Love and Forgiveness in Governance

Thursday, November 13-14, 2014
Location: Copley Hall Copley Formal Lounge Map

Love and forgiveness are universal values that seem to transcend race, culture, and nationality, making them a central part of what makes us human. Despite this fact, limited research exists on the role of love and forgiveness—and its practical application—in governance structures.

This conference explored the role that the values of love and forgiveness can play in governance. Panels featured international practitioners, scholars, and exemplars, which also served as a platform to explore larger trends and patterns that allow for the practical application and integration of love and forgiveness in political processes, the justice system, and conflict afflicted situations.

The conference was cosponsored by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Center for Human and Civil Rights at the University of Notre Dame, Center for the Thought of John Paul II, Community of Sant’Egidio, Contemplatives in Action Initiative at Georgetown University's Office of the President, Fetzer Institute, School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University, and the School for Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University.

SCHEDULE

Thursday, November 13

Mindfulness Meditation on the Promotion of Peace | Dennis McAuliffe

Welcome and Keynote Address | Tom Banchoff, Paul Bhatti, Thais Corral, Kurian Thomas

Friday, November 14

Embodying Love and Forgiveness in Society’s Political Processes | Monika Gabriela Bartoszewicz, Michal Luczwewski, Borislava Manojlovic, Alwi Shihab

Facilitating Love and Forgiveness in Post Conflict Situations: Case Study Uganda | Evelyn Akullo, Angelina Atyam, Stephen Oola, Daniel Philpott

Keynote Address | Miroslav Volf

Incorporating Love and Forgiveness into the Justice System | Ibrahim Al-Hajjri, Elham Atashi, Judy Barsalou, Ed Quiko

Plenary and Keynote Session on "The Way Forward: Developing Agents of Change in Love and Forgiveness" | Andrea Bartoli, Drew Christiansen, S.J., Thais Corral, Katherine Marshall, Jerry White

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Love and Forgiveness in Governance

Featured Participants

Paul Bhatti Toggle

About Paul Bhatti

Paul Bhatti is Pakistan's former federal minister for national harmony and minority affairs and the current chairman of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance and the Shabbaz Bhatti Memorial Trust. He stepped into the ministerial role after his brother Shabbaz was assassinated in 2011 for speaking against the discriminate use of anti-blasphemy laws. Prior to assuming his brother's ministerial post, Bhatti publicly forgave his brother's murderers, and he has continued the work of promoting peaceful coexistence in Pakistan. Bhatti holds an M.D. from the University of Padova in Italy and has practiced medicine in hospitals in Italy and Pakistan.

Paul Bhatti's Profile

Miroslav Volf Toggle

About Miroslav Volf

Miroslav Volf is founding director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School. His work focuses on a theology of forgiveness and non-violence, particularly theological understandings of work, the church, the Trinity, violence, reconciliation, and memory. His books include, among others, Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World (2016), Do We Worship the Same God?: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Dialogue (2012), Allah: A Christian Response (2011), and A Common Word: Muslims and Christians on Loving God and Neighbor (2010). He holds a B.A. from the Evangelical-Theological Faculty in Osijek, Croatia, M.A. from Fuller Theological Seminary, and his Dr. theol. and Dr. theol. habil. from the University of Tübingen, Germany.

Miroslav Volf's Profile

Jerry White Toggle

About Jerry White

Jerry White has been deputy assistant secretary of state in the US Department of State's Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operation since 2012. Injured in a landmine explosion while hiking in northern Israel in 1984, he has dedicated his life to nonproliferation and building resilience in individuals and communities affected by violent conflict. A co-founder of the Landmine Survivors Network and Survivor Corps, White previously has been an Ashoka fellow and assistant director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. He is the author of Getting Up When Life Knocks You Down: Five Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis (2008). White worked with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines when it was the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Peace. He holds an undergraduate degree from Brown University and M.B.A. from the University of Michigan; he has also done graduate work at Cambridge University.

Jerry White's Profile

Berkley Center