{"id":10661,"date":"2026-10-29T20:02:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T11:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/?p=10661"},"modified":"2026-10-30T20:35:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T11:35:42","slug":"as-military-force-returns-can-dialogue-still-build-peace-an-assisi-gathering-confronts-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/sdgs-2\/as-military-force-returns-can-dialogue-still-build-peace-an-assisi-gathering-confronts-the-question\/","title":{"rendered":"As Military Force Returns, Can Dialogue Still Build Peace? An Assisi Gathering Confronts the Question"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
From stalled peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Lebanon\u2019s struggle to preserve coexistence, religious leaders and political analysts examined the widening gap between diplomatic agreements and the realities of war.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
By Katsuhiro Asagiri<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
ASSISI, Italy<\/strong> (INPS Japan) \u2014<\/strong> In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, peace agreements are signed in distant capitals while fighting continues, families are driven from their homes, and armed groups compete for control of a region rich in mineral resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the archbishop of Kinshasa, the contradiction exposes a fundamental weakness in contemporary diplomacy: Governments may reach agreements without creating the political conditions needed to make peace possible.\uff5cJAPANESE<\/a>\uff5c<\/p>\n\n\n
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\"Cardinal
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop of Kinshasa, calls for inclusive dialogue to end decades of violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the Assisi peace forum.
Credit: Community of Sant\u2019Egidio \/ Assisi 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\u201cA dialogue that excludes those with whom we are at war is not a dialogue,\u201d he told an international gathering in Assisi. \u201cIt is a monologue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His warning captured a central concern of a forum titled \u201cWhat Kind of Peace in an Age of Force?\u201d held on Oct. 26 as part of a three-day international meeting organized by the Community of Sant\u2019Egidio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The gathering marked the 40th anniversary of the historic interfaith prayer meeting convened in Assisi by Pope John Paul II in 1986. Four decades later, participants confronted a world in which military force is again being presented as a legitimate instrument of political decision-making, while international institutions struggle to restrain it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A War That Agreements Have Not Ended<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Eastern Congo has endured more than three decades of successive wars, armed rebellions and struggles over its immense natural wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Citing United Nations figures, Cardinal Ambongo said that more than six million people had been internally displaced and more than 26 million were facing acute food insecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He pointed to the persistence of fighting despite diplomatic initiatives in Washington and Doha, arguing that agreements alone cannot produce peace unless the political divisions and economic interests sustaining violence are confronted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coltan, cassiterite and gold from Congo\u2019s hills, he said, have helped fuel the war instead of feeding its children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the cardinal rejected the idea that responsibility rests entirely with foreign powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He described a \u201ctwofold injustice\u201d: one internal, in which wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small political elite while much of the population lives in poverty, and another external, in which foreign interests compete for the country\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Together with the Church of Christ in Congo, a major Protestant church body, the Catholic Church has proposed a \u201cSocial Pact for Peace and Coexistence\u201d aimed at rebuilding national cohesion through inclusive dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n
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\"Map
Map of DRC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\u201cIt is not a political program,\u201d the cardinal explained. \u201cIt is a methodology,\u201d based on sitting together, listening to one another\u2019s wounds and rebuilding national unity around a common ideal rather than individual leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet the initiative has encountered resistance over who should be invited to the negotiating table and what conditions should be imposed before talks begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cardinal Ambongo acknowledged that victims have legitimate demands for justice and accountability. But he warned that excluding armed adversaries could make ending the war impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWithout dialogue, there will be no peace,\u201d he said. \u201cMilitary force alone will not bring peace to the Congo. Only an inclusive political process will be able to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeace is not made among friends,\u201d he added. \u201cPeace is made among adversaries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a subsequent question-and-answer session, he described continuing contacts between the churches, political authorities and both armed and unarmed opposition groups, illustrating the potential role of religious institutions as mediators in a deeply divided society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preparing for Peace During War<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n
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\"Mario
Mario Giro of the Community of Sant\u2019Egidio opens the forum \u201cWhat Kind of Peace in an Age of Force?\u201d, urging participants to prepare for peace even while wars continue.Credit: Community of Sant\u2019Egidio \/ Assisi 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Mario Giro, a former Italian deputy foreign minister and longtime figure in the Community of Sant\u2019Egidio, opened the forum by describing an age in which war has been \u201crehabilitated as a means of resolving disputes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He challenged the assumption that military confrontation represents political realism while peacebuilding amounts to impractical idealism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once unleashed, Giro argued, war can acquire a momentum that even the leaders who initiated it can no longer control. It produces further hatred, prolongs conflicts and often outlives the objectives used to justify it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWar becomes perpetual,\u201d he said, describing it as a self-perpetuating force that comes to control those who believed they could control it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Against that danger, he advanced what he called \u201cthe realism of peace\u201d<\/strong>: the conviction that preparations for reconciliation must begin even while fighting continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI believe it is necessary to speak of peace now to prepare for tomorrow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The starting