News Article

John Paul Lederach, professor of international peacebuilding at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, will speak on “The Moral Imagination – Catholic Peacebuilding in the World of Tough Conflicts” at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 31 at Gonzaga University’s Cataldo Hall Globe Room.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is part of Gonzaga’s Catholicism for a New Millennium lecture series.

Lederach, who holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Colorado, is widely known for his pioneering work on conflict transformation. He is involved in conciliation work in Colombia, the Philippines, Nepal and Tajikistan, plus countries in East and West Africa.

He has helped design and conduct training programs in 25 countries across five continents. Lederach’s religious affiliation is Mennonite, but he works extensively with the Catholic Peacebuilders Network, Catholic Relief Services, and has done support and capacity work on peacebuilding with Catholic bishops in Burma, Colombia, Burundi and the Philippines. During fall 2007, Lederach was involved in the peace process in Nepal.

For more information about this and other Catholicism for a New Millennium events, contact GU religious studies Professor Pat McCormick at (509) 323-6715 or via e-mail.