This year, 37 nominees were put forward for consideration for the Pax Christi USA 2024 Teacher of Peace Award.
Each year (with the exception of a four year hiatus between 2017-2020), Pax Christi USA honors an outstanding peacemaker in the tradition of Sr. Thea Bowman, Fr. Dan Berrigan, Cesar Chávez, Sr. Dianna Ortiz, Dorothy Day, Fr. Ray East, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Fr. Bryan Massingale, and others. Last year’s recipient was Fr. Joe Nangle, ofm.
The award recognizes 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.”
“The thing that amazes me every year is how many people both inside and outside our movement are nominated — for ways large and small, public and private, local and national in which they are embodying what it means to ‘teach peace’ in our world today,” stated Johnny Zokovitch, Pax Christi USA Executive Director. “Every one of these nominees is recognized for their witness in following the nonviolence of Jesus, their work for justice and peace in whatever way that manifests.”
The Pax Christi USA National Council, following consultation with the Teacher of Peace Committee, makes the final decision regarding this year’s recipient. Next month, the 2024 Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace will be announced with this year’s recipient receiving the award at a time and place to be determined this summer.
Following is a list of this year’s nominees (listed randomly):
- Fr. Richard Watson
- Sr. Mary Scullion, RSM
- Dennis Duffell
- Ansel Augustine
- Joshua Snyder
- Fr. John Dear
- Eli McCarthy
- Frida Berrigan
- Sr. Paulette Schroeder, osf
- Joan Tirak
- Stephen J. Pope, Ph.D.
- Archbishop John Wester
- Fr. Tom Lumpkin
- Mary Liepold
- Anita Lopez
- Sally McClean
- Anna Brown, Ph.D.
- Mary Catherine Bunting
- Sister Elizabeth Walter, IHM
- Robert (Bob) Cooke
- Christina Leano
- Eliane Lakam
- National Black Catholic Sisters’ Conference
- Steve Baggarly and Kim Williams
- Brian Terrell and Betsy Keenan
- Dr. Craig Ford Jr.
- Robert Ellsberg
- Stephen Rohde
- Clare Grady
- Jean Stokan and Scott Wright
- Kenneth Cooper
- Fr. Harry Bury
- Joan Baez
- Dr. Terrence Rynne
- Mary Hanna
- Kim Redigan
- Jack McHale
Pax Christi USA congratulates each of the nominees and gives thanks for their work on behalf of peace with justice. We encourage our members and others to send notes of congratulations to those you know among the nominees and to thank them for their commitment!
Wonderful list of nominees! Congratulations, every one!!
I’d Vote for Frida Berrigan
I’d vote for Jean Stokan
Fr. Richard Watson! A man who puts his life on the line for the Gospel.
I’d vote for all of them!
Ron Pagnucco was not on list. A Professor, a journal editor, and an important connector. His name should be on the list.
I would vote for Jean Stokan & Scott Wright, Eli McCarthy and Robert Ellsberg, Fr Harry Bury and Fr. John Dear.
They represent the purpose and foundation of life 🙏🏽
A great listing of wonderful bringers of peace, seeking justice for all in the process. I know some of the nominees better than others … all are to be congratulated and honored for their living of life and love,
Stephen Rohde an attorney for decades with death penalty clients, teacher of 1st amendment. Member of board of directors of Death Penalty Focus, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace and Jewish Bend the Arch. Friend and colleague, author, teacher and voice for Gods Peace and Nonviolence.
So honored go be on this list
So glad to see Robert Ellsberg’s name.
It is an honor to have my name along with Betsy’s in the list of nominees for Pax Christi’s “teacher of peace” award. I know most of this year’s other nominees, some only by reputation, others as close and old friends. It is easy to think of each of these good people as “teachers.” Many of them are accomplished teachers in a professional sense, others as speakers, preachers, pastors and authors. While I do some writing and occasionally speak publicly (more often in the streets or in courtrooms than in classrooms or lecture halls) I am none of these. Of all the nominees, I am probably the one least qualified as a teacher in any formal sense.
It was my good fortune after dropping out of college to find myself in New York and to get to know Dorothy Day, Eileen Egan and Dan Berrigan, along with other “teachers of peace” recognized or not, before I was 20 years old. There were no Catholic Worker internships in those days and it was both daunting and exhilarating to be accepted into such a community almost as a pier. While I was most generously forgiven for my many lapses and errors in judgement in those years, there was no condescension due to my youth and lack of experience.
I remember well my conversation with Dorothy the day I arrived at the Catholic Worker. She asked me many questions, mostly on subjects that I had not yet given much thought. While it was not entirely comfortable, I had no sense that she was grilling me or testing a new arrival. I felt keenly that Dorothy actually believed that I had something to contribute and that my thoughts were worth listening to. She had no particular reason to expect any worthwhile insights from me personally, especially since I had just gotten in from a 24 hour bus trip. In her personalism, Dorothy honored the opinions and dreams of the simplest person as much as she would those of the most accomplished academics or the most seasoned of activists.
While I have been an activist for 49 years now, I am still a student. I am grateful for the mentors I have had over these many years, but at this point in my life I am grateful as well for the friends I have at present, including many far younger than I, who allow and encourage me to continue to learn along with them. I understand that my experiences on the farm here in Maloy, as an activist internationally as well as my visits to prisons and jails are a resource to be shared for the good of the whole. Keeping a balance of when to speak and when to listen is a delicate discipline and I often err one way or the other.
While I plod along, Betsy is more of a teacher of peace than I can be. Under her mentorship, the world has more gardeners, musicians, weavers and spinners.
Brian Terrell
Such a great list. They’d each get my vote. (Though I confess the first name which came to mind was Kim Redigan!)