point, Giro argued, is culture and language. When societies become accustomed to portraying opponents as enemies who are no longer worthy of understanding or recognition, justifying violence becomes easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He invoked the French writer Romain Rolland\u2019s warning during World War I that people must defend their thinking against hatred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Giro also cautioned against ranking the suffering of victims according to political allegiance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur perspective must be that of the victims, all victims, without distinction or hierarchy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dialogue, in this view, requires resisting the temptation to divide the world into opposing camps, extending sympathy to one side while disregarding the suffering of the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lebanon\u2019s Fragile Model of Coexistence<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Jean Aziz, a political adviser to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, approached peacebuilding through the relationship among three essential elements of society: individuals, communities and the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A durable peace, he argued, requires a healthy balance among all three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Individuals need freedom, dignity and the means to live. Communities must be able to preserve their distinct identities while rejecting violence and exclusion. States must exercise sovereignty while recognizing that their power is not unlimited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For individuals, Aziz identified two indispensable conditions: \u201cbread and dignity.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also warned that the pursuit of national power and resources had distorted globalization, leaving individuals and communities feeling threatened and increasingly inclined to retreat into narrower identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turning to the Middle East, Aziz argued that regional stability depends on two conditions: a lasting solution to the Palestinian question and the preservation of Lebanon\u2019s pluralistic political system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For him, coexistence between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon remains a fragile but essential political achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He acknowledged, however, that religious identity continues to generate tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Participants
Participants discuss the prospects for peace in an age of military force at the international meeting organized by the Community of Sant\u2019Egidio in Assisi, Italy, on October 26, 2026.
Credit: Community of Sant\u2019Egidio \/ Assisi 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
During the discussion, Aziz resisted any suggestion that interfaith dialogue had eliminated those difficulties. Lebanon still lives with conflicts over religious identity, he said, and pretending otherwise would be misleading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The purpose of dialogue is not to erase every difference. It is to prevent those differences from becoming justifications for violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pope John Paul II famously described Lebanon as more than a country \u2014 a message of freedom and pluralism. Aziz and Giro both returned to that idea as they discussed the responsibilities of Lebanese society and the wider international community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who Enforces International Law?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n
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\"Al
Al Jazeera journalist Khadija Benguenna questions the selective application of international law and the influence of major powers over global peace efforts at the Assisi forum. Credit: Community of Sant\u2019Egidio \/ Assisi 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Khadija Benguenna, an Algerian journalist known for her work with Al Jazeera, challenged the selective application of international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drawing on conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, she argued that sanctions, diplomatic pressure and legal action too often depend on the interests of powerful states rather than consistent principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She singled out the veto power of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, which allows a single major power to block measures supported by most other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe right to veto protects the dominant powers,\u201d she said. \u201cIt protects the strongest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet Benguenna also emphasized the importance of international judicial institutions, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She cited South Africa\u2019s case against Israel before the International Court of Justice and proceedings involving Israeli leaders at the International Criminal Court as examples of how legal institutions can challenge powerful states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even without independent means of enforcement, she argued, such courts can raise the political and diplomatic costs of using force and provide avenues for accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInternational law remains a weapon for the weak,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her warning was that the continued marginalization of international law could lead to a \u201cpost-international law world,\u201d in which brute force once again becomes the prevailing standard of international relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Giro offered a more pragmatic defense of the existing international system when he later responded to an audience question about the Security Council veto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He acknowledged its inequality but argued that the arrangement had helped keep the major powers within the United Nations framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without the veto, he suggested, the organization might not have survived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The compromise was far from ideal. But for many countries, he said, the United Nations remains the principal international forum in which they can meet on equal diplomatic terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The contrasting perspectives revealed a fundamental dilemma of international institutional reform: Should the international community challenge the privileges of powerful states, or preserve the imperfect arrangements that still make dialogue possible?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recognition Before Reconciliation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n
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\"Lucio
