BRUSSELS, Belgium – An archbishop from the Democratic Republic of Congo and a longtime social justice activist from the United States have been elected co-presidents of Pax Christi International, the Catholic peace movement.
Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kisangani, Congo, and Marie Dennis, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, will assume their new posts for a three-year term during the triennial world assembly of Pax Christi International, set for Oct. 30-Nov. 4 in Torhout and Brugge, Belgium.
Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem will continue to serve as international president until Nov. 3.
By electing a laywoman and a bishop during Pax Christi International’s annual general assembly April 28 in Antwerp, Belgium, the organization “returns to its roots and lifts up a model of shared leadership in the Catholic Church,” according to a news release.
Archbishop Monsengwo, a member of the Pax Christi International executive committee since 1999, is president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Democratic Republic of Congo and former president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.
Dennis, who is based in Washington, has been an executive committee member since 1999. She is responsible for bringing the voice and experience of Maryknoll missionaries into policy discussions in the U.S. and other governments, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the corporate world.
She has international experience particularly in Latin America and Africa and is author or co-author of six books on peace, social justice and spirituality.