Research Team
Fr. Charles Dahm, Ph.D., O.P.
Charles W. Dahm, O.P. is a Dominican priest and the Archdiocesan Director of Domestic Violence Outreach, Fr. Chuck was pastor of St. Pius V parish, a large immigrant Hispanic parish in Chicago, for 21 years. During that time, he and his team developed the largest parish-based domestic violence program in the U.S. He also helped co-founded The Resurrection Project, an economic development corporation and community organization, of which he is currently board secretary. He co-founded The Chicago Workers Collaborative, an advocacy organization for day laborers, and Parenting for Non Violence, an organization that helps parents in violence ridden areas parent their children effectively.
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 the weekend Masses in more than 175 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 100 parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Fr. Chuck holds a M.A. in theology from Aquinas Institute in St. Louis and a PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was co-founder of the 8th Day Center for Justice, a Catholic peace and justice center in Chicago, where he served for twelve years. 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.
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 the weekend Masses in more than 175 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 100 parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Fr. Chuck holds a M.A. in theology from Aquinas Institute in St. Louis and a PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was co-founder of the 8th Day Center for Justice, a Catholic peace and justice center in Chicago, where he served for twelve years. 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.
Sharon O'Brien, Ph.D.
Sharon O’Brien, Ph.D., Co-Founder and current Director of Catholics For Family Peace Education and Research Initiative, is an author and international presenter on the issue of faith communities' responses to domestic abuse and violence. Dr. O'Brien earned her doctoral degree in Human Development from the University of Maryland, College Park and a M.A. in Adult Education from The George Washington University. Her dissertation work was recognized at the 2003 International Family Violence Research Conference.
(She) Dr. O'Brien brings an interfaith perspective to this issue having served as Co-Founder and then President of the Interfaith Community Against Domestic Violence of Montgomery County, Maryland (2004 - 2013); Co-Founder and Board member of the Peaceful Families Project (2007 - 2013); and service on the State of Maryland’s Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition of Maryland (2013 - 2015). Among many leadership roles, Sharon's service has included Advisory Board of the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA) and Province Director of the National Council of Catholic Women (2012- 2017) which has addressed domestic abuse for many years.
(She) Dr. O'Brien brings an interfaith perspective to this issue having served as Co-Founder and then President of the Interfaith Community Against Domestic Violence of Montgomery County, Maryland (2004 - 2013); Co-Founder and Board member of the Peaceful Families Project (2007 - 2013); and service on the State of Maryland’s Interfaith Domestic Violence Coalition of Maryland (2013 - 2015). Among many leadership roles, Sharon's service has included Advisory Board of the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA) and Province Director of the National Council of Catholic Women (2012- 2017) which has addressed domestic abuse for many years.
Lauri Przybysz, D.Min.
Lauri Przybysz, Co-founder of Catholics For Family Peace, specializes in adult faith formation and pastoral education. She received the Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Ministry at the Catholic University of America in 2012, specializing in marriage and family enrichment. Her doctoral project focused on how marriage enrichment ministry can improve parenting skills, drawing on the graces of the Sacraments of Marriage and Baptism.
Dr. Przybysz is President of National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers www.nacflm.org. Lauri and her husband, John, are leaders in Christian Family Movement-USA, part of an international confederation of Catholic life movements that support and promote family life, www.cfm.org. Lauri and John have spoken on encouraging “the Church in the home” at the Pontifical Council on the Family in Rome, and at family conferences in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and India. Her articles on marriage and family spirituality appear on the U.S. Bishops’ For Your Marriage website.
Dr. Przybysz served for 13 years as the coordinator of Marriage and Family Life in the Department of Evangelization for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where she coordinated the archdiocesan committee for Domestic Violence Response and Awareness. She is the mother of 6 and grandmother of 21. Her website is www.familyministryresources.com. Email [email protected]
Dr. Przybysz is President of National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers www.nacflm.org. Lauri and her husband, John, are leaders in Christian Family Movement-USA, part of an international confederation of Catholic life movements that support and promote family life, www.cfm.org. Lauri and John have spoken on encouraging “the Church in the home” at the Pontifical Council on the Family in Rome, and at family conferences in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and India. Her articles on marriage and family spirituality appear on the U.S. Bishops’ For Your Marriage website.
Dr. Przybysz served for 13 years as the coordinator of Marriage and Family Life in the Department of Evangelization for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where she coordinated the archdiocesan committee for Domestic Violence Response and Awareness. She is the mother of 6 and grandmother of 21. Her website is www.familyministryresources.com. Email [email protected]
Charles Stoops, Ph.D., LCSW
Christauria Welland, Psy.D.
Christauria Welland, Psy.D. (Doctor of Psychology), a native of Canada, is a Catholic clinical psychologist residing in San Diego, California, USA. She is the founder of Pax in Familia, an international Catholic ministry dedicated to peace, and to the prevention of violence and abuse in Catholic families. Dr. Welland has a private clinical psychology practice in Solana Beach, CA, where she works with a predominantly Catholic population, and a hospital practice in the rehabilitation department of Paradise Valley Hospital in National City. Dr. Welland is Adjunct Faculty at Alliant International University in San Diego, where she has taught the doctoral-level licensure course on domestic violence since 2004. She co-wrote with David Wexler, Ph.D. a Spanish-language treatment program specifically for them, Sin Golpes, Como transformar la respuesta violenta del hombre en la pareja y la familia. Dr. Welland and her husband of 25 years have been engaged in voluntary ministry with migrant workers at their parish in San Diego since 1992.
Dr. Welland was invited to speak at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, USA, in September 2015. At the Meeting, Dr. Welland addressed the participants on the topic of pastoral responses to domestic violence in Catholic families. Her booklet, How Can We Help to End Violence in Catholic Families: A Guide for Clergy, Religious and Laity, has been printed in six (6) languages and is also available for free download online in all 6 languages at her websitewww.paxinfamilia.org/ Read more.
Dr. Welland was invited to speak at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, USA, in September 2015. At the Meeting, Dr. Welland addressed the participants on the topic of pastoral responses to domestic violence in Catholic families. Her booklet, How Can We Help to End Violence in Catholic Families: A Guide for Clergy, Religious and Laity, has been printed in six (6) languages and is also available for free download online in all 6 languages at her websitewww.paxinfamilia.org/ Read more.