Introduction

Is God violent? Would the world be better off without religion, or can religion be a force for peace? In countries like Nigeria, where religion and religious actors are often associated with violence, can they also play a vital role in peacebuilding? This article addresses those pertinent questions by building on my doctoral research on the role of the Catholic Church in post-civil war peacebuilding efforts in Nigeria. It explores the complex relationship between religion, violence, and peace in Africa. I note, however, that while religion is sometimes implicated in violence, it is not inherently violent. It could, under certain circumstances, possess a unique capacity to promote reconciliation, justice, and lasting peace.

The connection between religion, violence, and peacebuilding remains highly debated among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. Scott Appleby describes this relationship as “the ambivalence of the sacred,” noting that religion can be both a source of conflict and a tool for peacebuilding.1 As a dominant aspect of many people’s personal and collective identity, religion intersects with conflict and peacebuilding dynamics in complex ways. Citing historical examples – such as the 11th-century Crusades, the Thirty Years’ War, the Irish Civil War, the anti-Muslim movement in Myanmar, and the 19th-century Fulani Jihad – some scholars argue that religion is often associated with violence.2 They contend that religion provides extremists with a basis to rationalize this violence and bloodshed in the name of God.3 In contrast, other scholars cited religious traditions – such as Buddhism, Catholicism, Mennonitism, Quakerism, and various African traditions – to show how religious actors have been mobilized for peaceful purposes, particularly in post-conflict societies. Furthermore, they argued that religious actors – such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Pope John Paul II, and Mahatma Gandhi – played significant roles in peace efforts worldwide.4

Despite these contending perspectives, religion has still played a crucial role in human civilization, serving as a source of norms and values for individuals and communities. Religious traditions also contain fundamental principles that promote peace, such as non-violence, forgiveness, justice, solidarity with the poor, and compassion. For instance, the principle of “do to others what you want others to do to you” (the Golden Rule) appears in the sacred scriptures of nearly every religion. Nevertheless, the role religion and religious actors can and have played in peacebuilding is often overlooked or undervalued because of the religious undercurrents running through many violent conflicts. Using the Catholic Church as a case study, I argue that while religious identity in some cases has been exploited to justify violence, religious actors have also contributed significantly to peacebuilding, particularly in conflict-prone societies – like Nigeria.

The Catholic Church and Peacebuilding

As a vital institution within civil society, the Catholic Church has well-developed doctrines concerning peace and justice. However, while the Church’s teachings on issues such as just war, abortion, and euthanasia are well-known, fewer people are familiar with its teachings on post-conflict reconciliation, peace, human rights, and social justice. Additionally, for some people, the harm caused by Catholicism worldwide, such as clerical sexual abuse, pedophilic priests, abuses of indulgences, corruption, gender inequality, and involvement in (or negligence toward) genocidal killings (as seen in Rwanda), overshadows its peacebuilding contributions.5

Despite these shortcomings, the Catholic Church has a long history of engagement with peacebuilding initiatives and efforts. Catholic peacebuilding actors play an integral role in conflict transformation through advocacy, mediation, negotiation, reconciliation, peace education, and interreligious dialogue. Other areas where these actors contribute to peacebuilding include education,  human capital development,  and advocacy programs on social justice, and conflict-related issues. Catholic peacebuilding interventions are evident in their involvement in providing relief services and facilitating and mediating peace processes in Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iraq, Mindanao, Mozambique, Northern Ireland, Northern Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the Philippines.6 The Church has also played a prominent role in truth and reconciliation processes in Chile, Guatemala, Peru, and South Africa.7 Additionally, Catholic organizations, such as Caritas Internationalis and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), have worked to integrate peacebuilding into their development and relief programs, including peace education initiatives in Catholic schools in Mindanao and trauma healing programs in Burundi.8

The Catholic Church’s role in peacebuilding is also evident in its activities during and after the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970).9 During the war, alongside other religious actors, the Catholic Church contributed significantly to peace efforts, particularly in distributing relief aid and providing humanitarian assistance to war victims. In the post-civil war era, the Church continued to play a key role in emergency response and post-conflict reconstruction. It helped vulnerable populations rebuild their livelihoods, resettled the homeless, rehabilitated displaced children, and supported disabled soldiers and amputees.10

In recent times, through institutions such as the Justice, Development, and Peace Commission (JDPC) and Caritas Nigeria, the Catholic Church has intervened in issues related to justice, good governance, interreligious engagement, and active citizenship in the country.11 Through these institutions, the Church has supported millions of beneficiaries through peacebuilding initiatives, including livelihood support, socio-economic empowerment, grassroots advocacy, emergency response, and humanitarian assistance in conflict-affected communities. In 2015, Caritas Nigeria provided humanitarian assistance to approximately 1.83 million people, both directly and indirectly, including internally displaced persons across several states, such as Adamawa, Benue, Bauchi, Taraba, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Yobe, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Their assistance included psychosocial support, vocational training, emergency relief supplies, the construction of water and sanitation (WASH) facilities, and agricultural aid.12

In Benue State, the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi’s Foundation for Justice, Development, and Peace (FJDP) played a key role in easing tensions and mitigating conflicts between farmers and pastoralists. Their efforts focused on fostering peaceful coexistence in the Benue Valley through a range of initiatives, including dialogue, advocacy for early conflict response, peace research, trauma healing, and resilience-building programs.13 The Church also aligns its efforts with global frameworks, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other international peace and security policy frameworks. Furthermore, the Catholic Church collaborates with various local, national, and international religious and secular organizations to address socio-economic and peacebuilding challenges in Nigeria. For instance, to support the safety and integration of persons affected by conflict in Adamawa State, between 2020 and 2021, Caritas Nigeria collaborated with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to strengthen protection and support for internally displaced persons, returnees, and vulnerable members of host communities.14 Likewise, in May 2024, Caritas Nigeria, in partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, worked to improve food security, nutrition, and income opportunities for 252 vulnerable individuals and households in Badagry, Lagos State.15

