Sister Mary Evelyn Jegen, one of the co-founders of Pax Christi USA and the group's first national coordinator, died July 4 after a long illness. She was 86. A funeral Mass for Sister Jegen, a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de
Namur for 66 years, was scheduled for July 11 in the chapel at her
community's motherhouse in Cincinnati. In 1982, she became the third
recipient of Pax Christi USA's Pope John XXIII Teacher of Peace Award.
During her tenure as national coordinator, from 1979 to 1982, Pax
Christi USA's membership grew from less than 1,000 to more than 5,500
members, including 46 U.S. bishops. "Mary Evelyn Jegen was teacher and
mentor for an entire generation of Catholic peace activists like me,"
said a July 7 statement form Tom Cordaro, Pax Christi USA's "ambassador
of peace" and an author and lay minister. "She had that rare combination
of gifts that set her apart from many others in the movement. She was
an excellent theologian, a gifted writer and, most importantly, she was a
strategic thinker and visionary. Everything Mary Evelyn did as a leader
in the Catholic peace movement was strategically focused on her vision
of making nonviolence and peacemaking an integral part of Catholic
social teaching and practice at all levels of the church."
The release of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s note, Mater Populi Fidelis , on November 4, 2025, seems to have sparked some immediate and widespread confusion, driven largely by sensationalist headlines from secular sources. In response to requests, particularly surrounding a potential Fifth Marian Dogma of Spiritual Maternity , the DDF addressed the usage of titles like Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix. Unfortunately, this has led to a large contingent online and in the media claiming that the Church has "tossed out" centuries of doctrine, with some outside the Church even proclaiming a "victory" over Catholic teaching (This may be the saddest part of it all, that we as Christians, are "competing" with each other). It is essential to understand that this doctrinal note is fundamentally about titles and clarity, not doctrine and change according to the Vatican News. The true teachings regarding Mary's unique role in salvation remain inviolabl...