Fr Tom Scirghi S.J.

Fr. Thomas J. Scirghi is Associate Professor of Theology at Fordham University, where he specializes in the theology of sacraments and liturgy, as well as homiletics, the theory and practice of preaching. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, California; an S.T.L. from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and the Doctor of Theology from Boston University. A member of the Northeast Province of Jesuits, he has taught at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and the Jesuit College of Theology in Melbourne, Australia. In 2013, he was appointed to the Thomas More Chair of Catholic Studies, a joint appointment to the University of Western Australia and the University of Notre Dame, Australia. He has lectured on liturgy and preaching for clergy and laity throughout America, as well as in Africa, Asia, and Australia. Recently he published Everything Is Sacred: An Introduction to the Sacrament of Baptism (Paraclete Press), Living Beauty: The Art of Worship, with his colleague Alejandro Garcia-Rivera (Rowman and Littlefield Press) and Longing to See Your Face: Preaching in a Secular Age (Liturgical Press, 2017). He is also a frequent contributor to Pastoral Liturgy magazine.

Sr. Shelley Barlow, RNDM

Sr Shelley Barlow is a teacher and bridge-builder who has worked in the challenging settings of faith-formation for over twenty years. Shelley’s zest for her work is sparked by her missionary charism as a Sister of Our Lady of the Missions, and by her deep and abiding interest in the universal yearning for wholeness. Shelley has a Bachelor of Theology from Melbourne College of Divinity, and Masters degrees in Pastoral Ministry and Religious Education from Boston College, USA.

Rev. Dr Charles Waddell

Fr Charles is a priest of the Archdiocese of Perth. He has recently published Jesus Matters (St Paul’s Publications). Fr Charles holds a PhD (USA) and an STL (Rome). He shares his life with a blind dog named Prego.

Dr Carmel Suart

Aboriginal Catholic Ministry

Aboriginal Catholic Ministry promotes the spiritual, cultural and social development of people of Aboriginal descent. Providing pastoral care to Aboriginal people.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge

Archbishop Mark Coleridge is the Archbishop of Brisbane. Previously, he served as Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn  and Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne. Prior to becoming a Bishop in 2002, he served for five years in the Vatican Secretariat of State. He is a theologian and teacher especially qualified in the fields of Sacred Scripture and the Church’s liturgical worship. In 2004, he was
appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture and Chair of the Roman Missal Editorial Committee of the International Committee for English in the Liturgy. He was subsequently named Chair of the International Commission for the Preparation of an English-language  Lectionary. In 2011, he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, prior to being named Archbishop of Brisbane in 2012.

Dr Gemma Cruz

Gemma CruzDr. Gemma Tulud Cruz was born and raised in the Philippines. She did her doctoral studies in theology in the Netherlands and taught for several years in the United States before moving to Australia in 2011. She works at Australian Catholic University as a Senior Lecturer in Theology at its Melbourne campus. Gemma’s research expertise is in migration theologies.
She is the author of Pilgrims in the Wilderness: An Intercultural Theology of Migration (2010) and Toward a Theology of Migration: Social Justice and Religious Experience (2014) and a number of essays on other research interests such as transnationalism, women’s issues, and mission.

Lana Turvey-Collins

Lana Turvey- Collins was appointed in November 2017 by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference to the position of Facilitator for the 2020 Plenary Council
Lana has a wealth of experience in senior leadership, strategic planning, facilitation and stakeholder engagement. She was seconded from Catholic Mission, where she had been leading the mission formation team and adult formation program. Prior to her role at Catholic Mission, Lana worked as diocesan director in the Sydney Archdiocese and Broken Bay Diocese. During 2012-13 Lana lived in Zambia, working together with the Pontifical Mission Societies and the Zambian Bishops Conference where the experience of global church, mission and faith in action were a daily encounter of love, justice and compassion. Before joining Catholic Mission, she worked with corporate organisations and their executive teams on leadership and the infusion of vison and values into organizational culture.
Lana studied in the areas of mission, theology and Church. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master’s degree in International Social Development and Human Rights. She has lived and worked in Switzerland, Zambia, Peru, Timor-Leste, New Zealand and Japan. Lana is inspired by the journey of life-long learning and the fulfilment of God’s vision for the world through each person living and leading.

Professor Massimo Faggioli

Massimo Faggioli is Professor of Historical Theology at Villanova University, Philadelphia, USA.
He is a leading international authority on the history and administrative inner workings of the Catholic Church with specific expertise on the papacy, Vatican II, the Roman Curia, liturgical reform and new Catholic movements. Professor Faggioli received his PhD in Religious History from the University of Turin in 2002 and his books and research articles have been published in eight languages.
Some of his most recent publications include Catholicism and Citizenship: Political Cultures of the Church in the Twenty-First Century (2017), A Council for the Global Church, Receiving Vatican II in History (2015) and John XXIII. The Medicine of Mercy (2014). Professor Faggioli is also the Contributing Editor to Commonweal magazine and he is frequently featured in national and international media as a commentator on theological, religious and Church-related issues ranging from the historical to the contemporary. As of 2017, Professor Faggioli is a Conjoint Professor at BBI – The Australian Institute of Theological Education, teaching into BBI’s Leadership & Theology courses.

