How do we understand the shared need for justice in both Minneapolis and Palestine? And how should the church be showing up and speaking out? Watch this conversation with Palestinian pastor Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac and local Twin Cities clergy and racial justice activists about liberation and solidarity across borders.

In a time of unimaginable violence in the Middle East, how can the Church imagine a future reconciliation? What wisdom can Christians gain from Jewish, Muslim, and Middle Eastern Christian concepts of justice? In this conversation, we talked with Palestinian Christian Salim Munayer about his latest book, Reconciling Justice: Concepts of Justice in the Multireligious Context of Palestine/Israel.

Black lives matter. Until they matter equally with every other life, in practice and policy, Peace Catalyst will continue to work for structural change. The tragic deaths of Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd should compel all of us to work for equality and justice in our world, and they should also prompt inner reflection. How did we get to this point in history? Why have we been silent for so long?

On Saturday, May 16, police sealed off the area around Sarajevo’s Catholic Cathedral, where Bosnian Archbishop Cardinal Vinko Puljic said mass to a congregation of few dozen Croat dignitaries and priests. The US and Israeli embassies and the World Jewish Council condemned the mass, and thousands of Bosnians, many wearing masks, demonstrated that same day.

But why all the uproar over a Catholic mass in Sarajevo?

I have to ask this question because sometimes I think that we can equate criticism or accountability with hatred and not love. But when we love someone we want to see them at their best and living up to the values they proclaim. We want them to thrive, and we want them to live in light of whom God has created and called them to be, which can often mean holding them accountable to the principles and standards they have professed or proclaimed a desire to uphold. 

Here I begin a series on faith and poverty, spurred on by a Lenten program at my church focused on the poor. In a blog about Fair Trade I explored some of the complexities of the notion of poverty, emphasizing in particular the unjust structures of global trade that hinder the economic development of the poorest countries. 

“If you want peace, work for justice!” So said Pope Paul VI, and so I agree. Justice is a crucial component of peacemaking. But the struggle for justice must be placed within the overarching framework of God’s loving, reconciling purposes. In other words, the scales of God’s justice tip in the direction of loving relationships.