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Rev. Bryan N. Massingale
ROBERT M. HOLSTEIN FAITH DOING JUSTICE AWARD
Rev. Bryan N. Massingale is the James and Nancy Buckman Professor of Theological and Social Ethics, as well as the Senior Ethics Fellow in Fordham’s Center for Ethics Education. Prior to his appointment at Fordham, he was professor of theology at Marquette University, where in 2009 he received that institution’s highest award for excellence in teaching. Fr. Massingale is the author of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2010).
Fr. Massingale strives to be a scholar-activist through serving faith-based groups advancing justice in society. He is a noted authority on issues of social and racial justice, having addressed numerous national Catholic conferences and lectured at colleges and universities across the nation. He has served as a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, providing theological assistance on issues such as criminal justice, capital punishment, environmental justice, and affirmative action. He has also been a consultant to the National Black Catholic Congress, Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Health Association, Catholic Relief Services, the Leadership Conference of Religious Women, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, the National Catholic AIDS Network, and the antiracism teams of Call to Action and Pax Christi USA. He is an active participant in a network of Catholic thought leaders striving for fuller inclusion of LGBT persons in society and the faith community. He was a keynote speaker at the 2017 and 2021 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice.
Fr. Massingale is a leader in the field of theological ethics. He is a past convener of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium and a former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Christian Ethics and serves on the editorial board of Theological Studies, one of the premier Catholic journals of theology. He also served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Moral Theology and the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics. He is a current member and past coordinator of the North American Regional Committee of the “Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church” project.
Fr. Massingale is the recipient of four honorary doctorates, and has held the Bernard J. Hanley Chair at Santa Clara University. His contributions to justice advocacy have been recognized on many occasions. He received the Pope John XXIII Award from the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests in 2017, “for his tireless efforts to create a world where the dignity of each person is respected and protected.” He received Catholic Charities USA’s “Centennial Gold Medal” in 2012 for leadership and service in the social mission of the Roman Catholic Church. He received the YWCA’s “Eliminating Racism” award in 2014. He is the recipient of Project Equality’s “Religious Momentum” Award for his efforts in promoting diversity in the Catholic Church. He has been honored by both Fairfield University and Cardinal Stritch University for his advocacy for social justice and his work for inclusion of the socially marginalized. He was awarded the “Rev. Al McKnight Award” in 2011 by the National Joint Conference of Black Catholic Clergy, Sisters, Deacons and Seminarians for outstanding witness on behalf of justice for the marginalized. He was honored with the “Harry Fagin Award” in 2009 by the National Association of Diocesan Social Action Directors for his contributions to the study and knowledge of Catholic Social Teaching. He has received numerous recognitions from the Catholic Press Association for award-winning commentaries on contemporary social issues from a faith perspective.
About the Robert M. Holstein Faith Doing Justice Award
The Holstein Award is given by the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) each year to individuals who have demonstrated a significant commitment to leadership for social justice grounded in the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits).
About Robert M. Holstein
The late Robert (Bob) M. Holstein, a former Jesuit of the California province, a labor lawyer, and a fierce advocate for social justice, was one of the founders of the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice (IFTJ). From the late 1990s through 2009, the IFTJ was held in conjunction with the annual gathering in Columbus, Georgia, to protest the former U.S. Army School of the Americas (now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation-WHINSEC) at Ft. Benning. Nineteen of the twenty-six Salvadoran soldiers who committed the murders of the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador and their companions received training at the former School of the Americas during the 1980s. The Ignatian Family Teach-In and protest/vigil in Georgia began to remember the Jesuit martyrs and call for the close of the school/institute. In organizing the Teach-in, Holstein laid the foundation for what would become the Ignatian Solidarity Network, which began in 2004.
On January 5, 2003, Holstein passed away. In a homily remembering Bob at his funeral mass Rev. John Baumann, S.J., described Holstein as a man who “was passionate about justice and fairness for all peoples, particularly the poor and disenfranchised.” The Robert M. Holstein Faith Doing Justice Award honors this commitment to justice by recognizing individuals each year who are connected with the Ignatian Family and have demonstrated a significant commitment to leadership for social justice.
