Colecchi to head U.S. bishops' international justice and peace office

Published: 2004-09-01

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Stephen M. Colecchi, director of the Office of Justice and Peace and of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Richmond, Va., has been named to head the U.S. bishops' Office of International Justice and Peace. The appointment, announced in August by Msgr. William P. Fay, general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, takes effect Oct. 4. Colecchi will work at the bishops' headquarters in Washington. He succeeds Gerard Powers, who held the position from 1998 until his recent appointment as director of policy studies at the Kroc Institute for Peace at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. In a statement, Msgr. Fay praised Colecchi's "great knowledge of Catholic social teaching and vast experience in helping the church act on its principles on issues of international justice and peace." Msgr. Fay said, "His expertise and experience will be great assets in helping the bishops teach and act on the moral dimensions of war and peace, trade and development, human rights and religious liberty."

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