Washington, DC — Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace movement, is pleased to announce that the inaugural Sr. Dianna Ortiz, OSU Peacemaker Award is given to University of Notre Dame graduate student Joryán Hernández.
The award will be presented on July 26 during the Pax Christi USA national conference in Detroit, MI.
Earlier this year, the Pax Christi USA national council voted to create the award, to be given annually to a young adult (under 40) whose life and work exemplifies the commitment to justice, contemplative presence, faith-based activism, compassion, and prophetic, nonviolent witness of Sr. Dianna Ortiz, OSU, who died in 2021 at age 62. Justice and contemplative presence are part of the spiritual charism of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph in Maple Mount, Kentucky, the community to which Sr. Dianna belonged.
In November 1989, Sr. Dianna (born and raised in the US) was a missionary in Guatemala when she was kidnapped and brutally tortured by military forces. She subsequently spent years bravely pushing the US government to tell the truth about her excruciating experience. Sr. Dianna drew on her own ordeal to create the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC), which provides tools and assistance for torture survivors to advocate for themselves, to raise awareness of the ongoing use of torture around the world, and to change laws and customs. She received the Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace award in 2000, and later served as program director and internship program coordinator from 2009-2012, and deputy director from 2020-2021, before her death from cancer. Sr. Dianna had a deep commitment and abiding love for young people, as an educator and teacher, and coordinating the Pax Christi USA internship program.
Joryán Hernández is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute. His work “explores how theologies of resistance can actualize radical changes to repressive conditions in authoritarian regimes. His goal is to create awareness within religious institutions of the harm endured by those they are called to serve, encourage them to better serve their community, and include them in the political process of liberating Latinx individuals from immutable governments. A Cuban immigrant himself, Joryán believes that a better future must be imagined, as José Martí said, ‘Con todos y para el bien de todos’.” [“With everyone and for the good of everyone.”]
Hernández has been active with campus activities in solidarity with the Palestinian people, including the call for the university to divest of military contracts.
In their nomination of Hernández, Pax Christi Young Adult Caucus leader Jessica Sun wrote:
[Joryán is] a leader at the University of Notre Dame among the courageous campus protesters who risk everything in order to stand for human rights, peace, and nonviolence — the values Jesus champions and that Pax Christi stands for.
His piece in National Catholic Reporter I’m a Notre Dame peace studies student. I was arrested calling for peace in Gaza continues to resonate loudly in the hearts of the faithful. What Joryán and so many courageous students around the country stood for is the embodiment of what Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King dreamed of.
As Dr. King famously said, “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority. If the church does not participate actively in the struggle for peace and for economic and racial justice, it will forfeit the loyalty of millions and cause men everywhere to say that it has atrophied its will.
“But if the church will free itself from the shackles of a deadening status quo, and, recovering its great historic mission, will speak and act fearlessly and insistently in terms of justice and peace, it will enkindle the imagination of mankind and fire the souls of men, imbuing them with a glowing and ardent love for truth, justice, and peace. Men far and near will know the church as a great fellowship of love that provides light and bread for lonely travelers at midnight.”
This year’s award was made possible by the generous support of Sr. Dianna’s community, the Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph in Kentucky.
Pax Christi USA is honored to continue the legacy and memory of Sr. Dianna by celebrating young adults for their creative, faith-filled efforts for peace and justice, and to give heart to their lifelong commitment to peacebuilding and nonviolence.
For more information, please contact Judy Coode, Pax Christi USA’s Communications Director.
What a splendid tribute to unforgettable and strong Sister Dianna and what an honor for Nôtre Dame University. Any university, private or public, would be enriched by students like Joryán Hernández. Truly, I hope his appreciates what he has already accomplished and promises to accomplish in the near-future. Our students reflect us and our universities.
David-Ross Gerling, PhD