Sisters Currently Ministering in Washington D.C.
Archdiocese of Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Sr. Dianna Ortiz - Office Director, Pax Christi Metro DC
Founder of the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC)
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Pax Christi Metro DC is a Catholic peace and justice community serving metropolitan Washington, DC and is a region of the national Catholic peace movement, Pax Christi USA.
We are a fellowship of Pax Christi groups in Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, Montgomery County and Baltimore, Maryland. Our advocacy for peace and justice is grounded in Jesus’s example of prayer, nonviolence and solidarity with the poor and in Catholic social teaching.
Statement of Purpose
Pax Christi USA strives to create a world that reflects the Peace of Christ by exploring, articulating, and witnessing to the call of Christian nonviolence. This work begins in personal life and extends to communities of reflection and action to transform structures of society. Pax Christi USA rejects war, preparations for war, and every form of violence and domination. It advocates primacy of conscience, economic and social justice, and respect for creation.
Pax Christi USA commits itself to peace education and, with the help of its bishop members, promotes the gospel imperative of peacemaking as a priority in the Catholic Church in the United States. Through the efforts of all its members and in cooperation with other groups, Pax Christi USA works toward a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world.
Pax Christi USA is a section of Pax Christi International, the Catholic peace movement.
The Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC) is the only organization founded by and for torture survivors. The mission of TASSC is to end the practice of torture wherever it occurs and to empower survivors, their families and communities wherever they are.
WHO WE ARE/CORE VALUES:
TASSC is a coalition of torture survivors, representing countries and ethnic groups throughout all parts of the world. The following principles guide our actions. We believe that:
- TASSC survivor-advocates must build solidarity with other advocacy groups and the global community of survivors
- Family members as well as survivors of all forms of torture, ill-treatment and political violence are invited to join the global movement for the abolition of torture
- TASSC is concerned not only with the prevention of torture but also addresses its aftermath, the individual survivor, family, community, and society
- The voices of all survivors must be heard equally in TASSC's decision-making
WHAT WE DO / GOALS:
- Create a world-wide network of International Communities of Healing for torture survivors and their families
- Influence domestic and international policy through advocacy, social action, public testimony, and targeted media campaigns
- Monitor human rights violations in nations where TASSC members may be at risk
- Operate Helping Hands, a direct assistance program for survivors
- Coordinate the annual United Nations International Day in Support of Torture Victims and Survivors (June 26th)
- Speak out personally to the public through the Truth Speakers program.
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