Teaching Nonviolence

We live in a world of ever-increasing violence. Every day that passes brings us new stories of war, gang violence, murder, domestic violence, child abuse, road violence and human trafficking. The level of violence in our own society is seen in the breakdown of the family system, fractured communities, bullying in schools and depression among our youth.

Finding that our work had increasingly turned to these urgent areas over the past years, we began investigating ways to address these problems from the root. With our mind ever on the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi, The Franciscan Institute integrates nonviolence into all aspects of our work. began introducing the idea of nonviolence into all aspects of our work. We began by inviting Pace e Bene, an organization with a long history in creative and active nonviolence, to train a select group of like-minded individuals. This valuable training instilled the core elements of nonviolence into not just our work, but our lives.

With Nonviolence permeating our workshops, retreats and classes, we hope to see a shift in our society. One in which people practice active nonviolence and are not afraid to stand peacefully against violence and injustice.

• The Institute provides Nonviolence workshops for primary, secondary, tertiary and adult age groups in a range of settings (schools, parishes, organisations etc).
• The programme is in collaboration with Pace e Bene organization
• The programme we teach is Engage: Exploring Nonviolent Living which covers a wide variety of principles, stories, exercises and readings for learning, practicing and experimenting with the power of creative nonviolence for personal and social transformation.
• Some of the topics we cover are:
  • Exploring Nonviolent Power
  • Structural Violence and Nonviolent Power
  • Putting Nonviolent Power into Action
• The programme can be taught in several formats, from 2 hour sessions to whole day workshops. We adjust to suit the preference of groups or organizations. Possible formats include:
  • Once a week over the course of six (6) or twelve (12) weeks
  • A full day workshop
  • A two-day workshop
  • A three-day workshop

View the Nonviolence Programmes brochure as a PDF here