Theresa Alessandro studied theology at Birmingham University, obtaining her mildly unorthodox BA (Hons) Combined Studies: Theology and Mathematics. She taught in Catholic primary schools before returning to full-time study, for her BSc (Hons) Human Communication: Speech and Language Therapy degree. She worked in the NHS, treating adults with neurological disorders affecting communication and swallowing, and in management. She pivoted to working nationally with Catholic organisations. Building on these experiences, she now focusses on independently producing a weekly podcast, All Kinds of Catholic, talking to Catholic people about how we are living our faith in today’s world and building a related community. 

Amanda Bolanos is originally from Palm Springs, CA. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Perspectives (Theology/Philosophy) from Boston College, an M.A. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame, and an M.T.S. in Theological Ethics from Duke Divinity School. She is currently a doctoral candidate (ABD) in Theological Ethics at Duke, where her research explores virtue theory, Latinx liberation theology, feminist theology, and Catholic Social Teaching. Her dissertation will specifically focus the virtue of charity, looking at virtue formation under conditions of oppression and injustice through the lens of both virtue theory and liberation theology, seeking to build a bridge of thoughtful discussion and engagement between the two fields.

María José Bravo Vargas is a Master’s candidate in Catholic Theology at Durham University and holds an MLitt in Systematic and Historical Theology from the University of St Andrews. She previously completed a Bachelor’s in Philosophy at Universidad Panamericana and a Bachelor’s in Theology at Universidad Católica Lumen Gentium. She has served as Academic Deputy Director and Academic Coordinator at the Instituto Teológico Digital, and has taught courses in México such as Introduction to Philosophy, Philosophical Synthesis, and Humanities Seminars at Universidad Panamericana, Instituto Teológico Digital, and Universidad Católica Lumen Gentium. Her academic interests include humanities education (particularly the formation of educators such as teachers, parents, and catechists) alongside philosophy, and theology. She is especially drawn to questions of free will (as the capacity for love or for evil), the history of reflection on freedom, the problem of evil and providence, and Trinitarian theology in Augustine and Bonaventure.

Luke Joseph Buhagiar is Lecturer at the Department of Policy, Politics & Governance at the University of Malta. He holds a PhD in social psychology (University of Malta). Buhagiar’s research interests and publications focus on social representations, lived religion, intergroup relations, liminality, and social/philosophical psychology. More info: https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/lukebuhagiar

Ljiljana Cumura is a sociologist, researcher, and educator. Her research focuses on various aspects of education and innovative teaching methodologies, community organizing, religion, and migration. Currently, Ljiljana is a PhD student at the University of Belgrade, Serbia.

Romnick I. David completed his Master of Arts in Education, major in Religious and Values Education, graduating with Highest Distinction from De La Salle University–Dasmariñas in 2023. He earned his Bachelor of Secondary Education, major in Religious Education, with a Special Academic Award from Siena College of Quezon City in 2017. The same year, he successfully passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers major in Values Education. He is a full-time Christian Living teacher at San Beda University and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Theology at De La Salle University–Manila. Beyond teaching, he is also an active researcher and book author whose scholarly and creative work centers on eco-spirituality, sacramentals, popular piety, and morality.

Michele Dillon, is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire. She has written extensively on contemporary Catholicism and more generally on religion and life-course and generational change. She was awarded the 2024 Civitas Dei Medal from Villanova University in recognition of her contributions to the Catholic intellectual tradition and, in 2025, was inducted into the Sociological Research Association in recognition of her excellence in research.

Anne Béatrice Faye

Ana Franca-Ferriera is a trained community organiser and participatory researcher, completing her PhD in Social Policy and Theology on the role of faith in fostering social cohesion in diverse communities. She is Head of Research at the Centre for Theology and Community, supporting church communities to reflect on and practice solidarity and social justice through community organising. Ana bridges lived experience and academic inquiry, working with communities on mission, belonging, and leadership, grounded in the belief that relationships are central to transformation.

