Nancy Dallavalle is an associate professor of religious studies at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., where she teaches a course on the papacy. She is an expert on popes and the papacy, the pope as a world leader and media treatment of the pope.

Gregory A. Smith is the associate director of research at the Pew Research Center. He’s an expert on religion in America. Arrange interviews through Anna Schiller.

Read “‘Whatever is necessary’: Obama defends war, again,” a post at Vox Nova from June 24, 2010, a liberal-leaning blog on things Catholic that in this essay criticizes Obama’s commitment to the Afghan war effort.

Read “Endless war, a recipe for four-star arrogance,” a June 27, 2010, op-ed in The Washington Post by Andrew J. Bacevich. Bacevich is a Vietnam veteran, a professor of history and international relations at Boston University, and a Catholic who often writes on issues of war and peace from a faith perspective. His book Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent […]

Karen A. McClintock is a psychotherapist and United Methodist minister who wrote Sexual Shame: An Urgent Call to Healing. She is an expert on issues of sexual abuse of children by clergy and is a consultant to schools and churches on issues of sexuality. McClintock is an adjunct faculty member in the psychology department at Southern […]

A.W. Richard Sipe is a former priest who is also a psychotherapist and leading researcher on issues relating to clergy and sexuality. He is a widely cited commentator and the author or co-author of several books on the topic, including Sex, Priests and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church’s 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse. He lives in […]

Joseph Chinnici is a Franciscan friar and professor of history at the Franciscan School of Theology, which is affiliated with the University of San Diego. He is the author of When Values Collide: The Catholic Church, Sexual Abuse and the Challenges of Leadership.

See a June 4, 2010, roundup by Christianity Today of Christian activist groups’ reactions to the crisis. That roundup includes: Ken Blackwell of the Family Research Council blamed the Obama administration for weak leadership in the Middle East; Jim Rice, editor of Sojourners, said the crisis would not end until Israel’s blockade of Gaza and its “illegal occupation” of Palestinian territory ended

Read a June 2, 2010, Catholic News Service story about Pope Benedict XVI’s criticism of the Israeli raid and his call for world leaders to seek just solutions for the people of Gaza.