This article is for Catholics and others who want to learn about restorative justice, how restorative justice is an important way to live the Catholic faith, and basics for implementing restorative justice groups in parishes and communities. Related points in a recent Vatican News article linking restorative justice practices to Pope Leo’s address on 2026 World Day of Peace are reviewed, as well as related information from the United States Council of Catholic Bishops and the Catholic Mobilizing Network. The Circle Process is provided as one example of a restorative justice practice. The information in this article can be used to learn restorative justice basics, access additional resources within the Catholic Church, and implement restorative justice groups and projects in parishes and other communities.
The term “restoration” is in the news these days from the Vatican for a couple of reasons. One of these reasons is that restoration of Michelangelo’s fresco The Last Judgement has begun in the Sistine Chapel. The other reason is Pope Leo XIV’s emphasis on restoration in his address for the World Day of Peace recently. The latter was the subject of an article in the Vatican News that dove into restorative practices within the Catholic Church, their purpose, and their importance for lived Catholic faith. I will share with you the main points of the article, supplemented with information about restorative justice from the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and the Catholic Mobilizing Network. Are you ready? Here we go…
What are restorative justice practices and what do they do?
Practices of restorative justice:
- create opportunities for people affected by harm to understand the impacts of the harmful action
- create opportunities for people to do what is needed to make things right after a harmful action
- model Jesus’ reconciling way
- cultivate peace in a community in a concrete way
- give community members a way to model peacemaking and be peacemakers in places of —
- deep division
- isolation
- marginalization
Justice must include more than punishment…A restorative justice approach is more comprehensive and addresses the needs of victims, the community and those responsible for causing harm through healing, prevention, education, rehabilitation and community support. — United States Council of Catholic Bishops, 2015
Do restorative justice practices align with Catholic social teaching?
Restorative justice aligns with Catholic social teaching by:
- recognizing that every person has inherent dignity
- recognizes that the dignity of the human person applies to both victim and offender
- recognizing the right of every person to be part of processes and systems that impact them
- offering ways to repair harm and repair damaged relationships
- helping people and societies heal the wounds of violence
- helping Catholics live out their faith
How is the Catholic Church using restorative practices?
Throughout the United States, the Catholic Church is using restorative approaches to:
- transform historical injustices
- respond to crime and incarceration in communities
- practical tool to heal wounds of division at the local and diocesan level
What is an example of a restorative justice practice?
One example of a restorative justice practice is the Circle Process promoted by the Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN). CMN explains that the Circle Process is a foundational restorative practice that helps communities build, strengthen and repair relationships through storytelling. In a circle process, participants sit in a circle (physical or virtual) as facilitators guide dialogue in the group using a series of prompts or questions to which every person has the opportunity to contribute a response. The structure of circle process allows for rich encounter in which participants share openly and listen deeply.
CMN explains: “Circle [P]rocess offers a concrete methodology for embracing synodality and becoming the listening, discerning Church we are called to be. Engaging this practice in our parishes and ministries enables us to slow down, share openly and listen deeply to one another and the movement of the Holy Spirit.” Synodality and restorative justice practices have in common an:
- encompassed vision and process for journeying together amid woundedness and division
- aim to leverage the power of —
- deep listening
- authentic dialogue
- radical truth-telling
- illuminate a path toward communion and, ultimately, healing
Besides its connection to to the Synod on Synodality, the Circle Process is a way to engage with topic and issues of injustice in the “unarmed and disarmed way” referred to by Pope Leo XIV in his World Day of Peace address.
How can my parish and community learn more about restorative practices?
A restorative justice engagement guide for Catholic Communities entitled Paths of Renewed Encounter is available for download at no cost from CMN. In addition, CMN offers a Conversations in Communion Facilitator’s Guide, a formation program that equips Catholics to introduce the restorative practice of circle process in their parishes and ministries.
If your parish or faith community is seeking someone to visit and walk through the basics of Catholic social teaching, restorative justice, and restorative justice practices, Live and Forgive is here to help. To begin the conversation, have your parish or community coordinator email Live and Forgive presenter and facilitator Tom Delaney at tom@liveandforgive.com — I will be glad to connect with you for a conversation.
This article is an original work of the author and was not composed by or with artificial intelligence (AI). The author is solely responsible for the contents of this article and the opinions and perspectives expressed in the article are solely those of the author.. © 2026 Thomas Delaney. All rights reserved.
Top photo: Sistine Chapel, Alex Proimos, 2011
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