at the Fr. McKenna Center, a drop-in center and shelter for the homeless, in Washington, D.C. from 1988-1989. From 1989-1993, he attended the Graduate Theological Union at the University of California
in Berkeley, and received two master’s degrees in theology from the Jesuit School of Theology.
to intervene with various governors on behalf of people scheduled to be executed on death row. He was ordained a Catholic priest in Baltimore
, Maryland on June 12, 1993, and began serving as associate pastor of St. Aloysius’ Church in Washington, D.C.
Throughout these years, John Dear was arrested in scores of nonviolent civil disobedience actions against war, injustice and nuclear weapons—from the Pentagon to Livermore Laboratories in California. On December 7, 1993, he was arrested with three others at the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
in Goldsboro, North Carolina
, for hammering on an F-15 nuclear capable fighter bomber. He was jailed, tried and convicted of two felony counts, and served 8 months in North Carolina
jails and nearly a year under house arrest in Washington, D.C. As part of the Plowshares disarmament movement, the defendants argued that they were fulfilling Isaiah’s mandate to “beat swords into plowshares,” and Jesus’ command to “love your enemies.”
From 1994-1996, John Dear served as executive director of the Sacred Heart Center, a community center for low-income African-American women and children, in Richmond
, Virginia. In the Spring of 1997, he taught theology for one semester at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. From 1997-1998, he lived in Derry
, Northern Ireland, as part of the Jesuit “tertianship” sabbatical program, and worked at a human rights center in Belfast.
From 1998-2001, he served as executive director of the US Fellowship of Reconciliation
, the largest interfaith peace organization in the United States, based in Nyack
, NY. In 1999, he led a delegation of Nobel Peace Prize
winners on a peace mission to Iraq, and also an interfaith delegation to Palestine/Israel.
Immediately after September 11, 2001, he served as a Red Cross coordinator of chaplains at the Family Assistance Center in Manhattan, and personally counseled thousands of relatives and rescue workers. From 2002-2004, he served as pastor to five parishes in the high desert of northeastern New Mexico
, and founded Pax Christi New Mexico, a region of Pax Christi USA.
In 2006, he led a demonstration against the U.S. war in Iraq in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2009, he joined the Creech 14 in a civil disobedience protest at Creech Air Force base against the U.S. drone war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and was arrested and put in the Clark County
, Nevada jail for a night. He was later found guilty but given time served.
, New Zealand
and England
.
He writes a weekly column for the National Catholic Reporter
. He is also featured in several other books and featured in a wide variety of U.S. publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. He is featured in the DVD documentary film, The Narrow Path, and the subject of John Dear On Peace, by Patti Normile (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2009).
John Dear has been also nominated several times for the Nobel Peace prize
, most notably, in January, 2008, by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
. John Dear “is the embodiment of a peacemaker,” Archbishop Tutu wrote. “He has led by example through his actions and in his writings and in numerous sermons, speeches and demonstrations. He believes that peace is not something static, but rather to make peace is to be engaged, mind, body and spirit. His teaching is to love yourself, to love your neighbor, your enemy, and to love the world and to understand the profound responsibility in doing all of these. He is a man who has the courage of his convictions and who speaks out and acts against war, the manufacture of weapons and any situation where a human being might be at risk through violence. Fr John Dear has studied and follows the teachings of nonviolence as espoused by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. He serves the homeless and the marginalized and sees each person as being of infinite worth. I would hope that were he to receive this honor his teachings and activities might become more widely accepted and adopted. The world would undoubtedly become a better and more peaceful place if this were to happen.”
Christian pacifism
Christian pacifism is the theological and ethical position that any form of violence is incompatible with the Christian faith. Christian pacifists state that Jesus himself was a pacifist who taught and practiced pacifism, and that his followers must do likewise.There have been various notable...
, author and lecturer. He has been arrested over 75 times in acts of nonviolent
Nonviolence
Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...
civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
against war, injustice and nuclear weapons.
Studies
John Dear was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, USA on August 13, 1959. He graduated magna cum laude from Duke UniversityDuke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, in Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, North Carolina in 1981. He then worked for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C.
A jesuit
In August, 1982, he entered the Society of JesusSociety of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, the Jesuits, at the Jesuit novitiate in Wernersville, Pennsylvania. He spent two years doing graduate philosophy studies at Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
in the Bronx, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(1984–1986), and lived and worked for the Jesuit Refugee Service in a refugee camp in El Salvador for three months in 1985. He taught at Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton, Pennsylvania from 1986-1988. He worked at the Fr. McKenna Center, a drop-in center and shelter for the homeless, in Washington, D.C. from 1988-1989. From 1989-1993, he attended the Graduate Theological Union at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
in Berkeley, and received two master’s degrees in theology from the Jesuit School of Theology.
