Hildegard Goss-Mayr (born 22 January 1930,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) is an

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n nonviolent activist and

Christian theologian Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradit ...

Life and commitment

Daughter of Kaspar Mayr, founder of the Austrian branch of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, she studied Philosophy in

and

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. Hildegard was the first woman to graduate from the University of Vienna. In 1953, Hildegard started working in the International Community for Reconciliation or IFOR. In 1958, she married Jean Goss (1912–1991), a French peace activist; the couple had two children, Myriam and Etienne. She and her husband were in Rome during the Council

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilic ...

lobbying for the recognition of the

conscientious objection A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

by the Roman Catholic Church. She also, together with her husband, stood for disarmament and non-violence. In the 1960s/70s, they lived and worked for some time in South America, training groups in active nonviolence and helping in the creation of the SERPAJ, Service for Peace and Justice, whose first coordinator was Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. They trained others groups in active

nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

in many countries, in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa. They participated in the preparation of the People Power Revolution in

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in 1986. Jean Goss and Hildegard Goss-Mayr shared several Peace Prizes, included the Bruno Kreisky Award in Austria in 1979, the Pax Christi USA Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace Award in 1986, and the Pfeffer Peace Prize in 1990. In 1991, Goss-Mayr has also won the Niwano Peace Prize, in Japan, Spanish Peace Prize and, in 2009, the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award, from the Diocese of

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. She is currently the honorary president of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation. She was nominated for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

in 1979, in 1987 and in 2005 among the « 1000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005 » by '' PeaceWomen Across the Globe.''

Bibliography

* ''Une autre révolution. Violence des non-violents'', Paris, Cerf, 1969. * ''Der Mensch vor dem Unrecht. Spiritualität und Praxis. Gewaltlose Befreiung'', Vienna, 1976. * Gérard Houver, ''A Non-Violent Lifestyle, Conversations with Jean and Hildegard Goss'', London: Marshall Morgan and Scott Lamp Press 1981. (Translation by Richard Bateman of Houver's: ''Jean et Hildegard Goss-Mayr, La non-violence, c'est la vie'', Arudis, Utovie, 1986. * ''Évangile et luttes de paix'', Paris, Bergers et Mages, 1989. * ''Friede braucht Bewegung. Analysen und Perspektiven der Friedensbewegung in Österreich'', with Thomas Roithner and Pete Hämmerle. * ''Oser le combat non-violent aux côtés de Jean Goss'', Paris, Cerf, 1998, preface by cardinal Franz König. * With Jo Hanssens, ''Jean Goss. Mystique et militant de la non-violence'', Namur, Fidélité, 2010, preface by Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.

Biography

* Richard Deats, ''Marked for life. The story of Hildegard Goss-Mayr'', Hyde Park (NY), New City Press, 2009.

References

External links

Catholic Peace Fellowship article on her and her husband

Hildegard Goss-Mayr: The greatest living peacemaker
by US pacifist John Dear, SJ, in ''National Catholic Reporter'', 3 Feb. 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Goss-Mayr, Hildegard 1930 births Living people 20th-century Austrian Roman Catholic theologians Writers from Vienna Austrian anti-war activists Austrian women activists Austrian activists Nonviolence advocates Pfeffer Peace Prize laureates 21st-century Austrian Roman Catholic theologians

Life and commitment

Bibliography

Biography

See also

References

External links