Each year, Pax Christi USA honors an outstanding peacemaker with the Teacher of Peace Award, in the tradition of Sr. Thea Bowman, Cesar Chávez, Dorothy Day, Pope Paul VI, and other contemporary Catholic figures who have shone a light for us on our journey toward solidarity and justice, to be each other’s keepers and stewards of creation.
To nominate someone for the Teacher of Peace Award, please fill out the online form here.
This award began as a recognition of women and men whose lives and work exemplify the theme of Pope Paul VI’s World Day of Peace message, “To reach peace, teach peace.” Today we continue to honor those people who, as Pope Francis stated in his 2021 World Day of Peace message, “educate for a culture of care”, providing the compass which points the way on the path of peace to renewed encounter and healing.
All nominations must be received by July 21, 2023 to be considered.
Eligibility criteria for nominations for the Teacher of Peace Award are:
- A living person
- A Catholic individual or group
- A person who has made significant contributions to Catholic peace with justice activities
- A person who demonstrates a commitment to challenge & transform structures and cultures of oppression through active nonviolence and peace with justice.
- National Council Members of Pax Christi USA should be considered ineligible until at least three years have elapsed since leaving office
Past recipients of this award who are still living and not eligible include:
Roy Bourgeois | Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB | Art Laffin | Fr. Peter Dougherty | Jim and Shelley Douglass | Msgr. Ray East | Bishop Thomas Gumbleton | Jim Albertini | MJ and Jerry Park | Kathy Kelly | Elizabeth McAlister | Mary Meg McCarthy | Colman McCarthy | Kathy McGinnis | Ruben Garcia | Helen Prejean, CSJ | Bill Quigley | Colleen Kelly | Martin Sheen | Fr. Louis Vitale, OFM | Rev. Bryan Massingale | Marie Dennis
To nominate someone for the Teacher of Peace Award, please fill out the online form here.
See a full list of our past award recipients here.
* If you would prefer to send in your nomination by email or post, contact Johnny Zokovitch at jzokovitch@paxchristiusa.org.