Katalin Füzér is a Hungarian sociologist with a PhD in political science from the University of Pennsylvania. Her academic path led her through ELTE University (Budapest), Beloit College, University of Amsterdam, University of Pennsylvania, Freie Universität Berlin, Max-Plank-Institut Frankfurt a. M., to her current position as Associate Professor and Head of Department of Sociology at University of Pécs (Hungary). Her research on trust, social capital and digital inequalities investigates micro, meso and macro level social processes and inequalities in several domains such as innovation, development policies and most recently, synodality. Her current research interest focuses on the lived experience of synodality, in the context of two other ways of being church, hierarchy and project. Katalin is looking for research collaborators to study and disseminate lived experiences of synodality, in comparison to solutions for lay participation in other domains such as local innovation ecosystems and local development regimes.

Caterina Guardamanga is a  Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Liverpool. Her research spans historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and discourse analysis. She has advanced the understanding of Latin syntax and semantics and has investigated Early-Modern English citizenship terminology and Italian lexical semantics. More recently, she has examined discourses surrounding European migrants in the UK and the sociolinguistics of Latin in contemporary contexts, including debates about the Latin Mass and developments in (Late) Latin pedagogy. These strands have informed her growing interest in Language and Religion, which now forms a central focus of her research.

Qwayne Guevara is an Australian lay leader who holds a Master of Theology and Ministry from the Clough School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College, USA, and a Master of Laws (Dispute Resolution) from the University of New South Wales. She has been recently appointed as Facilitator at the National Centre for Evangelisation for the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Previously, Qwayne was Manager of Catholic Youth Parramatta in the Diocese of Parramatta and the Lead Facilitator of the Diocese’s first-ever Synod, which culminated in the 2024–2028 Pastoral Plan. Born in the Philippines, her family migrated to Sydney in 1991. She integrates formation in theology, law, community organising, and intercultural engagement to foster faith and participation across all communities, with a particular focus on co-responsible lay leadership and synodality. She co-founded Young Lions Café, The Hustle Society, and Embers Basketball, and serves as Board Director of the NSW Community Alliance, cultivating inclusive spaces and communities for belonging and accompaniment in faith and life.

Tiffany Hunsinger is a Ph.D. candidate in Theology at the University of Dayton, specializing in contemporary American Catholicism and the reception of G.K. Chesterton in the United States.  Her dissertation, The American Catholic Icon from England, examines how Chesterton’s “common sense” rhetoric is selectively adopted by different ideological communities, particularly within the Chesterton Schools Network, to shape imaginations of education, morality, and ecclesial identity.  Tiffany has taught Introduction to Religion and Faith & Justice, where her pedagogy draws on the Yale Center for Faith & Culture’s Life Worth Living framework and emphasizes trauma-informed, student-centered learning.  Beyond her research and teaching, Tiffany is active in several national Catholic social justice networks.  She co-chairs the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative’s Immigration and Women & Justice Working Groups, serves with the Catholic Climate Covenant’s Common Home Corps and Young Adult Advisory Board, and is part of the Pax Christi Young Adult Caucus.

Eline Huygens is an ethnographer specializing in the study of religion and gender, with a particular focus on intimate life, relationships, parenting, and family as key arenas through which broader religious, cultural, and societal dynamics can be explored and understood. She is currently affiliated with KU Leuven. In 2023, she was awarded a joint PhD in Gender and Diversity Studies (Ghent University) and Religious Studies (KU Leuven). She serves as managing editor of the academic journal Religion and Gender and as editor of Historica, Journal for gender history.

Marcin Jewdokimow is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Humanities (Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland) and a head of the institute for Church Statistics (Poland). He is an author of A monastery in a sociological perspective: seeking for a new approach, UKSW Publishing House, Warsaw, 2020, a coeditor (with Thomas Quartier) of A Visual Approach to the Study of Religious Orders. Zooming in on Monasteries, Routledge, 2019 and a coeditor (with Stefania Palmisano and Isabelle Jonveaux) of The Transformation of Religious Orders in Central and Eastern Europe (Routledge, 2021). His research interests focus on: monasticism, religious life, materiality, dwelling and housing and visual methodologies.