Professor Richard Lennan

Richard LennanRichard Lennan, a priest of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, is Professor of Systematic Theology in the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College. He has received a degree in history from the University of Newcastle, a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology from the Catholic Institute of Sydney, a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Oxford and a doctorate in theology from the University of Innsbruck in Austria. From 1992 to 2007, he taught Systematic Theology in the Catholic Institute of Sydney. He is also a past President of the Australian Catholic Theological Association. In the academic year 2007-08, he taught at Weston Jesuit School of Theology, before becoming part of the Boston College Theology and Ministry, where he serves as Chair of the Ecclesiastical Faculty Fr Lennan has authored or edited six books, the latest one, on ‘Christian Hope’ is due to appear in September, and numerous articles on issues in ecclesiology, ecumenism, the theology of ministry, and fundamental theology.

Dr Margaret Scharf, OP

Dr Margaret Scharf is a member of the Dominican Sisters of WA and is currently the director of the Dominican Institute for Spirituality. Recently returned to Perth after 17 years in the United States, she is a Retreat guide and spiritual director, including the formation of Spiritual directors, and presenter of adult faith formation programmes to parish groups and school staff. Her past ministries include primary education and administration, Motor Mission, and training of catechists in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. She has a D.Min in Spiritual Direction (GTF, Indiana), MA in Spirituality (Gonzaga University), M.Ed in Religious Studies (ECU Perth), and a GDA Intercultural Studies-Aboriginal(ECU Perth). With publications in Australia and the USA, she continues to compose liturgical music.

Mr Joe Tedesco

Though originally schooled in Computer and Information Science, completing a Bachelor of Science degree in 1998, Joe Tedesco turned to theological studies soon after, completing bachelor and masters level degrees in theology from UNDA and Murdoch University. These studies focused on various areas of theology including theological anthropology and biblical theology. While studying, Joe was involved in various ministry programs that allowed him to exercise his passion in faith formation aimed primarily at youth and young adults – presenting various talks and seminars at conferences and in parish settings. More recently, Joe has been involved in teaching introductory level theology at the University of Notre Dame to students of various ages and backgrounds, something he has now been involved in for 10 years. Currently he is also working on a thesis focusing on ‘Wisdom Literature’ and its relationship to moral theology. Along with his wife of 16 years and two young children, his life remains very vibrant and full.

Mr Brendan McKeague

Brendan was raised in the ‘troubled’ North of Ireland where he was deeply embedded in a culture of violence, religious discrimination and social injustice. He has been actively engaged in learning how to be present with conflict and injustice in a more nonviolent, peaceful and transformative way. Alongside the development of skills and insights in support of his professional work as a facilitator and educator, Brendan has also been grounded in the everyday surprises and challenges of family life. Brendan is part of the international Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service and a founding member of Pace e Bene Australia.

Mr Brendan McKeague

Brendan was raised in the ‘troubled’ North of Ireland where he was deeply embedded in a culture of violence, religious discrimination and social injustice. He has been actively engaged in learning how to be present with conflict and injustice in a more nonviolent, peaceful and transformative way. Alongside the development of skills and insights in support of his professional work as a facilitator and educator, Brendan has also been grounded in the everyday surprises and challenges of family life. Brendan is part of the international Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service and a founding member of Pace e Bene Australia.

Rev. Dr Charles Waddell

Fr Charles is a priest of the Archdiocese of Perth. He has recently published Jesus Matters (St Paul’s Publications). Fr Charles holds a PhD (USA) and an STL (Rome). He shares his life with a blind dog named Prego.

Dr Pina Ford

Dr Pina Ford is team leader of the Catechist Formation Program, run by the Catholic Education Office (CEO) of Western Australia.The mother of seven and graduate from The University of Western Australia with a PhD on the natural law context of Thomas More’s Utopia, co-ordinates a program that equips volunteers engaged in the religious education of Catholic children outside the Catholic school system.

Dr Marco Ceccarelli

Dr Marco Ceccarelli is the Director of the Centre for Faith Enrichment – the adult faith formation agency of the Archdiocese of Perth. Marco teaches Church History at the University of Notre Dame Australia and has taught European history, literature and culture at The University of Western Australia. He holds a PhD on Catholic intellectual responses to terrorism. His research interests include Church history, Catholic social doctrine, interfaith dialogue, Catholic political thought, Jesuit scholarship, history of modern Europe, Western philosophy and literature.
A former Journalist and Assistant Editor for the Archdiocesan Communications Office, Marco is dedicated to promoting the Gospel values of human dignity, freedom and peace.