Pax Christi Quad Cities

Pax Christi Quad Cities, a chapter of Pax Christi USA, and sponsored locally by St. Anthony Parish, Davenport,  is a Catholic peace and justice movement dedicated to promoting Gospel nonviolence and merciful reconciliation. Its core mission is rooted in Catholic social teaching and focuses on fostering a culture of nonviolence and solidarity in support of human rights. We consider nonviolent conflict resolution, with the aim of reconciliation, through the expression of unconditional love (agape), as not only virtuous but also necessary in these times when cruelty and corruption are not only tolerated but celebrated.

At Pax Christi Quad Cities, we believe in a Beloved Community that welcomes and affirms the inherent worth and dignity of all people, excluding no one.  Pax Christi USA began in 1972, thanks to the initiative of a handful of Catholic lay people and religious.  We emerged from Pax Christi International, a Catholic peace and justice group founded in 1945 by French and German Catholics in Europe who prayed for forgiveness and reconciliation, for the peace of Christ, after the horrors of the Second World War.  We believe now, as we believed then, that the Sermon on the Mount of Our Lord Jesus Christ encapsulates the essence of Gospel nonviolence and agape, and we strive to live the personal and interpersonal nonviolence of Jesus, St. Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.  

In affiliation with the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative and Institute, our QC chapter finds hope and encouragement in the 6 principles of Kingian nonviolence: that nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people who seek change in oppressive conditions by loving our enemies in order to produce a change of heart and conscience in their approach to oppression; that Dr. King’s idea of the Beloved Community is our framework for solidarity and reconciliation in an all-inclusive spirit; that we avoid conciliation toward oppressive and corrupt conditions but that we embrace the enemy we are trying to be reconciled to; that we embrace the possibility of suffering as redemptive, as we speak of accepting suffering, without retaliation, for the sake of the cause, to achieve the goal; that we avoid personal violence, not only behaviorally, but in thought and emotion as well; and finally, that the universe is on the side of justice, as God is on the side of justice, as the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice, that we must seek what is fair as well as what is peaceful and loving.  

We truly hope and pray you will find common cause with us and join us in our pilgrimage of Gospel nonviolence and Agape!                         

A journalist’s take on Faithful Citizenship this millennium


St. Pope Paul VI titled his World Day of Peace Message for 1972, “If You Want Peace, Work for Justice.” A bumper sticker bearing that quote was affixed to the file cabinet that Editor Barb Arland-Fye viewed each day from her desk as Editor of The Catholic Messenger (2002-2025).  The pope’s insightful observation guided Arland-Fye in her role as editor, a role that encompassed navigating the election cycles of a polarized and polarizing electorate that has characterized the first quarter-century of this millennium.
Arland-Fye, who now serves as a volunteer with the Diocese of Davenport’s Social Action Office, will share her take on Faithful Citizenship during a presentation for Pax Christi Quad Cities on Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the Parish Center of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Davenport.

Pax Christi Quad Cities is a chapter of Pax Christi USA, and sponsored locally by St. Anthony Parish. Pax Christi is a Catholic peace and justice movement dedicated to promoting Gospel nonviolence and merciful reconciliation. The presentation is free and open to the public.