The Franciscan Action Network is a Washington, D.C.-based grassroots network of Franciscan clergy and “Franciscan-hearted” laypeople who focus on peacemaking, climate care, social justice and poverty, among other issues. Patrick Carolan is executive director.

Thomas Peters started and runs the American Papist blog and works with Catholic Vote. He speaks about Catholicism and politics, pro-life issues and pro-family activism, the future of social media and youth activism.

Karma Lekshe Tsomo is a lecturer in the department of religion and ancient civilizations at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her research interests include women in Buddhism, death and identity, Buddhist feminist ethics, Buddhism and bioethics, Buddhist social ethics and Buddhist transnationalism.

Mucahit Bilici is an assistant professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is the author of Finding Mecca in America and a columnist for Taraf, a daily publication in Turkish.

Douglas Kysar is a professor of law at Yale Law School. His areas of scholarship and research include torts, environmental law, and risk regulation. He recently took part in a panel discussion hosted by the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies entitled, “Pope Francis and the Environment: Why His New Climate Encyclical Matters.”

Maureen Mullarkey is a painter and writer who focuses on art and culture. She has been published in The Nation, Crisis, Commonweal, Hudson Review, Arts, The New Criterion, First Things, The Weekly Standard, and The Magazine Antiques, and she has served as a columnist for The New York Sun. She was quoted in a New York Times article about Pope Francis’ climate change […]

Joseph Bast is president and CEO of the Chicago-based Heartland Institute, which is skeptical of man-made climate change. Bast’s research focuses on public policy, environmentalism, climate change, health care and economic issues. He has been critical of Pope Francis’ climate change campaign.

Kedron Bardwell is an associate professor of political science at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. Bardwell’s focus includes American politics, public policy, civic engagement and collaboration. He has tracked the courting of evangelical voters in Iowa in the lead-up to the 2016 election.