Kathryn Lamontagne PhD, FRHS (associate) is a senior lecturer at Boston University in social sciences and history. She holds MAs from Providence College, University of London, and Boston University, where she also completed her doctoral studies in 2020. She is a social and cultural historian and the author of Reconsidering Lay Catholic Women: Pious Transgressors in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century England (Routledge, 2024). Kathryn has published on the intersections of working-class English life in Fall River, Massachusetts, Cultural Catholicism, and forthcoming chapters on the Catholic Women’s League in WWI and depictions of Catholic women in novels. A British citizen and former member of the Royal Household, she regularly appears in the US media as an expert on the British Royal Family. She is also a hockey mom with an undergrad degree in Canadian-American studies.

Lisa Lickona joined Saint Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester, New York, in 2021 as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology after serving for eight years as Editor for Saints at Magnificat. Her academic research and her retreat work focus on the lived experience of the saints and the experience of the “heart.” Her most recent academic article, in the Winter 2024 Communio,  is titled “A Blood Transfusion for Theology: Pope Francis, Teresa, and Thérèse.” Lisa is currently serving as retreat master for the Word on Fire Institute 2025 Advent Retreat.  She earned her B.A. at the University of Notre Dame and holds the Masters in Theological Studies and Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family.

Megan Lowes-Bolin is a higher-education faculty member, lay ecclesial minister, and the Executive Director of Magis Consulting Group, where she supports parishes and ministry leaders in building vibrant, mission-driven communities. She teaches courses in leadership, organizational behavior, and global social entrepreneurship, integrating faith, formation, and practical skills for emerging professionals. With more than a decade of ministry consulting experience, she specializes in parish renewal, young adult engagement, and leadership development grounded in Catholic tradition. Her research and writing explore lived Catholicism, spiritual formation, and the intersection of faith and professional life. Megan is passionate about helping people encounter God in their daily experiences and empowering leaders to serve with clarity, creativity, and courage.

Monica McArdle graduated from Durham University, UK, in 1992 with a BSc in Chemistry and a PGCE. She then became a full-time member of the Sion Catholic Community for Evangelism, working in schools and parishes across the UK. Her ministry primarily focused on using drama, mime, dance, and sign language as creative forms of communication to bring the Christian Gospel to life. After 20 years in itinerant mission, Monica became a school and parish evangelist in Kirkby, Liverpool whilst pursuing further academic study. She earned an MA in Somatic Movement and Dance Education (SMDE) from UCLan, Preston, followed by an MProf in Practical Theology from the University of Chester. Most recently, she completed her PhD at the University of Roehampton, her doctoral thesis being entitled “Word made flesh and lived amongst us: An inquiry into the role of the body in Christian prayer through developing somatic awareness in the practice of lectio divina.

Phil McCarthy is a retired GP and former CEO of Caritas Social Action Network. He has held numerous leadership positions within the NHS and is a former Board member of Caritas Europa. He holds an MSc in global ethics from the University of Birmingham. In 2008 he walked from Canterbury to Rome and in 2025 on to Istanbul. He has written two books about the pilgrimages. In 2022 he founded the ‘Hearts in Search of God‘ project to promote walking pilgrimage in England & Wales by developing pilgrim ways in each Catholic diocese. As part of the 2025 Jubilee, he initiated the national walking Pilgrimage of Hope from Cardiff, Leeds, Norwich and London to Nottingham. For more information see: www.pilgrimways.org.uk.

Jos Moons is a Jesuit priest from The Netherlands teaching theology at Boston College (USA). Moons has published extensively on Vatican II, pneumatology, and synodality, including an edited volume with examples of lived synodality, Witnesses of Synodality: Good Practices and Experiences (Paulist, 2024) and a textbook on the Synod 2021-2024 and its future, The Future of Synodality: How We Move Forward from Here (Liturgical Press, 2025; with Kristin Colberg).

