Friday, August 22, 2025: We have more power than we think!” 

Next Episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” Ken Butigan on a Lifetime of Activism: “We have more power than we think!” Mon. Aug. 25th

Dear friends, Blessings of Christ’s peace!

On the next episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” posting Monday Aug. 25th, I’ll speak with my friend Dr. Ken Butigan, author, organizer, activist, and nonviolence trainer. Ken is Professor of Practice in the Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies Program at DePaul. He has worked in a series of movements for social change, including campaigns addressing homelessness, nuclear weapons, freedom for East Timor, and the US wars in Iraq.  

In the 1980s he was a founder and national coordinator of the Pledge of Resistance, which for nearly a decade mobilized nonviolent action for peace in Central America. He has worked for over 30 years with Pace e Bene [www.paceebene.org], which has trained tens of thousands of people in the power of nonviolent change and which organizes Campaign Nonviolence.

In recent years, Ken works with Pax Christi International's Catholic Nonviolence Initiative and the Vatican to promote Gospel nonviolence literally around the world through the Catholic church. He has published seven books, including Pilgrimage through a Burning World: Spiritual Practice and Nonviolent Protest at the Nevada Test Site; Nonviolent Lives; and From Violence to Wholeness.  

“One morning when I was young,” Ken tells John, “I was walking along and suddenly I was walking in the loving arms of God. It changed my life. I decided that I wanted to put God at the center of my life and it eventually brought me to the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. Later, I took part in a demonstration against nuclear weapons which had an impact on me."

"I wasn't particularly political, but I was distressed by nuclear weapons, so I called Daniel Berrigan and asked to visit him when I was going to be in New York City. He invited me over. I was transformed in those 3 hours. At the end of it, I said to him, 'let me know if I can do anything for you.' He responded immediately, 'Don't do anything for me. Go find some people you can pray with and march with.' So that’s what I have done throughout my life.”

When describing his leadership in various campaigns, he keeps returning to the refrain. "We have more power than we think.” “We stopped the official U.S. invasion of Nicaragua because of ordinary people power….Through the Nevada Desert Experience, by 1993, after over 25,000 were arrested at the Test site, we generated enough people power to get a test-ban treaty promulgated and signed by over 187 nations. Through the Declaration of Peace, we helped end the U.S. war in Iraq in the mid-2000s.”

“We have been preparing for this moment. We have more power than we think! We need each other, we need to be rooted in prayer, we need to follow the nonviolent Jesus, and create conditions for a global shift.” Listen in and be inspired by Ken Butigan!

May the God of peace bless us all!—Fr. John

Fr. John Dear communications@beatitudescenter.org

*The podcast episodes are posted on Mondays, right away on NCR, Apple, Spotify, and many other major platforms, and will get posted to our website between 8am-9am PST