63rd Annual Lumen Tranquillum Award
Sixty years after graduating from Fenwick High School, Fr. Chuck Dahm, O.P. will be given its prestigious Lumen Tranquillum Award at the school’s 63rd Blackfriars Scholarship Dinner Dance on Friday April 24. The Lumen Tranquillum Award was created to recognize one individual each year for his or her inspirational service to young people. The award, bearing a Latin name that translates as quiet light, honors persons who exemplify the call from the Gospel of Matthew to be “the light of the world”.
From Fenwick’s page describing the honorees…
Fr. Charles W. Dahm, O.P. is a Dominican priest and the Archdiocesan Director of Domestic Violence Outreach, the Co-coordinator of Peace and Justice for Dominicans in North America, and Associate Pastor of St. Pius V parish in Chicago, a large Hispanic parish in the Pilsen neighborhood where he was pastor for 21 years.
After graduating from Fenwick High School in 1955, Fr. Chuck attended the University of Notre Dame. He holds a MA in theology from Aquinas Institute in St. Louis and a PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is co-founder of the 8th Day Center for Justice, a Catholic peace and justice center in Chicago, where he served for 12 years. During this period, Fr. Chuck helped found and support several organizations, such as Illinois Citizens for Better Care, a nursing home advocacy organization, and the Chicago Religious Task Force on Central America, an organization working for an end to war and defense of human rights.
While pastor at St. Pius V parish, Fr. Chuck co-founded The Resurrection Project, an economic development corporation and community organization, of which he is currently president. It has developed more than 600 units of affordable housing, launched a credit union and created $300 million of economic investment in the Pilsen, Little Village, Back of the Yards and Melrose Park neighborhoods. He co-founded The Chicago Workers Collaborative, an advocacy organization for day laborers. He currently is vice president of San Jose Obrero Mission, a men’s and women’s interim shelter, and a commissioner of the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission, and a board member of Parenting for Non Violence, which helps parents in violence-ridden areas parent their children effectively.
Additionally, at St. Pius V parish Fr. Chuck developed the largest parish-based domestic violence program in the United States. He is a frequent lecturer and preacher on domestic violence as well as a promoter of parish ministry to victims of domestic violence. He has preached about domestic violence at all weekend Masses in more than 50 parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago and developed ministry teams to raise awareness about domestic violence and respond to the needs of victims in more than 40 parishes.
He is the author of two books: Power and Authority in the Catholic Church, Cardinal Cody in Chicago, and Parish Ministry in a Hispanic Community.
4th Annual Mission Award
At Dominican University on Saturday April 25, the Dominican Volunteers USA will host the 4th Annual Silent Auction to celebrate the DVUSA 15th anniversary. The 4th Annual Mission Award will also be presented to Fr. Chuck Dahm, O.P. for his championship of Hispanic Ministry, Immigration Rights, and Domestic Violence Advocacy.