Harold Mozley is a retired family court social worker, and previously worked with the Probation Service. He has a B.Sc. (Econ) in Philosophy from the LSE, and an MA in Theology and Religious Studies from Leeds University. Other qualifications include social work, child protection, management, and counselling. He was a volunteer with Catholic Marriage Care from 2011-2025, during which time he acted as a member of the MC group reflecting on the Synod of Synods. His experience led to providing input on marriage preparation for the northern dioceses’ permanent diaconal programme. Other voluntary work saw him liaise with Prisoners Abroad and local primary school hearing readers. He is an accredited reader with Middlesbrough Diocese, and also a Bible study group leader.

Sofia Pannozzo is a third-year undergraduate student studying International Relations with a minor in Public Policy at Boston University. She is particularly interested in how historical narratives shape contemporary global affairs and political decision-making. Sofia’s studies most often explore questions of diplomacy, the role of international institutions, and the evolving dynamics of global power. She is working with Prof Kathryn Lamontagne to transcribe the papers of Sarah Croskery Pelletier as part of an Undergraduate Research Education scheme funded by the Center for Teaching and Learning at the College of General Studies, Boston U.

Julian Paparella is a doctoral researcher in theology at the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Rome and at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. Originally from Canada, Julian has studied at McGill University in Montreal and at the Institut Catholique de Paris and has worked in both youth and campus ministry. Julian has served as the Coordinator of Intellectual Formation at the Venerable English College in Rome since 2022 and collaborated with the Commission on Methodology for the worldwide Synod on Synodality. He was a delegate at the Synod of Bishops on Young People in 2018 and regularly contributed to Salt + Light Media since 2012. Julian’s research focuses on the role of the Church and theology on the path of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada, as well as how to rethink formation and ministry today in the light of synodality.

Matthew Pulis is a Catholic priest and PhD student at the School of Religion, within the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands. Pulis’ research interests include Gen Z youths, digital culture, practical theology, and lived religion.

Laurence Raran is studying a Masters in Theology at the University of Oxford, focusing on an analysis of 19th century approaches to ecclesiology in the thought of St. John Henry Newman and Soren Kierkegaard alongside research in Thomas Hardy, the Philippine Revolution, Liberation Theology and Herbert McCabe OP. He has just finished a BA in Philosophy and Theology at Oxford and comes from a migrant Filipino working-class background in London. He applies this experience in his research to combine the lived experience of being a second-generation Catholic immigrant with his theological research. With this, he hopes to contribute to the field of theology and offer his service to the Church and to God.

Angus Ritchie is the founding director of the ecumenical Centre for Theology and Community. CTC helps congregations to harness the potential of faith-filled community organising – developing lay leadership and participation, building solidarity and trust with their neighbours, and rooting to their action for justice in theology and prayer. An Anglican priest, Angus has worked since 1998 in east London parishes involved in community organising. In 2021, Pope Francis referenced Angus’ most recent book, Inclusive Populism (University of Notre Dame Press, 2019) as an example of his vision for “a politics of fraternity” in which “the people are the protagonists”

Alessandro Rovati is Department Chair and Associate Professor of Theology at Belmont Abbey College, where he also serves as the Director of the Diaconal Formation Program. He is the Synod Coordinator for the Diocese of Charlotte, has led the association for early-career moral theologians New Wine New Wineskins, and now convenes “The Art and Practice of Teaching Theology” section of the College Theology Society. A member of the Journal of Moral Theology’s Editorial Board, Dr. Rovati’s scholarship focuses on Christian Ethics, Moral Theology, and Catholic Social Teaching, but his interests and writing go beyond those fields. His work has appeared, among others, in the Journal of Moral Theology, Newman Review, Quaestiones Disputatae, and the Church Life Journal.

Wojciech Sadlon is a Pallottine and Catholic priest, professor at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, and vice-director of the Institute for Catholic Church Statistics in Poland. He has published widely on the sociology of religion and contemporary Catholicism. Actively collaborating with the Polish Bishops’ Conference, he has provided methodological support to Polish dioceses during the synodal process and co-authored the national synodal synthesis. His research focuses on the subjective turn, reflexivity, synodality, discernment, and the reading of the signs of the times. He is currently working on establishing a Formation Center for Discernment, aimed at fostering the capacity for discernment in relationships and engagement with the signs of the times.

