Tencho Gyatso is President of the International Campaign for Tibet, the largest Tibet support group in the world with offices in Washington DC, Amsterdam, Berlin and Brussels.

Lama Rod Owens is a self-described “Black Buddhist Southern Queen.” Owens holds a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist studies from Harvard Divinity School with a focus on the intersection of social change, identity and spiritual practice. Owens is also author of The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors and Love and Rage: […]

Ruth King is an insight meditation teacher and emotional wisdom author and life coach. Mentored by Jack Kornfield in the Theravada tradition and influenced by the Tibetan traditions of Buddhism, King teaches at insight meditation communities nationwide. She is a guiding teacher at Insight Meditation Community of Washington and Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the […]

Namgyal Choedup is Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Office of Tibet based in Washington DC.

Darren W. Davis is professor of political science at University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Davis is co-author of Perseverance in the Parish?: Religious Attitudes From a Black Catholic Perspective. Based on the first national survey of African American Catholics, this book explores the perceptions of racism and racial experiences in the Catholic Church.

Leslie G. Desmangles is an emeritus professor at Trinity College in Connecticut. He has published widely, most notably an awarded book titled The Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholicism in Haiti. He can speak to Roman Catholic practice in Haiti, the Caribbean and West Africa.

Anna Peterson is a professor in the department of religion at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on religion and social change, especially Catholicism in Latin America; environmental and social ethics; and animal studies. She has published a number of articles, chapters and book in these areas. Her current research analyzes the role of […]

Ariel Salzmann is a history professor at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. Her research includes histories of Mediterranean communities and Muslim societies, the transformation of market systems and the making of global capitalism, as well as Islamophobia and Catholic-Muslim relations.

This edition of ReligionLink is dedicated to stories that could possibly top the lists in 2025, providing background, resources and expert sources for you to turn to in the year ahead.