DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2017.v05i12.027

Pages: 1942-1951

This paper analyzed how Small Christian Communities (SCCs) promote peace in the Catholic Church. Specifically, the paper examines: Catholic Church understanding of peace; causes of conflicts in the SCCs; and Church’s conflict resolution mechanisms through community based approaches as well as use of mediation. This paper is part of a larger study was conducted in 2016 and 2017 in 74 SCCs in the five parishes of the Catholic Church in Vihiga County, Kenya. The paper makes an argument that the Church’s mandate to promote peace is derived from Matthew 5:9 “blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God”; subsequently, the Catholic Church fulfils this mandate through the use of SCCs as the key avenue for promoting peaceful co-existence at the grassroots level.