Responding to Violence, A Restorative Justice Approach

The 19th Annual Dialogues on Nonviolence, Religion and Peace

Featuring

Fr. David Kelly, C.PP.S.

Executive Director, Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation

In his lecture, Fr. Kelly will address how violence and trauma impacts not only the person, but also the community. He will speak to the role of the church and how communities of hope can be created through a restorative justice framework. Fr. Kelly will discuss the five pillars that guide the work of the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation: radical hospitality, accompaniment, relentless engagement of youth and families, relentless engagement of stakeholders and systems, and collaboration - creating a learning community.

Fr. Dave Kelly is the Executive Director of the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (PBMR) in the Back of the Yards Neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Ordained in 1982, Fr. Kelly has devoted his entire ministry to working with incarcerated people, people whose lives and communities have been harmed by the criminal justice system, and victims of violence more broadly. Since 2002, PBMR has worked with neighbors and community stakeholders in the Back of the Yards to facilitate community-based, and community-led approaches to healing and relationship building. They specialize in building community trust and respect through restorative justice peacemaking circles. Peace circles also provide a primary means to address the causes, and heal the harms of violence. In the last ten years Fr. Kelly has helped to develop the city-wide network of community restorative justice hubs in neighborhoods spanning the south and west sides of Chicago.  

This event, the 19th Annual Dialogues on Nonviolence, Religion and Peace, will be followed by lunch and informal dialogue.

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