Anton ten Klooster is assistant professor of moral theology at Tilburg University. He studied theology in Utrecht, Fribourg and Washington D.C. He is the author of Thomas Aquinas on the Beatitudes: Reading Matthew, Disputing Grace and Virtue, Preaching Happiness (Leuven: Peeters, 2018), which was awarded with the 2019 Veritas & Amor award by the Circolo San Tommaso in Aquino. He has published in international journals as Nova et Vetera, Angelicum, Medieval Sermon Studies and Studies in Christian Ethics, and is editor in chief of the European Journal for the Study of Thomas Aquinas.

Beáta Tóth was born in Budapest, Hungary. She owns a PhD in English literature as well as a doctoral degree in theology from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Currently she is Professor and Chair of the Department of Systematic Theology at Sapientia College of Theology, Budapest (Hungary), where she teaches courses in the theology of creation, theological anthropology, eschatology and the history of Trinitarian thought. Her fields of interest include the theological anthropology of the heart, the contemporary debate concerning the theology of love and emotionality, the Trinitarian thought of Saint Augustine of Hippo and the interface between theology and literature. She is author of the book The Heart Has Its Reasons (Cascade, 2015) and co-editor (with Stephen J. McKinney and Thomas O’Loughlin) of the volume Synodality and the Recovery of Vatican II. A New Way for Catholics (2024).

Jens van Rompaey obtained his doctorate in Theology (STD) at KU Leuven in 2025, and he also holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Antwerp. He is specialized in both ecclesiology and cultural philosophy and theology. His current research interests are the practices and theologies of synodality in the Catholic Church.

Mc Kyle Vilaz recently completed his Research Master’s in Theology and Religion at KU Leuven and is currently in the initial phase of his PhD research. He also earned an Advanced Certificate in Adult Faith Formation at Fordham University, New York, USA. He is a part-time lecturer at De La Salle University–Manila and a faculty member (on study leave) of De La Salle Araneta University, Philippines. His work examines how theological knowledge and a sense of relationship with the divine take shape in the lives of contemporary young Catholics. His academic interests are in the areas of religious education, lived Catholicism/Theology, Catholic social thought, and practical theology.

Clare Watkins is research lead on the Conversations, Culture and Communion project, based at the CCS, and exploring the theological-practical change in the Catholic Church for its greater health and vitality. One of the original developers of Theological Action Research, Clare has developed ways of working integratively with qualitative research data and systematic theology so as to offer accounts of church life, faith, and mission which are holistic, and suggestive of a ‘whole- theology’. Her most recent and forthcoming book publications are worked examples of these commitments. Clare is a former chair of the British and Irish Association for Practical Theology, a member of the Ecclesiology and Ethnography Group, and has served on the International Methodist-Roman Catholic Dialogue commission for 15 years.

Christopher N. West is a PhD candidate in Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen. His research explores the impact of symbolic actions on the espoused theologies of largely non-churchgoing participants who engage in rites of passage liturgies to support loved ones. He has written on Practical Theology as a distinct sub-discipline and advocates taking lived experience seriously in theological reflection. His work aims to contribute to a genuinely catholic – that is, broad and inclusive – understanding of theology, attentive to the diverse ways in which people encounter and express faith through ritual and relationship. He is also one of the postgraduate co-conveners of the Society for the Study of Christian Ethics for the 2025–26 academic year and serves on the oversight committee of the Society for the Study of Liturgy.

Jade Willaert is a doctoral researcher of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO Vlaanderen) and a member of the Research Unit Pastoral and Empirical Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven. Her doctoral research, supervised by Prof. Dr. Annemie Dillen and Prof. Dr. Dries Bosschaert, explores the views of Catholics in Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands regarding faith and LGBTQ+ issues using qualitative empirical methods.

Ana Wera Wilms