Rose Marie Berger is a Catholic peace activist and poet. She has been on Sojourners staff since 1986, and worked for social justice movements for 40 years. Rose has rooted herself with Sojourners magazine and ministry. She has written hundreds of articles for Sojourners and other publications and is a sought after preacher and public speaker. After living in Washington, D.C., for 35 years, she moved to Oak View, Calif., in 2022.
Rose’s work in Christian nonviolence has taken her to conflict zones around the world. She is active in the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, a project of Pax Christi International, and served as co-editor for Advancing Nonviolence and Just Peace in the Church and the World, the fruit of a multiyear, global, participatory process to deepen Catholic understanding of and commitment to Gospel nonviolence. Her poetry has appeared in the books Watershed Discipleship: Reinhabiting a Bioregional Faith and Practice and Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry: Conversations on Creation, Land Justice, and Life Together. She is author of Bending the Arch: Poems (2019), Drawn By God: A History of the Society of Catholic Medical Missionaries from 1967 to 1991 (with Janet Gottschalk, 2012), and Who Killed Donte Manning? The Story of an American Neighborhood. She has also been a religion reviewer for Publishers Weekly and a Huffington Post commentator. Her work has appeared in National Catholic Reporter, Publishers Weekly, Religion News Service, Radical Grace-Oneing, The Merton Seasonal, U.S. Catholic, and elsewhere. She serves on the board of The International Thomas Merton Society.
With Sojourners, Rose has worked as an organizer on peace and environmental issues, internship program director, liturgist, community pastor, poetry editor, and, currently, as a senior editor of Sojourners magazine, where she writes a regular column on spirituality and justice. She is responsible for the Living the Word biblical reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary, poetry, Bible studies, and interviews – and oversees the production of study guides and the online Bible study Preaching the Word.
Rose has a veteran history in social justice activism, including: leading the first international, inter-religious peace witness into Kyiv, Ukraine, following the outbreak of war in 2022, organizing inter-religious witness against the Keystone XL pipeline; educating and training groups in nonviolence; leading retreats in spirituality and justice; writing on topics as diverse as the “Spiritual Vision of Van Gogh, O'Keeffe, and Warhol,” the war in the Balkans, interviews with Black activists Vincent Harding and Yvonne Delk, the Love Canal's Lois Gibbs, and Mexican archbishop Ruiz, cultural commentary on the Catholic church and the peace movement, reviews of movies, books, and music.
Rose Berger has taught writing and poetry workshops for children and adults. She’s completed her MFA in poetry through the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program. Her poetry has been published in Sojourners, The Other Side, Radix and D.C. Poets Against the War.
Rose grew up in the Central Valley of California, located in the rich flood plains of the Sacramento and American rivers. Raised in radical Catholic communities heavily influenced by Franciscans and the Catholic Worker movement, she served for nine years on the pastoral team for Sojourners Community Church; five as its co-pastor. She directed Sojourners internship program from 1990-1999. She is currently a senior editor and poetry editor for Sojourners magazine. She has traveled throughout the United States, and also in Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosova, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and El Salvador visiting primarily with faith communities working for peace in situations of conflict.
Rose was born when atmospheric CO2 was at 319.08 ppm and now lives with her wife Heidi Thompson in Oak View, Calif., in the Ventura River watershed on traditional Chumash lands. Learn more at rosemarieberger.com.
Rose’s articles include:
- Pursuing the Secret of Joy: What is joy when it's not promiscuously tied to happiness, Hallmark, or hedonism?
- Why Our Faith Delegation went to Ukraine?: Our public message was simple: “We have come to Kyiv in solidarity to pray for a just peace.”
- Nonviolence in Najaf?: Will we recognize an Islamic peace movement when we see it?
- Of Love's Risen Body: The poetry of Denise Levertov, 1923-1997
- Glimpses of God Outside the Temple: The spiritual vision of Vincent Van Gogh, Georgia O'Keefe, and Andy Warhol.
- Damnation Will Not Be Televised: Almost everything I know about hell I learned from watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Speaking Topics
- Christian nonviolence, peace, war
- Catholic Nonviolence Initiative
- Climate change, creation care, watershed discipleship
- Bible study, liturgical year
- Poetry
- Spirituality and social justice
- Any topic covered in Sojourners magazine
- Catholicism
Speaking Format
- Preference for virtual events, but willing to discuss in-person events on case-by-case basis
Posts By This Author
Mercenaries on the Rise
Private military contractors have reportedly fired indiscriminately on Iraqi civilians hundreds of times throughout the U.S.
What the Heck is 'Social Justice'?
2007 is a Sabbath Year. Every seventh year, according to biblical tradition, the people of God are invited to observe a “Year of Remission” (Shmita, in Hebrew).
Touch-Screen Democracy?
There were no hanging chads to scrutinize on “undervoted” ballots in Florida’s 13th Congressional District during last November’s midterm elections.
Keeping Christians Cool
More than 1,500 young evangelicals from across the U.S.
Modern Prophets
Climate change activists carried out what they called an “art attack” in November by screening political messages on the sides of several London landmarks.
Huggable Warrior of the Cross
Soft Saints, Inc., purveyor of positive role models for today’s youth in the form of plush dolls, makes it possible to cuddle with a 15th-century purveyor of divine wisdom–the “Ma
HABEAS CORPUS (1787-2006)
In October, as President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006, 200 members of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture protested in front of the White House against what they cal
Justapaz Wins Peace Award
The Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation has awarded Justapaz, a ministry of the Mennonite Church in Colombia, the 2006 award for nonviolence in areas of armed conflict.
Busting Pedophile Rings
The American owner of a bar in Cambodia that is frequented by international pedophiles was arrested in a faith-based human rights group’s effort to bring known pedophiles to justice.
The Oils of War
CEOs of U.S. defense contractors have pocketed huge amounts of spoils since the beginning of the “war on terror,” and CEOs at top U.S.
Episcopal Bishops Still at Crossroads
At the request of Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, a group of U.S.
Be Still And Know
A Light Shines in the Darkness
Tom Fox was profoundly affected by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Hanging up the Phone Tax
The federal excise tax on long-distance phone calls, which began as part of the Spanish-American War effort in 1898, was repealed in May by the U.S. Treasury Department.