Previous Recipients
Marie Dennis
ROBERT M. HOLSTEIN FAITH DOING JUSTICE AWARD
Marie Dennis is senior advisor to the secretary general of Pax Christi International, the global Catholic peace movement. She was co-president of Pax Christi International from 2007 to 2019 and serves on the executive committee of Pax Christi’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative.
Marie worked for the Maryknoll Missioners from 1989 to 2012, including 15 years as director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns. She holds a master’s degree in moral theology from Washington Theological Union and honorary doctorates from Trinity Washington University and Alvernia University. Marie is author or co-author of seven books and editor of Choosing Peace: The Catholic Church Returns to Gospel Nonviolence.
Marie was one of the primary organizers of April 2016 and April 2019conferences in Rome on Nonviolence and Just Peace that were cosponsored by the Vatican and Pax Christi International. The 2016 conference called on the Catholic Church to re-commit to the centrality of gospel nonviolence; proposed the World Day of Peace 2017 theme on nonviolence; and started the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative. Since then she has participated in several programs and processes organized by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
In 2016 Marie received the Public Peace Prize and was named Person of the Year by the National Catholic Reporter. She now serves on the steering committee of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. She has previously served on the national boards of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, the Center of Concern, JustFaith Ministries, Sojourners magazine, the Jubilee USA Network and several other organizations.
She has lectured at many universities and conferences over the past 40 years on topics ranging from Catholic social teaching to U.S. foreign policy, peace, nonviolence and reconciliation, the global economy, climate change, migration and the nuclear arms race. She has prepared and participated in panels and workshops at the United Nations and the U.S. Congress.
Marie was a founder of the ecumenical Center for New Creation, dedicated to education and action for social justice and peace; the Washington (DC) Area Community Investment Fund, which makes loans for affordable housing and small businesses in low-income communities; Assisi Community committed to shared simple living and work for social transformation; and the Jubilee USA campaign for cancellation of overwhelming and unjust debt of impoverished countries.
About the Robert M. Holstein Faith Doing Justice Award
The Holstein Award is given by the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) each year to individuals who have demonstrated a significant commitment to leadership for social justice grounded in the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits).
About Robert M. Holstein
The late Robert (Bob) M. Holstein, a former Jesuit of the California province, a labor lawyer, and a fierce advocate for social justice, was one of the founders of the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice (IFTJ). From the late 1990s through 2009, the IFTJ was held in conjunction with the annual gathering in Columbus, Georgia, to protest the former U.S. Army School of the Americas (now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation-WHINSEC) at Ft. Benning. Nineteen of the twenty-six Salvadoran soldiers who committed the murders of the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador and their companions received training at the former School of the Americas during the 1980s. The Ignatian Family Teach-In and protest/vigil in Georgia began to remember the Jesuit martyrs and call for the close of the school/institute. In organizing the Teach-in, Holstein laid the foundation for what would become the Ignatian Solidarity Network, which began in 2004.
On January 5, 2003, Holstein passed away. In a homily remembering Bob at his funeral mass Rev. John Baumann, S.J., described Holstein as a man who “was passionate about justice and fairness for all peoples, particularly the poor and disenfranchised.” The Robert M. Holstein Faith Doing Justice Award honors this commitment to justice by recognizing individuals each year who are connected with the Ignatian Family and have demonstrated a significant commitment to leadership for social justice.
Previous Recipients
LEGACY OF THE MARTYRS AWARD
Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor develops creative strategies and innovative public policy to improve workers’ lives in a changing economy. The Initiative draws on Georgetown’s distinctive identity—its commitment to intellectual excellence, grounding in the Catholic and Jesuit traditions, history of inter-religious cooperation, global reach, and prominence as an arena of policy debate in the nation’s capital—to advance prosperity, broadly-shared economic justice, and respect for the dignity of labor.
Founded in 2009, the Kalmanovitz Initiative was created as a space to engage questions of workers’ rights and the future of the labor movement. Since then, the KI has taken on special projects that explore policies supporting workers’ rights, coalition building between labor and community groups, and connecting students to local advocacy and organizing opportunities.
About the Legacy of the Martyrs Award
November 16, 2022, marks thirty-three years since Ignacio Ellacuría, S.J., Ignacio Martín-Baró, S.J., Segundo Montes, S.J., Juan Ramón Moreno, S.J., Joaquín López y López, S.J., Amando López, S.J., and their housekeeper Elba Ramos and her 15-year-old daughter Celina Ramos were murdered at the University of Central America in San Salvador, El Salvador.
