Marie Dennis

Co-Director of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Institute for Nonviolence

Marie Dennis from Pax Christi International will speak at our Plenary Panel on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.

Dennis is co-director of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Institute for Nonviolence, a founder of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative and a Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. She was co-president of Pax Christi International from 2007 to 2019 and worked for the Maryknoll Missioners from 1989 to 2012, including 15 years as director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns.

Marie holds a master’s degree in moral theology from Washington Theological Union and honorary doctorates from Trinity Washington University and Alvernia University. She is a lay woman, a Secular Franciscan and author, co-author or editor of nine books. Marie is a member of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners’ Board, the Pax Christi International Fund for Peace Board and the Sisters of Mercy Socially Responsible Investment Committee. She served on the Vatican’s COVID 19 Commission, the steering committee of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, and the national boards of JustFaith Ministries, the Alliance for Peacebuilding, the Washington Office on Latin America, Sojourners magazine, NETWORK, the Jubilee USA Network and several other organizations.