Sr. Dianna Ortiz, OSUPax Christi USA is pleased to welcome Dianna Ortiz, OSU to our staff as our new Deputy Director. Dianna began her new position with Pax Christi USA the week of March 10th, just as the coronavirus outbreak was being recast as a global pandemic.

Dianna is familiar to many within the Pax Christi USA community already. In 2000, she was recognized with the Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Award, and previously served on the staff of Pax Christi USA about ten years ago.

Dianna is a Mount Saint Joseph Ursuline Sister from Kentucky. In her memoir, The Blindfold’s Eyes: My Journey from Torture to Truth, she writes about her life-changing ministry with the Mayan people in the highlands of Guatemala and gives a firsthand account of the personal and communal effects of political violence imposed by a war situation and state oppression. Her journey led her down a path to work for global and domestic human rights. She credits family, her Ursuline Community, friends and total strangers for giving her the courage to use truth-telling as a nonviolent political tactic to raise awareness about human rights issues and to promote change.

“The world is changing all around us. In a sense, we are being forced to be eyewitnesses to the human suffering of those around us and to the destruction of our planet. Any of us could be second guessing whether justice and peace truly prevail in a hurting and unjust world,” Dianna shared. “When hope gets tangled up in despair, I remind myself that working for peace is not a solitary act but a collective act of solidarity.”

Prior to rejoining the Pax Christi USA team, Dianna served as the Guatemala Human Rights Commission USA’s program outreach coordinator; Executive Director for the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC); Project Director for Education for Justice; and most recently, a consultant with Global Sisters Report.

In her position as Deputy Director, Dianna oversees the daily management of the Washington, D.C. staff in collaboration with the Executive Director, facilitates Pax Christi USA representation in D.C. policy circles, and serves as the primary coordinator of Pax Christi USA’s advocacy work.

“In this new chapter of my life, I hope to utilize what I have learned in previous ministries to assist Pax Christi USA in ‘reconnecting’ with existing members, cultivating a new generation of peacemakers, and promoting the movement’s four priority areas,” Dianna stated. “One of my roles as Deputy Director will be to represent PCUSA in various circles where we seek to have a voice and to build public confidence in the often-forgotten work of our members in the peace movement. In these circles, I promise to bring our members’ concerns to the table and to advocate with, and on behalf of all in our movement on issues that not only impact our communities but our entire world.”

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Dianna join our team and lend her voice and experience to the work we do to promote peace, practice nonviolence and address the root causes of the issues that are at the heart of our work,” stated Johnny Zokovitch, Pax Christi USA Executive Director. “Personally, for me and the rest of our team, it is a great gift to have her calm presence, her compassionate spirit and her kind heart to lift us up as we persist in work that can be challenging much of the time.”

We encourage our members to reach out and welcome Dianna in her new position with us via email at dortiz@paxchristiusa.org.

Welcome Dianna!

12 thoughts on “Welcome Dianna Ortiz, OSU, Pax Christi USA’s new Deputy Director

  1. I am delighted beyond words Dianna, that you have accepted this position with P.C.U.S.A. I met you in Milwaukee when you addressed us folks at the CALL TO ACTION gathering,which was not too long after your harrowing experience in Guatemala. We have an active P.C. group here in the Green Bay Diocese in Wisconsin. We have a monthly round-table which gathers at our Casa Esther Catholic Worker House in Omro,WI. At the moment, we are supporting the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 as they await sentencing May 28-29. Fr. Joe Mattern, Director

  2. Welcome, Dianna. Blessings from Pax Christi El Paso! We are so grateful and happy to have you as part of the Pax Christi USA team. You know you are welcome here on the Border!

  3. Congratulations dear Dianna Ortiz, a wonderful choice! Peace and love, Sister Carol and Sister Ardeth

  4. God bless you for all the great work you are doing and will do in your new position! I am praying for you always!

  5. Our Ursuline community is so blessed to be a part of your life. We support you, love you and hope your new work will give you life. We are always with you in spirit. Sister Amelia

  6. Congratulation (Sister) sister Dianna – You will continue to do great work and help the folks in need. Please let me know where I can help support your group to make the world a better place for everyone.
    Love You , Tu hermano John – Gallup NM

  7. Dianna,
    I’m so proud of you. Blessings as you bring your gifts to the world in a new way.
    Much love,
    Mary

  8. What a JOY to have you back again on the staff of PCUSA, Dianna. Your incredible experience, your history, your prior work, your vision are a blessing for all of us going forward. God bless you! Love & Peace!

  9. Congratulations to Sr. Dianna and to Pax Christi. May you be blessed. I know you will be a blessing. Peace. Love, Dee

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