Pax Christi USA names five new Ambassadors of Peace

During the closing Eucharistic liturgy at our national conference in Detroit last month, Pax Christi USA named five new Ambassadors of Peace, recognized for contributions they have made toward furthering the practice of Gospel nonviolence. As of 2025, 55 people have been named Ambassador of Peace. (Sixteen Ambassadors have died since the designation was created, most recently Msgr. Doug Doussan of New Orleans.)

The five new Ambassadors of Peace are Fr. Tom Lumpkin, Joan Tirak, and Pat Valaer, all of Pax Christi Michigan; Nick Mele, who is part of Pax Christi Pacific Northwest and serves on the nuclear disarmament working groups of both Pax Christi USA and Pax Christi International; and Abigail Abysalh Metzger, who serves on the Palestine working groups of both Pax Christi USA and Pax Christi International and who also participates as a Pax Christi International representative to the United Nations in New York City.

“In these days of global violence and injustice, it is imperative that we recognize those individuals who are dedicated to gospel nonviolence, peacemaking, reconciliation, and justice,” said Sherry Simon, chair of the Pax Christi USA national council. “Our society is in dire need of those individuals who model the teachings of the gospel in their daily lives. Fr. Tom Lumpkin, Nick Mele, Abigail Metzger, Joan Tirak, and Pat Valaer are living examples of what it means to live a life rooted in ‘the peace of Christ.'”

Pope Leo XIV, in one of his first speeches as pope, emphasized the critical role of peacemakers in our society, urging them to “disarm words” and promote a more compassionate approach to conflict resolution. He said that “those who make history are the peacemakers, not those who sow seeds of suffering.” Pax Christi USA Ambassadors of Peace fulfill this mandate of peacemaking through their active teaching and practice of nonviolence.

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Fr. Tom Lumpkin, 86 years old, was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1964. His seminary theological formation convinced him that being a disciple of Jesus required an active, even public, commitment to nonviolence in word and deed, a conviction he has sought to incarnate in his 61 years of ordained ministry. Over the years he has frequently participated in nonviolent civil  disobedience protests, some of which resulted in arrests and even occasional incarcerations. One particular act that received national attention was a 40 day “Fast for Life” event in 1972 in which he traveled to New York to join others in a water-only fast for 40 days to protest US deepening involvement in Vietnam. For the past 40+ years Tom has been a co-manager of a Catholic Worker soup kitchen in downtown Detroit. While he plans to retire from this ministry at the end of this calendar year, he has no plans to retire from trying to make “God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” in whatever situations the future will bring.

Nick Mele has worked as a nonviolence trainer for Pax Christi USA; as a founding staff member for the Nonviolent Peaceforce; and as the Pax Christi representative to the Inter-Religious Conference on Article 9, an international group working to reduce militarism and armaments in the Asia-Pacific region. After 25 years as a US diplomat in Africa and Asia, Nick Mele retired to pursue peace outside of government. He has served Pax Christi USA and Pax Christi International as a consultant on nuclear issues since 2014. Currently, he coordinates the Pax Christi nuclear abolition working group and works locally in Western Washington state toward abolition of nuclear weapons and to inform US Catholics about nuclear weapons issues. Nick writes on foreign affairs, nonviolence and other justice issues for a variety of publications. He is also a member of the editorial board for A Matter of Spirit, a quarterly journal published by the Inter-community Peace and Justice Center in Seattle, WA. Nick was born in New York City but moved away in 1972 and has been living in Bellingham, WA, since 2000.

Abigail Abysalh Metzger was born and raised Manhattanite and now resides with her husband in New Jersey. She has been a member of Pax Christi International and USA for many years. She actively represents Pax Christi as part of its UN team and with other organizations working specifically on Palestinian advocacy. She has been to the Holy Land three times, the most recent in February 2023 as part of an international delegation of Pax Christi members. She coordinates the Pax Christi USA working group on Palestinian solidarity and is a member of the Pax Christi International core team working on this issue. Abigail also served on the Pax Christi Metro New York board. She has always worked in the non-profit sector beginning with the US Fund for UNICEF and then in children’s health care as Director of Children of Bellevue, an auxiliary at Bellevue Hospital and the Association for Children’s Healthcare in Washington, DC.

Joan Tirak is from Lansing, MI and has spent most of her adult life working for peace with justice – first as member of the Erie, PA Benedictine order (19+ years) where she got her spiritual grounding, then as a campus minister building community and providing activities and programs rooted in the theology and spirituality of Gospel nonviolence for six years at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. After that, she spent five years as Director of the Lansing Newman Centre and then 29 years as the State Coordinator for Pax Christi Michigan as well as an engaged member of Pax Christi USA’s regional leadership…and now continuing as a member of Pax Christi Lansing. Joan was the co-founder and subsequent president and board member of Loaves and Fishes Ministries, a program to provide housing and wrap around services for men, women and children experiencing homelessness in Lansing, MI. “Over the years, Pax Christi has become deeply engrained into my being, so I was most honored to have been named a Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace at the 2025 conference in Detroit.”

Pat Valaer has been a member of the Pax Christi Michigan (PCM) State Council since 1982 and its treasurer for 43 years and has previously served as assistant coordinator. As a dedicated peacemaker, Pat worked behind the scenes planning and implementing PCM’s annual state conferences, retreats, prayer vigils and nonviolent protests. Her involvement included actions at the Williams International Cruise Missile Engine Plant in Walled Lake, Michigan, in the 1980s and months of rallies and marches leading up to the start of the Iraq war. Nonviolent protesting became her way of life. Pat is an active member of the PCM local group Pax Christi Lansing and a Meta Peace Team supporter and office volunteer. She served many years on the Charity and Justice and Worship Commissions at Cristo Rey Church in Lansing. After teaching Special Education for 40 years, Pat retired in 2007. She holds a Masters Degree in Pastoral Ministry from Loyola Chicago.