FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C.— Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace movement, has recognized Rev. Bryan N. Massingale, S.T.D., theologian, author and scholar-activist, as the 2021 recipient of the Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Award. With this award, Pax Christi USA is recognizing Rev. Massingale’s witness and leadership, his accompaniment and guidance of movements and organizations committed to the work of peace and social justice (including our own), and his promotion of the social mission of the gospel.
“I have often referred to Father Bryan Massingale as my teacher, especially in matters of understanding and responding to systematic racism,” stated Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., Bishop-President of Pax Christi USA. “He is clearly a Teacher of Peace and calls each of us all to work for genuine peace with justice. His prophetic voice is needed at this moment in our history and I am so pleased that Pax Christi USA is honoring him in this way.”
Rev. Massingale, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, is the James and Nancy Buckman Professor of Theological and Social Ethics at Fordham University and the Senior Fellow in its Center for Ethics Education. He is the author of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church, considered to be one of the preeminent books on racial justice and faith, offering both an exploration and critique of the Catholic Church’s history in relation to racism. For all those concerned with justice and healing for our world, Rev. Massingale’s voice and perspective are essential.
“Fr. Massingale is the prophetic edge of the Catholic Church in the United States today,” stated Isaac Chandler, National Chair of Pax Christi USA. “In word or action, he mines the intersections of race, sexuality, and faith, raising our awareness of issues ranging from criminal justice to LGBTQ rights to capital punishment. He is the voice of reason and leadership that is needed to guide us through these turbulent times. We are thrilled to honor him as this year’s Teacher of Peace Award recipient.”
An award-winning contributor to major Catholic thought vehicles such as US Catholic, Commonweal, America Magazine, and The National Catholic Reporter, Rev. Massingale is also a public intellectual who frequently addresses issues of racial and sexual justice on National Public Radio (NPR), ABC News, and the PBS NewsHour, as well as in the Huffington Post and the Associated Press. His current writing projects explore the contributions of Black radicalism to Catholic theology; the notion of “cultural sin” and its challenge to Catholic theological ethics; and the intersections of race and sexuality in both social life and Catholicism.
In her nomination of Rev. Massingale for the 2021 Teacher of Peace Award, Pearlette Springer, coordinator of the Pax Christi Anti-Racism Team, wrote: “Fr. Bryan has been a ‘teacher of peace’ most of his life, going above and beyond the norm to sustain efforts to address social injustices within the Catholic Church. … He continues to push the envelope in service to BIPOC and LGBTQ communities.”
Pax Christi USA first gave the Teacher of Peace Award to Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, in 1978 and has since recognized some of the most significant U.S. Catholic activists for peace and justice of the past 4 decades, including actor Martin Sheen; poet and priest Daniel Berrigan, S.J.; torture survivor and abolition activist Sr. Dianna Ortiz, O.S.U.; and Dead Man Walking author Sr. Helen Prejean, C.S.J.
This year’s Teacher of Peace award will be presented to Rev. Massingale on July 31st at Pax Christi USA’s 2021 National Conference. For a full list of this year’s nominees, click here.
For more information or requests for interviews, please contact:
- Johnny Zokovitch, Pax Christi USA’s Executive Director at 352-219-8419
- Edward Ablang, Program Associate, at eablang@paxchristiusa.org.
More by Rev. Massingale:
- How the church can combat racism and white privilege, an interview with Rev. Bryan Massingale
- The assumptions of white privilege and what we can do about it, by Rev. Bryan Massingale
- The racist attack on the U.S. Capitol, by Rev. Bryan Massingale
- Racism and the Catholic Church one year after the murder of George Floyd, an interview with Rev. Bryan Massingale
Coverage of the award:
- Fr. Bryan Massingale named 2021 Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace, The Black Catholic Messenger
Congratulations and thank you, Rev. Massingale! Your presence, words, and ideas provoke thought, self-reflection, and ultimately direction to an evolving Church. Your guidance and honesty are a necessity. Peace!
Congratulations to Father Bryan Massingale and to Pax Christi USA on such an important and appropriate recognition of Fr. Massingale’s leadership and prophetic witness to the Catholic Church in the U.S. and beyond. May we all listen with great care to his wise message!
You are a voice for the voiceless. What a blessing you are to so many. Thanks for showing us the way.