The legacy of the Jesuit martyrs significantly influenced the Church and the Jesuit community around the world. Across the Ignatian network of Jesuits and lay collaborators, new ways of working for justice, grounded in Christian faith, have developed over the course of these thirty years.
The Ignatian Solidarity Network is a direct product of the martyrs’ legacy. The deaths of 70,000 innocent individuals over the course of El Salvador’s 12-year civil war, many killed by Salvadoran soldiers who received U.S. military training at the former U.S. Army School of the Americas, gave ISN founders like Robert Holstein and Fr. Charlie Currie, S.J., the impetus to invite the Jesuit network to be part of working to bring attention to U.S. involvement in Central America. From 1996 to 2009, the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice took place in conjunction with SOAWatch’s vigil at the gates of Ft. Benning, the location of the former School of the Americas before it was renamed in 2001. While the Teach-In moved to Washington, D.C., in 2010, the legacy of the martyrs remains at the core of ISN’s social justice education and advocacy efforts.
The Legacy of the Martyrs award is bestowed on individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to sustaining the witness and legacy of the Jesuit martyrs and their companions.
Previous Award Recipients
MOIRA O’DONNELL EMERGING LEADERS AWARD
James Havey is a 2011 graduate of Marquette University, with a bachelor’s degree in international affairs/development studies. As a student, he attended the school’s South Africa Service Learning program. After graduating, he joined Maryknoll Lay Missioners and served in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for seven years, working with anti-human trafficking organizations. Beginning in 2016, James served as the project advisor for the world’s first 10-year study on the aftercare of sex trafficking survivors with Chab Dai Coalition’s Butterfly Longitudinal Research Project.
In 2020, James moved to London, UK to pursue a career in ethical procurement after witnessing first-hand how multinational companies’ procurement policies have a direct effect on the lives of manufacturing communities around the world. He is currently a Sustainability Scholar at the University of Kent pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), and also a Procurement Executive at a SaaS company, Social Value Portal (SVP).
Amanda Montez is the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Jesuit High School in Portland, OR. She is a 2015 graduate of Loyola Marymount University and recently finished her graduate degree at the University of San Francisco in international and multicultural education. Her research centers on alumni of Nativity schools and how they transition to predominantly white high schools. As a bi-racial educator, she aims to create the classroom environment she wished she could have had as a student and works to create systems of racial equity at work, in her research, and as a co-author of Jesuit West’s Community Organizing for Racial Equity (CORE).
She has a passion for Jesuit education as she has previously worked at Sacred Heart Nativity Schools in San Jose teaching Spanish, culture, and identity, and running parent engagement programming. She has also worked at her alma mater, Xavier College Prep in Palm Desert, CA, as an immersion coordinator, social justice teacher, and swim coach.
About the Moira O’Donnell Emerging Leaders Award
The O’Donnell Award, given yearly, will honor one to three individuals ages 23-33 who have 1) received an undergraduate degree from a U.S. Jesuit university, and 2) demonstrated significant social justice leadership in their communities.
About Moira O’Donnell
Moira Erin O’Donnell, the late daughter of Bob and Jackie O’Donnell, and sister of Aimee and Matt, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on October 9, 2005. Moira was truly a loving and gifted young woman who lived her life with brilliance, generosity, compassion, and a commitment to social justice.
She graduated magna cum laude from Santa Clara University in 1994 with a B.A. in English and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Sigma Nu societies. While at Santa Clara she earned a full scholarship to study at Oxford University for a year. Following Oxford she continued her studies at Boston College (M.A., English, 1996), and the University of London (M.A., Intellectual and Cultural History, 2002).
Moira spent a year following her college graduation as a member of the Vincentian Service Corps working as a teacher at St. Aloysius School in New York City. She then went to work for Catholic Charities of San Francisco at St. Joseph’s Village, a shelter for homeless families. From 1998 to 2004, Moira worked for Hamilton Family Center, another family shelter in San Francisco. In 2005, Moira accepted an offer to become the executive director of the Ignatian Solidarity Network and quickly began establishing ISN’s roots as a national social justice network inspired by the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Previous Recipients
