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.

Karen Armstrong, a former Catholic nun, is an authority on the Abrahamic religions and author of many books on the subject. Her most recent book is Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence.

Tina Beattie is a professor of Catholic studies at the University of Roehampton in London. She focuses her research on the relationship between the Catholic tradition and contemporary culture with an emphasis on gender, sexuality, and reproductive ethics. She also studies Catholic social teaching and women’s rights, and theology and the visual arts.

Charles E. Curran is a professor of human values at Southern Methodist University. Curran teaches fundamental moral theology, social ethics, role of the Church as a moral and political actor in society, and Catholic moral theology.  

Morgan Atkinson is a documentary filmmaker whose third film on the life of Thomas Merton, The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton, will be released later this year and will cover the last year of Merton’s life. Atkinson’s previous films, including Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton, have appeared on PBS nationwide. He […]

Cristóbal Serrán-Pagán y Fuentes is an associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Ga. He is leading a daylong celebration of Thomas Merton and the Spanish mystics Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross as part of the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University’s 100th anniversary celebration of […]

Kathleen Deignan is a Catholic nun, theologian, singer, composer and Merton scholar. Many of her compositions are based on the writings of Merton and are recorded by Schola Ministries in Washington, D.C. She has served on the board of directors of the International Thomas Merton Society.