The Vatican Observatory (Specola Vaticana) is an astronomical research and educational institution supported by the Vatican. Originally based in Rome, the Observatory is now headquartered in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, and at the Mount Graham International Observatory in the Pinaleño Mountains in southeast Arizona. Journalists can contact via the email here or direct questions to individual […]

The Rev. Haig Chahinian is chief executive officer of Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation, a Canadian media company. Chahinian grew up in Toronto as part of the Armenian Catholic Church, one of 23 sui iuris Eastern Churches in communion with the Holy See. He’s served in various Catholic broadcasting, marketing and digital media roles. […]

Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence and professor of religion at Hofstra University. Her books include Just Church: Catholic Social Teaching, Synodality, and Women.

Discerning Deacons is an organization advocating for the diaconal ministry of women, which members view as historically, theologically and anthropologically possible and as a means of church renewal. Contacts include co-directors Casey Stanton ([email protected], English), based in North Carolina, and Ellie Hidalgo ([email protected], English and Spanish), based in Miami.

David Seljak is a professor of religion at the University of Waterloo. He studies multiculturalism in Canada and Quebec, with interests in the sociology of Canadian Catholicism.

Sarah Shortall is a historian who teaches courses on modern French history and the history of Catholicism. In addition to these themes, her research also explores the history of science, secularization theory, human rights, decolonization and the global circulation of religious ideas. She is the author of Soldiers of God in a Secular World: Catholic Theology and […]

Tia M. Kolbaba is a religion professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She can speak to Orthodox and Catholic Christian relations.

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.