On July 7, Fr. Sam Sawyer, SJ and Fr. Christian Sáenz presented our 2025 Distinguished Lecture entitled “From Rome to the World—How the Conclave Shapes Catholic History”. Hundreds of people from around the world registered for this fascinating talk which can be viewed by clicking below.
About Sam Sawyer, SJ
Fr. Sawyer is the Editor in Chief at America Media, where he’s worked since 2015. Since 2020, he has also served as the local superior of the America House Jesuit Community in New York. He also assists at the Church of St. Francis Xavier and is a Gregorian University Foundation board member. During his theology studies, he helped to found The Jesuit Post and served as one of its first editors. During his Jesuit formation, Fr. Sawyer studied philosophy at Loyola University Chicago and theology at Boston College.
About Christian Saenz, SJ
Born and raised in Miami, Florida, to Colombian parents, Father Christian Sáenz said his lifelong faith journey was nurtured by Catholic education, first at St. Hugh School and later at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School. After graduating from Belen, the future priest continued his studies at Syracuse University in New York, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in international relations and Italian language in 2000.
Two years after graduation, he entered the Society of Jesus and began his Jesuit formation at the novitiate in Santiago, Dominican Republic. He continued his studies at Fordham University, a Jesuit University in New York, and graduated with a master’s degree in philosophy in 2006. Upon graduation, he worked at Belen as a social studies teacher for two years and afterward went to the Pontifical Gregorian University. where he earned a baccalaureate in sacred theology in 2011 and stayed until completing his doctorate in Church history. He now teaches Church History and Latin at the Gregorian.
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