Peace and nonviolent commitment
During that time, he founded Bay Area Pax Christi, a region of Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace movement, and began to arrange for Mother TeresaMother Teresa
Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
to intervene with various governors on behalf of people scheduled to be executed on death row. He was ordained a Catholic priest in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland on June 12, 1993, and began serving as associate pastor of St. Aloysius’ Church in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Throughout these years, John Dear was arrested in scores of nonviolent civil disobedience actions against war, injustice and nuclear weapons—from the Pentagon to Livermore Laboratories in California. On December 7, 1993, he was arrested with three others at the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located to the southeast of Goldsboro, North Carolina. The base is named for Navy test pilot Seymour Johnson, a native of Goldsboro...
in Goldsboro, North Carolina
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Goldsboro is a city in Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 37,597 at the 2008 census estimate. It is the principal city of and is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The nearby town of Waynesboro was founded in 1787 and Goldsboro was...
, for hammering on an F-15 nuclear capable fighter bomber. He was jailed, tried and convicted of two felony counts, and served 8 months in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
jails and nearly a year under house arrest in Washington, D.C. As part of the Plowshares disarmament movement, the defendants argued that they were fulfilling Isaiah’s mandate to “beat swords into plowshares,” and Jesus’ command to “love your enemies.”
From 1994-1996, John Dear served as executive director of the Sacred Heart Center, a community center for low-income African-American women and children, in Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Virginia. In the Spring of 1997, he taught theology for one semester at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. From 1997-1998, he lived in Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, Northern Ireland, as part of the Jesuit “tertianship” sabbatical program, and worked at a human rights center in Belfast.
From 1998-2001, he served as executive director of the US Fellowship of Reconciliation
Fellowship of Reconciliation
The Fellowship of Reconciliation is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries...
, the largest interfaith peace organization in the United States, based in Nyack
Nyack, New York
Nyack is a village in the towns of Orangetown and Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of South Nyack; east of Central Nyack; south of Upper Nyack and west of the Hudson River, approximately 19 miles north of the Manhattan boundary, it is an inner suburb of New...
, NY. In 1999, he led a delegation of Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
winners on a peace mission to Iraq, and also an interfaith delegation to Palestine/Israel.
Immediately after September 11, 2001, he served as a Red Cross coordinator of chaplains at the Family Assistance Center in Manhattan, and personally counseled thousands of relatives and rescue workers. From 2002-2004, he served as pastor to five parishes in the high desert of northeastern New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, and founded Pax Christi New Mexico, a region of Pax Christi USA.
In 2006, he led a demonstration against the U.S. war in Iraq in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2009, he joined the Creech 14 in a civil disobedience protest at Creech Air Force base against the U.S. drone war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and was arrested and put in the Clark County
Clark County, Nevada
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,375,765 people, 512,253 households, and 339,693 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 71.6% White , 9.1% Black, 5.7% Asian, 0.8% American Indian and 12.8% of other or mixed race. 22.0% were Hispanic of any race...
, Nevada jail for a night. He was later found guilty but given time served.
Speaker and writer
Over the years, he has given thousands of lectures on peace, disarmament and nonviolence in churches, schools and universities across the United States, and around the world, including national speaking tours of AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
He writes a weekly column for the National Catholic Reporter
National Catholic Reporter
The National Catholic Reporter is the second largest Catholic newspaper in the United States; its circulation reaches ninety-seven countries on six continents. Based in midtown Kansas City, Missouri, NCR was founded by Robert Hoyt in 1964 as an independent newspaper focusing on the Catholic Church...
. He is also featured in several other books and featured in a wide variety of U.S. publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. He is featured in the DVD documentary film, The Narrow Path, and the subject of John Dear On Peace, by Patti Normile (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2009).
Peace Awards
John Dear has received several Peace awards, including in 2010 the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award, from the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa; and the Courage of Conscience Award, from the Peace Abbey in Boston, Massachusetts.John Dear has been also nominated several times for the Nobel Peace prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
, most notably, in January, 2008, by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
. John Dear “is the embodiment of a peacemaker,” Archbishop Tutu wrote. “He has led by example through his actions and in his writings and in numerous sermons, speeches and demonstrations. He believes that peace is not something static, but rather to make peace is to be engaged, mind, body and spirit. His teaching is to love yourself, to love your neighbor, your enemy, and to love the world and to understand the profound responsibility in doing all of these. He is a man who has the courage of his convictions and who speaks out and acts against war, the manufacture of weapons and any situation where a human being might be at risk through violence. Fr John Dear has studied and follows the teachings of nonviolence as espoused by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. He serves the homeless and the marginalized and sees each person as being of infinite worth. I would hope that were he to receive this honor his teachings and activities might become more widely accepted and adopted. The world would undoubtedly become a better and more peaceful place if this were to happen.”