US State Dept with Catholic groups for conflict resolution

(Vatican Radio) The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations at the US Stated Department, Jerry White, is in Rome this week for a series of conversations with peace-building and conflict resolution groups and institutions, including the Sant’Egidio community, recently visited by Pope Francis.

He visited the studios of Vatican Radio on Thursday, and spoke with Chris Altieri about the work of the Bureau and the different ways government and civil society can partner to mediate, mitigate and prevent conflicts. Addressing the question of the specific contribution that religious groups, agencies and organisations make to such efforts, White explained that outfits with a religious affiliation often have relationships of long standing in crisis areas, and therefore a basis of trust on which to build and through which to work. “As you know in the communication and media business,” he began, “the channel matters: you might have a perfect message, you might have an audience, but who is the broker – the channel?” he asked.

White went on to explain, “If you are from a [needy] Catholic community or a Muslim community, and [strange] people come in with their handouts, there is lots of suspicion,” regarding means, materials and reasons for the arrival of the aid providers. White said that “What’s the motive?” is a common if not always explicitly articulated question in such situations. “It helps to tamp down those suspicions,” he continued, “if you have your partners,” who have knowledge of the local people and situation. “It is a very practical question,” said White, adding, “it is about culture and ‘comfort’ to a certain extent: how to get the job done?”

Click below to listen to Chris Altieri’s extended conversation with Jerry White of the US State Dept.’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations