Jane Addams, known as the “mother” of social work, was a pioneer American settlement activist/reformer, social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and... Read More

Marian Anderson was an American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century. Most of her singing career was... Read More

Susan B. Anthony was an American social reformer and women’s rights activist who played a pivotal role in the anti-slavery and women’s... Read More

Pedro Arrupe SJ was a Spanish Jesuit priest who served as the twenty-eighth Superior General of the Society of Jesus. The defining... Read More

Raymond W. Baker is an American businessman, scholar, author, and “authority on financial crime.” He is the founder and president of Global... Read More

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin was an American Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Cincinnati from 1972 until 1982, and... Read More

Dan Berrigan, SJ, was an American Jesuit priest, anti-war activist, and poet. He had a unique form of militancy and radical spirituality... Read More

Phil Berrigan was an American peace activist and former Roman Catholic priest. As a young man, he joined the Society of St.... Read More

Thomas Berry, CP was a Catholic priest of the Passionist order, cultural historian and an “eco-theologian” (although cosmologist and geologian – or... Read More

Stephen Biko was an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a student leader and founded the... Read More

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity’s... Read More

Greg Boyle SJ is an American Jesuit priest and the founder and Director of Homeboy Industries. In1988, in an effort to address... Read More

Berta Cáceres was a Honduran environmental activist and indigenous leader of her people. She was a co-founder and coordinator of the Council... Read More

Hélder Pessoa Câmara was a Brazilian Roman Catholic Archbishop. He was the Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, serving from 1964 to 1985,... Read More

Simone Campbell SSS, is an American Roman Catholic Sister of Social Service, a lawyer, lobbyist and executive director of NETWORK. In 1978... Read More

Patrick has been executive director of the Franciscan Action Network since 2010. He is also a co-founder of the Global Catholic Climate... Read More

Majora Carter is an American urban revitalization strategist and public radio host, from the South Bronx area of New York City. In... Read More

Cesar Chavez was an American labor leader and civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (later the United Farm... Read More

Joan Chittister, OSB is a Benedictine nun, an author and international speaker on subjects of spirituality, peace, religious life and justice for... Read More

Maura Clarke, MM, was a Catholic Maryknoll Sister, who served as a missionary in Nicaragua and El Salvador. She worked with the... Read More

Juan José Gerardi Conedera was a Guatemalan Catholic bishop and human rights defender, who was long active in working with the indigenous... Read More

Charles Currie SJ spent his entire professional life in higher education, as faculty member, administrator, president, and as president of the Association of... Read More

Dorothy Day, was an American journalist and social activist. She was a convert to Catholicism and became famous for her social activism... Read More

John Dear is an American Roman Catholic priest, Christian pacifist, author and lecturer, and a former member of the Society of Jesus.... Read More

Marie Dennis has been co-president of Pax Christi International since 2007. From 1989-2012, 15 years as director, Marie worked with the Maryknoll... Read More

Jean Donovan was an American lay missionary who was beaten, raped, and murdered along with three fellow missionaries—Ita Ford, Maura Clarke and... Read More

Frederick Douglass was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national... Read More

Robert Frederick Drinan, SJ was a Catholic Jesuit priest, lawyer, human rights activist, and Democratic U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. He was also... Read More

W. E. B. Du Bois was an African American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor. After completing graduate work at... Read More

Marian Wright Edelman is an American activist for the rights of children. She has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans her entire... Read More

John Egan was an American Catholic priest and social activist.  He promoted racial integration and was one of the clergymen who marched... Read More

Ignacio Ellacuría, SJ was a priest, philosopher, and theologian who worked as a professor and rector at the Universidad Centroamericana  (UCA), a... Read More

Rafael Espada is a former Vice President of Guatemala and a former cardiothoracic surgeon. While he was employed at a hopital in... Read More

Medgar Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi who worked to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi and... Read More

Paul Farmer was an American medical anthropologist and physician. He held an MD and PhD from Harvard University and was the co-founder... Read More

Ita Ford, MM was an American Catholic Sister who served as a missionary in Bolivia, Chile and El Salvador. She worked with... Read More

Francis of Assisi  was an Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men’s Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order... Read More

Anne Frank was a German-born Jewish diarist and writer. She is one of the most discussed victims of the Holocaust. Her diary,... Read More

