Renewing the Challenge of Peace through the Promise of Active Nonviolence.

This article examines the legacy of the 1983 pastoral letter by the US Catholic bishops, *The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response*, and argues for new episcopal or papal documents that center active nonviolence within Catholic teaching. It highlights the limited attention given to nonviolent direct action (NVDA) in earlier documents, despite its demonstrated effectiveness in global peacebuilding efforts, and calls for a renewed emphasis on nonviolence as a core aspect of Christian discipleship rooted in a long tradition of faith-based resistance. The article also advocates clarifying the relationship between active nonviolence and the just war tradition, maintaining the latter as a moral framework for restraint and self-defense while prioritizing nonviolence. Specific concerns for the US context include addressing the disproportionate military budget, confronting pervasive gun violence, and countering media misinformation that distorts perceptions of peaceful protest.