Pax Christi Peace Award Winners 2019

L-R: Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Fr Joe Ryan, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon

Four peace activists were presented with Pax Christi peace medals at the Pax Christi UK AGM in London on 18 May 2019. The awards are given every two years.

Fr Joe Ryan

Fr Joe is a parish priest of the Westminster Diocese and Chair of the Westminster Justice and Peace Commission since 2005. In 2006 he secured a fieldworker - Barbara Kentish - and established an office for J&P in his parish centre. Several times he invited eminent theologian Fr Sean McDonagh as speaker at the annual study day, ensuring that climate was a primary justice issue for the Commission. In 2009 he helped to organise the National J&P conference on Migration at Swanwick in Derbyshire.

As a Catholic priest, he spoke at the Occupy London movement in 2011 on the immorality of the financial crisis. He formed part of a committee to run the multi-agency 100 Days of Peace around the 2012 Olympic Games, with interfaith/ community games in the local park, and an international Mass to hand over the torch of peace to Brazil. In 2015 he originated and participated in the 'Cycle to Paris' initiative, which ensured that there was representation of J&P amongst NGOs at the COP 21 Climate talks. He accompanied the J&P Europe Pilgrimage in April 2018, which sought to highlight the enduring links the church has with European peace and justice movements.

He offers an on-going witness to Catholic Social Teaching. In a previous parish, Joe sheltered a Filipino family in his church for several months, a family due to be deported by the Home Office. The parish supported his stand, and the family was allowed to stay. Joe belongs to an international committee which campaigns for the release of the leader of the Kurdish PKK movement, Abdullah Ocalan, who has been in isolated captivity in Turkey nearly 20 years. In response to requests for Catholic support, Joe began 8/9 years ago to participate in delegations to Istanbul, to the European Parliament in Brussels and to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Human rights for the Kurds is not the only unpopular cause very close to his heart: he has campaigned for many years for justice for Palestinians, and has made several pilgrimages to Israel-Palestine, writing about, and publicising the situation through diocesan channels.

He has sought constantly to be present at peaceful demonstrations on the streets of London, whether for peace at home or abroad, often being asked to represent Catholics on the speakers' platforms. The 'parliament of the streets' is a forum he greatly respects, while always seeking to be present as a voice for gospel values, and he welcomes opportunities to lead and participate in prayer services on the streets, including the Pax Christi Ash Wednesday service at the Ministry of Defence.

J&P achievements in his parish include St John Vianney being a LiveSimply and a Fairtrade parish, and it has contributed to numerous international charities. The parish supports priests in Bangladesh and Ghana who regularly visit the parish, having made long-term links. Parishioners of this inner-city parish have contributed very generously to collections and actions for the homeless and refugees. Joe enabled the establishment of the London Catholic Worker house for refugees in parish property, acting as link with the diocese and championing its presence in the heart of the parish. He facilitated the founding of the Haringey Migrants Support Centre, a drop-in advice organisation which gives free help to hundreds of migrants every year. Expanded beyond its temporary office at the parish, it has acquired a permanent office, while continuing to hold its weekly drop-in sessions at the parish. Without the hospitality of the parish, this voluntary service might have struggled to survive.

To attend Joe's parish Masses is to experience inclusion and the spirit of justice and peace.

Fr Joe Ryan was nominated by Barbara Kentish, former J&P fieldworker in Westminster Diocese; Julian Filochowski, Chair of the Romero Trust; and Tony Sheen, CAFOD Westminster Coordinator.

Peter Van Den Dungen

Peter has made a huge but mostly unacknowledged contribution to peace education by his pioneering work in the field of peace history. Until his retirement Peter was for several decades on the staff of the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford. He inspired many students by his enthusiasm for the history of peace movements, initiatives and individual peacemakers. No one in this country has more detailed knowledge than he about these subjects. Numerous articles based his own wide-ranging research have been published in different languages worldwide.

One of Peter's most notable contributions has been through his role in the establishment and development of the Peace Museum in Bradford. Making links with similar museums worldwide led first to regular international conferences which bring together curators of these peace and anti-war museums, and then to the formation of an International Network of Museums for Peace. Peter gathered the necessary resources to establish an international office for the network in The Hague.

Peter's unobtrusive support and scholarship have been behind many conferences, exhibitions, events and publications marking the anniversaries of particular events - and behind new 'peace trails' in different cities in Britain and other European countries. He fully encouraged an initiative to run the first 'popular style' peace history conference in 2007 at the Imperial War Museum in London, and these conferences have been held annually ever since, the most recent in Cardiff in 2018. Peter himself has been a lecturer at many of these, on topics such as Erasmus, Henry Richard MP, Henri Dunant (founder of the Red Cross), Bertha Von Suttner, and the London Peace Society.

What is so distinctive and valuable is Peter's interaction with the peace movement and his enthusiasm to pass on the fruits of academic research to the general public through initiatives such as the museums, peace walks and conferences. Because more dramatic aspects of peace campaigning attract greater attention, few recognise the importance of history in the shaping of public opinion oriented towards peacemaking. He has worked ceaselessly to promote a culture of peace and nonviolence.

Nominated by Valerie Flessati and Bruce Kent

Anna and Eleanor Marshall

Anna and Eleanor were nominated for the Peace Award because they have been involved with peace and justice issues and have had a long link with Pax Christi despite their youth. In 2014/15, the sisters raised funds for Pax Christi with their 'Pockets of Peace' action. Eleanor has involved the local MP in a campaign at school and Anna wrote an article on climate change that won her the 2019 Columban Young Journalists Competition.

In 2018 they together organised a day to challenge students from the Hallam Diocese to learn about various organisations working for Justice and Peace. The day was so successful with students that they demanded a repeat so that Eleanor and Anna are now planning a similar event during the summer term. Their commitment and enthusiasm has been an inspiration to all, illustrating how young people can successfully take on leadership roles.

Nominated by Aisling Griffin (Pax Christi Youth Worker), James Trewby (Columban Education Worker) and Pat Gaffney (Former General Secretary of Pax Christi UK).