Mohandas Gandhi was the preeminent leader of the Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence... Read More

Rutilio Grande SJ was a priest in El Salvador who was assassinated, along with two other Salvadorans, by government forces for speaking... Read More

Thomas Gumbleton is a retired Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit. He founded the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights... Read More

Gustavo Gutiérrez OP is a Peruvian theologian and regarded as one of the founders of liberation theology. He holds the John Cardinal... Read More

Thích Nhất Hạnh was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist. He lived in France, travelling internationally to give retreats and talks.... Read More

Bryan Hehir is an American priest and a well known speaker on social issues. He serves as the Secretary for Social Services... Read More

Peter Henriot, S.J. is an internationally respected Jesuit researcher, speaker and writer on social justice, globalization and Africa, He has worked in... Read More

David Hollenbach, SJ is the current University Chair in Human Rights and International Justice and Director of the Center for Human Rights... Read More

Odetta Holmes, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a civil and human rights activist, often referred to as The Voice... Read More

James Hug, SJ, served as the President of the Center of Concern, a Washington, DC based social justice institute rooted in Catholic... Read More

Ilibagiza Immaculée is a Rwandan American author and motivational speaker. Her first book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust (2006),... Read More

Franz Jägerstätter OFS, was an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II. He maintained his position against fighting for the Third Reich... Read More

Leila Janah was the Founder and CEO of Samasource and LXMI, two companies that share a common social mission to end global... Read More

Jack Jezreel holds an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Religion from Furman University and a Master of Divinity degree from the University... Read More

James Weldon Johnson was an American author, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Johnson is best remembered for his leadership... Read More

Jan Karski was a Polish World War II resistance movement fighter and later professor at Georgetown University. In 1942 and 1943 Karski... Read More

Sister Dorothy Kazel, O.S.U. was an American Ursuline Religious Sister and missionary to El Salvador. On December 2, 1980, she was beaten,... Read More

Kathy Kelly is an American peace activist, pacifist and author, one of the founding members of Voices in the Wilderness, and currently... Read More

Craig Kielburger is a Canadian author and activist for the rights of children. He is the co-founder, with his brother Marc Kielburger,... Read More

Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader, and the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. from 1953... Read More

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He... Read More

Maximilian Kolbe, O.F.M. Conv. was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the German... Read More

Winona LaDuke is an American activist, environmentalist, economist, and writer, known for her work on tribal land claims and preservation, as well... Read More

John Langan SJ was a professor whose research interests included: ethics and international affairs, especially applications of just war theory; business ethics;... Read More

John Lewis was an American politician and prominent civil rights leader. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) he was... Read More

Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.... Read More

Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, as its first African-American justice. Before becoming a... Read More

Peter Maurin was a social activist who co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement with Dorothy Day. He traveled extensively, lecturing at parishes, colleges,... Read More

Colman McCarthy is a journalist, teacher, lecturer, pacifist, progressive, long-time peace activist and Director of the Center for Teaching Peace in Washington,... Read More

Maurice McCrackin was an American civil rights and peace activist, tax resister and Presbyterian minister. He was removed from his church in... Read More

Richard McSorley SJ was an activist committed to pacifism and part of public protest against what he saw as rampant U.S. militarism.... Read More

Chico Mendes was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist who fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for... Read More

Thomas Merton, OCSO was an American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a... Read More

Mother Teresa also known as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, was a Catholic nun and missionary. She lived for most of her life... Read More

John Muir also known as “John of the Mountains”, was a Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher and early advocate of preservation of... Read More

John Courtney Murray SJ was an American Jesuit priest and theologian, who was especially known for his efforts to reconcile Catholicism and... Read More

Abraham Johannes “A.J.” Muste was a Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist. Muste is best remembered for his work in the labor... Read More

Fr. Joseph Nangle, OFM served twelve years as the Co-Director of Franciscan Mission Service. He spent fifteen years as a missioner in... Read More

Martin Niemöller was a German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor. He is best known for his statement, First they came for the... Read More

Mildred Norman, was an American non-denominational spiritual teacher, mystic, pacifist, vegetarian and peace activist. She was the first woman to walk the... Read More

Henri Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian. His interests were rooted primarily in psychology, pastoral ministry, spirituality, social... Read More