Conclusion

This article has demonstrated that while religion is often linked to historical and on-going violence, it is not inherently violent. Rather, it has also served as a powerful tool for fostering peace, justice, and reconciliation. Using the Catholic Church as a case study, it highlights how religious actors contribute to post-conflict reconstruction, peacebuilding, and social justice, particularly in conflict-prone societies like Nigeria. Despite historical and contemporary criticisms of religions and religious actors, the Catholic Church has actively engaged in humanitarian efforts, advocacy, and mediation, strengthening its role as a peacebuilding force. I conclude that rather than viewing religion solely as a source of conflict, scholars, researchers, and policymakers should recognize religion and religious actors as valuable partners in global efforts to promote justice, reconciliation, and peaceful coexistence.

References

  1. Appleby, R. Scott. The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation. Rowman & Littlefield, 2000.
  2. Ali, Tariq. The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads, and Modernity. London: Verso, 2003; Lewis, Bernard. The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror. New York: Modern Library, 2003; Tyerman, Christopher. Fighting for Christendom: Holy War and the Crusades. New York: Oxford University Press Inc, 2004; Steffen, Lloyd. Holy War, Just War: Exploring the Moral Meaning of Religious Violence. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2007; Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the mind of God: The global rise of religious violence. California: University of California Press, 2017.
  3. Avalos, Hector. Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence. Prometheus, 2005; Harris, Sam. The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. Norton & Company, 2004; Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Allen & Unwin, 2008; Kimball, Charles. When Religion Becomes Evil. HarperCollins, 2002.
  4. Carter, Jimmy, and Gordon S. Smith. “Religious Peacebuilding, from Potential to Action”. In Religion and Peacebuilding, edited by Harold. G. Coward and Gordon. S. Smith, 279–303. State University of New York Press, 2004; Powers, Gerard F. “Religion and Peacebuilding.” In Strategies of Peace: Transforming Conflict in a Violent World, edited by Daniel Philpott and Gerard F. Powers, 317–52. Oxford University Press, 2010; Dragovic, Denis. Religion and post-conflict statebuilding: Roman Catholic and Sunni Islamic perspectives. Springer, 2015.
  5. D’Antonio, Michael. Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal. 1st ed. St. Martin’s Press, 2013.
  6. Lederach, John Paul, and R. Scott Appleby. Strategic peacebuilding: An overview. Strategies of peace: Transforming conflict in a violent world (2010): 19-44; Headley, William. R., and Reina C. Neufeldt. “Catholic Relief Services: Catholic Peacebuilding in Practice”. In Peacebuilding: Catholic theology, ethics, and praxis, edited by Robert. J. Schreiter., R. Scott Appleby, and Gerald. F. Powers, 125-154. India: Theological Publications in India, 2011; Powers, Gerard. F. The Catholic Peacebuilding Network: Lessons Learned. The Journal of Social Encounters 5.2 (2021): 2-18.
  7. Pearson, Peter-John. “Pursuing truth, reconciliation, and human dignity in South Africa: Lesson for Catholic peacebuilding”. In Peacebuilding: Catholic theology, ethics, and praxis, edited by Robert. J. Schreiter., R. Scott. Appleby, and Gerald. F. Powers, 190-220. India: Theological Publications in India, 2011; Hawksley, Theodora. Peacebuilding and Catholic Social Teaching. Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2020.
  8. Powers, Gerard F. “Religion and Peacebuilding.” In Strategies of Peace: Transforming Conflict in a Violent World, edited by Daniel Philpott and Gerard F. Powers, 317-352. Oxford University Press, 2010.
  9. Makozi, Alexus. “Contemporary Trends in the Growth of the Catholic Church”. In The History of the Catholic Church in Nigeria. Edited by Alexus Makozi and Afolabi Ojo, 87-99. Lagos: Macmillan Nigeria Publishers, 1982; Yancho, P.J. Catholic humanitarian aid and the Nigeria-Biafran civil war. In Religion, history, and politics in Nigeria. Edited by Chima J. Korieh and Ugo. G. Nwokeji, 158-169. Lanham: University Press of America, 2005; Nwaka, Jacinta. C. The Catholic Church and conflict management during the Nigerian Civil War. PhD Thesis, Department of History, University of Ibadan, 2011.
  10. Omenka, Nicholas. I. “The Catholic Church and the post-war rehabilitation and reconstruction in Nigeria”. In New perspectives on the Nigeria-Biafra war: No victor, no vanquished, edited by Chima L. Korieh, 19-44. Lexington Books, 2021.
  11. Effevottu, Efetobor. S. “The Catholic Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), peacebuilding, and sustainable development in democratic Nigeria, 1999-2019”. In Democracy in two decades, 1999-2019: Reflections on nation-building and development in Nigeria, edited by Raheed Olaniyi and Idayat Hassan, 405-418. Swift Publishers, 2022.
  12. Caritas Nigeria/JDPC. 2015. Annual Report. Abuja, Nigeria: CSN.
  13. Chile, C.T. 2020. Appraisal of media influence in escalating and deescalating herders-farmers conflict in Benue State. Benue, Nigeria: Aboki Publishers.
  14. Caritas Nigeria/JDPC. 2021. Annual Report. Abuja, Nigeria: CSN.
  15. Conrad N. Hilton Foundation & Caritas Nigeria Empower Badagry Households with Poultry Initiative. Retrieved from https://caritasnigeria.org/conrad-n-hilton-foundation-caritas-nigeria-empower-badagry-households-with-poultry-initiative/
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