Pax Christi USA offers condolences to the friends and family of Msgr. Doug Doussan, who served as chair of the national council in the mid-1980s. He was the founder of Pax Christi New Orleans and one of the first persons appointed as a Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace. He was 90 years old when he died on July 9.
“Father Doug was the best diocesan priest I have ever known,” said 1996 Teacher of Peace Sr. Helen Prejean, “a prayerful man of the Gospel and servant of the people.”
Use this link to read his obituary.
“Father Doug cared for peace in our lives, in our communities, in our nation and in our world,” said 2003 Teacher of Peace Bill Quigley. “He practiced and modeled leadership in partnership with women and communities of color. Peace was not a siloed concern. His vision of peace challenged war and racism and sexism together.”
Pax Christi USA is deeply grateful for the decades of service that Msgr. Doussan gave to promote nonviolence and peace.
In March 2008, Msgr. Doussan welcomed members of the Pax Christi USA national council to New Orleans for their spring meeting: Top row, l-r: Bill Quigley, Donna Grimes, Sr. Josie Chrosniak, Pearlette Springer, and Msgr. Doussan’s Pax Christi New Orleans colleague Sr. Kathleen Pittman. Bottom row, l-r: Diane Lopez Hughes, Olga Sarabia, Judy Coode, Msgr. Doussan.
I remember Doug fondly as we serviced together on the National Council in the late 1980s. He was a man of deep grace and compassion and was a great listener. His obituary attests to his gifted pastoral leadership and his devotion to collegiality and synodality. He had a marvelous smile and sense of humor and spoke from a deep spirituality born of his roots in Lousiana. He once hosted the National Council at his parish in New Orleans. Doug Doussan, Presente!