Sean O’Callaghan is an associate professor of religion at Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I. He studies new religious movements, religiously motivated violence and transhumanism.

Bill Patenaude is a special lecturer of theology at Providence College in Rhode Island. He is the chief author of Catholic Ecology, where he has speculated about what Pope Francis’ encyclical might contain. Contact via Chrissy Centazzo.

Prison Dharma Network, founded by Fleet Maull in Providence, R.I., is a national nonprofit, nonsectarian support network for Buddhist prisoners, volunteers and prison staff. Its mission is to provide evidence-based tools for rehabilitation, self-transformation and personal and professional development, particularly through mindfulness-based interventions. Contact through the website.

Daniel Jordan Smith is an associate professor of anthropology and chair of the anthropology department at Brown University in Providence, R.I. He is conducting a research project, “Pentecostalism and AIDS in Nigeria,” through a grant from the University of Southern California’s Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative.

Dr. Andrew Bostom is associate professor of medicine at Brown University Medical School in Providence, R.I. He has written several books about Islam, including Sharia Versus Freedom: The Legacy of Islamic Totalitarianism.

The Jewish Voice & Herald is a Jewish publication serving Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. It is based in Providence, R.I. Nancy Kirsch is executive editor.

The Rhode Island Catholic is the official weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Providence. Rick Snizek is the editor.

The U.S. Supreme Court has dealt two major setbacks to gay-marriage opponents and has given a further boost to those who support legal recognition of same-sex unions.

Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco is assistant professor of biology and instructor of theology at Providence College in Providence, R.I. He is also a Catholic priest and Dominican friar. His writings include “Are Teratomas Embryos or Non-Embryos? A Criterion for Oocyte-Assisted Reprogramming” in the winter 2005 issue of The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly.