Longtime member Judy Coode has joined the national staff of Pax Christi USA as its communications director.
A member of Pax Christi USA since the mid-1990s, when she was active with what was then the Pax Christi Young Adult/Youth Forum, Coode served on the national council from 2004-2010, including three years as chair of the council.
“Having someone like Judy who has experience with Pax Christi at every level is a great benefit for our movement,” stated Johnny Zokovitch, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA. “Her knowledge of the Catholic peace and justice world as well as over 20+ years experience in communications work are resources that will sustain and build on the legacy of Pax Christi USA.”
For the past six years, Coode was coordinator for the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative (CNI), a project of Pax Christi International, which aims to promote and strengthen nonviolence within every level of the Catholic Church. One of the major projects of CNI was the publication of Advancing Nonviolence and Just Peace in the Church and the World, of which she was a co-editor along with Marie Dennis, Ken Butigan, and Rose Marie Berger. From 1995-2015, she worked at the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns as communications coordinator.
“Pax Christi has been an important part of my life for almost 30 years,” Coode said. “Locally, nationally, and internationally – the people I’ve gotten to know and the experiences we’ve shared through this movement have been a profound part of my faith formation, my understanding of justice and nonviolence, and my awareness of white supremacy and how it has shaped our society. I’m so grateful to stay connected to Pax Christi in this way and to be a part of this great team.”
A fourth-generation native of Nashville, Tennessee, Coode graduated from Loyola University New Orleans. She spent a year as a Jesuit Volunteer in Anchorage, Alaska, followed by a year-long internship with Sojourners magazine, which is what brought her to Washington, D.C. where she has lived since 1990. She is a longtime volunteer with the ESL program at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart parish in Washington, D.C.’s Mt. Pleasant neighborhood, is an avid listener to Jane Austen podcasts, and spent the pandemic trying to learn how to use a sewing machine.
Photo of Fr. Joe Nangle, OFM and Judy Coode at Capernaum, 2015; credit: Johnny Zokovitch