Emmanuel Arenas, SJ, is a Jesuit studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he also supports Campus Ministry at the Loyola University Rome Center. Born and raised in Park Ridge, Illinois, the second of four boys, he is a graduate of Marquette University and a former Fixed Income Sales Assistant. He entered the Society of Jesus in 2018. Since then, he has taught New Testament, Church History, and Catholic Ethics at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago and written for The Jesuit Post. He also served as the Baseball Chaplain at Saint Louis University while earning his Master of Arts in Philosophy and Theology for Ministry.
Fr. Henry Shea, SJ, is a Jesuit priest of the USA East Province and a member of the theology faculty at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He teaches courses in both fundamental and dogmatic theology, including Fundamental Theology I in the first cycle and courses on grace, revelation, and assorted twentieth-century theologians in the second cycle. Before arriving at the Gregorian, he taught in the theology department at Boston College and completed his doctorate at the University of Oxford. His book, An Analogy of Grace, was published with the University of Notre Dame Press in 2025 and will be released in paperback in February 2027. In Rome, he also serves as chaplain of the nearby Oratorio del Crocifisso, where all are welcome to join for a morning Mass in Italian surrounded by beautiful sixteenth-century frescoes.
Karina Gandur is a doctoral student at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, pursuing a Ph.D. in Social Sciences. She earned a Licentiate in Comparative Theology of Christian Traditions and Ecumenical Studies from the Gregorian, graduating magna cum laude in 2025. Her academic background also includes a master’s degree in Theology from the SS Cyril and Methodius Institute for Postgraduate Studies in Moscow, an MBA in Strategic Management from Moscow State University of International Affairs, and a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Beirut Arab University. Before coming to Rome, Karina worked in Moscow Patriarchate as a secretary to Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, organised patristic conferences and cultural programs across Russia for delegations coming to Moscow Patriarchate, coordinated international academic exchanges, and fostered cooperation among Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant institutions. She also taught Theological English at the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy. Her international experience and commitment to ecumenical dialogue reflect a longstanding interest in building bridges across Christian traditions and cultures.
The Most Reverend Robert P. Boxie III, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, was born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He earned degrees in chemical engineering and music from Vanderbilt University before graduating from Harvard Law School in 2007. After practicing law in Washington, D.C., he discerned a call to the priesthood and pursued theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he earned both a Bachelor and a Licentiate of Sacred Theology. Ordained a priest in 2016, he was appointed Catholic chaplain at Howard University in 2020, ministering to students and supporting their spiritual formation. In May 2026, Pope Leo XIV appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, and he was ordained a bishop on July 7, 2026, becoming the youngest Catholic bishop in the United States at age 45.