Digna Ochoa was a human rights lawyer in Mexico. Her career involved representation of various dissidents and in some cases raised allegations... Read More

Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activist, who is best known for an incident that occurred in 1955, in Montgomery,... Read More

Thomas Pogge is a German philosopher and the Director of the Global Justice Program and Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs... Read More

Pope Francis is noted for his humility, emphasis on God’s mercy, concern for the poor, and commitment to interfaith dialogue. He is... Read More

Pope John Paul II is the author of The Hundredth Year (Centesimus annus), an encyclical written on the hundredth anniversary of Rerum... Read More

Pope John XXIII is renowned for calling the historic Second Vatican Council (1962–65), his views on equality and his final encyclical, Peace... Read More

Pope Leo XIII is well known for the development of social teachings with his famous papal encyclical Rights and Duties of Capital... Read More

Pope Paul VI succeeded Pope John XXIII and continued the Second Vatican Council which he closed in 1965, implementing its numerous reforms,... Read More

Pope Pius XI issued numerous encyclicals, including In the 40th Year (Quadragesimo anno) on the 40th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s groundbreaking social... Read More

Helen Prejean, C.S.J. has been a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty since 1981. She is also the... Read More

Mev Puleo was an American photojournalist who through her art became an activist and spokesperson for the poor and disenfranchised. She was concerned... Read More

Karl Rahner, S.J. was a German Jesuit priest and theologian who, alongside Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Yves Congar,... Read More

Óscar Romero was a Catholic Archbishop of San Salvador who spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations and torture in El Salvador.... Read More

Ben Salmon was an American Catholic pacifist, conscientious objector and outspoken critic of just war theory, who believed no war could be morally justified. He refused... Read More

Kenule “Ken” Beeson Saro Wiwa was a Nigerian writer, television producer, environmental activist, and winner of the Right Livelihood Award and the... Read More

Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who was two years old when an American atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August... Read More

Hans Scholl was a founding member of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany. Along with his sister Sophie, he was... Read More

Sophia Magdalena Scholl was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany.... Read More

Albert Schweitzer was a French-German theologian, philosopher, and physician. He received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of “Reverence for... Read More

Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded Camp Shriver in 1962, on her Maryland farm known as Timberlawn,which evolved into the Special Olympics in 1968.... Read More

Sargent Shriver was an American politician and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family,... Read More

Mitch Snyder was an American advocate for the homeless. He joined the Community for Creative Non Violence (CCNV) in Washington, D.C. CCNV... Read More

Jon Sobrino, S.J. is a Jesuit Catholic priest and theologian, known mostly for his contributions to liberation theology. On November 16, 1989... Read More

Dorothy Stang, SND was an American-born, Brazilian member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. In 2005 she... Read More

Walter Francis Sullivan was the Catholic bishop from Richmond, Virginia from 1974 to  2003. He served on the boards of the Churches’... Read More

Pierre-Marie Théas was a French Roman Catholic Bishop of Montauban and Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes. A significant figure in Catholic resistance... Read More

Emmett Till was an African-American teenager who in 1955 was lynched in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with... Read More

Jacobo Timerman was a Soviet-born Argentine publisher, journalist, and author of Lithuanian Jewish descent, who is most noted for his confronting and... Read More

Rigoberta Menchú Tum is a political activist from Guatemala. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the rights of Guatemala’s indigenous feminists during... Read More

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was a South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s... Read More

Benjamin J. Urmston, SJ, is the director emeritus of Peace and Justice Programs at Xavier University. Father Urmston has been a guiding... Read More

Louis Vitale, OFM, is a Franciscan priest, activist, and a co-founder of Nevada Desert Experience. He has engaged in civil disobedience for... Read More

Jim Wallis is a Christian writer and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine and... Read More

Jody Williams is an American political activist known around the world for her work in banning anti-personnel landmines, her defense of human... Read More

S. Brian Willson is an American Vietnam veteran, peace activist, and attorney-at-law. Willson served in the US Air Force from 1966 to... Read More

Ogarit Younan is a Lebanese activist, sociologist and author. She is the founder and head of the Lebanese Association for Civil Rights,... Read More

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. She is known mainly for human rights... Read More

Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist, and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding... Read More