Lucio Caracciolo, editor of the Italian geopolitical journal Limes, warns about the militarization of artificial intelligence and stresses the importance of mutual recognition in building peace. Credit: Community of Sant\u2019Egidio \/ Assisi 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Lucio Caracciolo, editor of the Italian geopolitical journal Limes<\/em>, warned that contemporary warfare increasingly involves denying the humanity of the opposing side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One defining feature of the age of force, he argued, is the failure of adversaries to acknowledge one another as human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also raised concerns about the growing military use of artificial intelligence and the influence of powerful private technology companies over decisions traditionally reserved for governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAI is not a technology, it is a weapon,\u201d he declared, pointing to its increasing use in warfare and the development of autonomous weapons systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet the central issue in his analysis was political legitimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDialogue cannot become an end in itself,\u201d Caracciolo said. \u201cDialogue is a means to an end and its foundation is mutual recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That recognition does not require the parties to possess equal military power. It requires them to acknowledge one another as equally legitimate human beings entitled to live in peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without legitimate political institutions capable of negotiating and implementing agreements, he argued, durable peace cannot be established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caracciolo therefore called for the reconstruction of political legitimacy and the institutions capable of exercising responsibility for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sudheendra Kulkarni, an Indian writer and founder of the Forum for a New South Asia, offered a complementary perspective grounded in the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, St. Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Kulkarni, nonviolence is not passive acceptance of injustice. It is an active and demanding form of resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He described the common spiritual force linking these figures as the power of the heart and the conviction that compassion can be stronger than coercion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Religious communities, he argued, must connect inner transformation with organized nonviolent action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Giving Young People a Future<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The discussion eventually turned to young people facing unemployment, political exclusion and conflicts they did not create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cardinal Ambongo described a generation in Africa whose hopes for the future have been repeatedly disappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Congo, he said, despair helps explain why some young people join armed groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYoungsters do not have a future,\u201d he told the forum. \u201cThey feel they don’t have a future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unless societies create opportunities for meaningful work and participation, he warned, that frustration will remain a source of instability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kulkarni defended the right of young people to protest injustice but urged them to resist the temptation to turn to violence.<\/p>\n\n\n
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\"Indian
Indian writer Sudheendra Kulkarni draws on the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and St. Francis of Assisi to argue that nonviolent resistance offers a path toward lasting peace. Credit: Community of Sant\u2019Egidio \/ Assisi 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\u201cTo protest against injustice is a duty, is a human duty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he argued that nonviolent resistance requires greater courage and patience and is ultimately more effective because it can win broader public support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cViolence never solves problems,\u201d he said. \u201cViolence creates more problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also emphasized the importance of dialogue between generations, arguing that younger people and their elders must learn from one another rather than retreat into mutual distrust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These exchanges broadened the meaning of peace beyond ceasefires and diplomatic agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A society in which young people cannot find credible paths toward dignity, participation and economic independence is unlikely to achieve lasting stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The peace appeal issued at the meeting\u2019s closing ceremony on Oct. 27 called for a shift in priorities away from weapons and toward essential human needs. It also urged religious communities to reject attempts to use faith to legitimize violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Should the Success of Dialogue Be Measured?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
But the forum offered no simple formula for resolving war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its strongest conclusion lay in a distinction: Dialogue is not the same as peace.<\/strong> It is a demanding political and human process that must include adversaries, protect dignity and confront the interests that keep conflicts alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Congo and elsewhere, the measure of its success will not be the number of agreements signed. It will be whether those agreements are implemented, whether violence diminishes, whether displaced families can return home safely, and whether young people can imagine a future that does not require them to take up arms.<\/p>\n\n\n
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\"Community
Community of Sant’Edigio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
That demands political leaders willing to honor their commitments, an international community prepared to sustain its engagement, and religious institutions and civil society organizations capable of building trust across dividing lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Above all, it requires those negotiating peace to place the lives of people affected by war ahead of diplomatic maneuvering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The message emerging from Assisi was not that dialogue guarantees an end to conflict. It was that abandoning dialogue risks destroying the possibility of reaching an agreement with those on the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, peace will not be measured by declarations issued at the close of international meetings or promises written into diplomatic documents. It will be measured by whether people living with the consequences of conflict can recover a daily life free from fear, with dignity and hope for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
INPS Japan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From stalled peace efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Lebanon\u2019s struggle to preserve coexistence, religious leaders and political analysts examined the widening gap between diplomatic agreements and the realities of war. By Katsuhiro Asagiri ASSISI, Italy (INPS Japan) \u2014 In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, peace agreements are signed in distant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,26,56,16,93,32,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-africa","category-culture-art-religion","category-goal16","category-news","category-politics","category-regions","category-sdgs-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10661"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10673,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10661\/revisions\/10673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}