Read our Apostolic Blessing from His Holiness, Pope Francis

Bishop Christian Riesbeck, CC was born in Montreal on February 7, 1970. He grew up in Ottawa, specialized in Social Sciences at the University of Ottawa, and pursued studies for the priesthood with the Companions of the Cross. Ordained to the priesthood in 1996, he did pastoral work in the Archdiocese of Kingston as well as in the Archdiocese of Ottawa and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston (USA) as pastor for nine years. After obtaining his degrees in Canon Law in December 2010, he was appointed Chancellor and Episcopal Vicar for Canonical Concerns for the Archdiocese of Ottawa in January 2011. He also served as the Assistant General Superior of the Companions of the Cross from 2012 until 2014. In early 2014 he was named Auxiliary Bishop of Ottawa by Pope Francis. He now serves as the Auxiliary bishop of Ottawa, while continuing as Vicar General, Chancellor, and Vicar for the National Language Parishes, Communities and Faithful. His Episcopal motto is Evangelii Gaudium, the joy of the Gospel.

Sherry Weddell entered the Catholic Church as a young adult in Seattle. She originally wrote the Called& Gifted discernment process in 1993 as a volunteer without realizing that she was creating the first gifts discernment program designed especially for Catholics.

Sherry co-founded the Catherine of Siena Institute (CSI) in 1997 with Fr. Michael Sweeney, OP. CSI trains Catholic leaders in the art of 21st century evangelization and fostering parishes of intentional disciples, in facilitating the discernment of charisms and vocations among all the baptized, and in the theology, formation, and mission of the laity. To date, Sherry and her international team of collaborators have worked directly with 120,000 lay, religious, and ordained Catholics in well over 500 parishes in 137 dioceses.

Sherry is the author of the best-selling book, Forming Intentional Disciples: the Path to Knowing and Following Jesus (2012) (also available in Spanish as Formacion de Discipulos Intencionales) as well as the editor of and a contributor to Forming a Parish of Intentional Disciples (2015). When she is not hanging out in airports, she enjoys tending her high altitude Tuscan garden in the Colorado Rockies.

Sherry’s major projects through the end of 2016 include revising and updating the Called & Gifted discernment process for international use and writing another book on a topic she has been pondering for 20 years: the charisms and the charismatic dimension of the Church’s life as one of the life-changing fruits of intentional discipleship.

Father Raniero Cantalamessa is a Franciscan Capuchin Catholic Priest. Born in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, 22 July 1934, ordained priest in 1958. Divinity Doctor (Fribourg 1962) and Doctor in classical literature (Milan 1966). Former Ordinary Professor of History of Ancient Christianity and Director of the Department of Religious Sciences at the Catholic University of Milan. Member of the International Theological Commission (1975-1981) and for 12 years member of the Catholic Delegation for the dialogue with the Pentecostal Churches.

In 1979 he resigned his teaching position to become a full time preacher of the Gospel. In 1980 he was appointed by Pope John Paul II Preacher to the Papal Household and confirmed in that position by pope Benedict XVI in 2005. In this capacity he preaches a weekly sermon in Advent and Lent in the presence of the Pope, the cardinals, bishops, and prelates of the Roman Curia and the general superiors of religious orders. He is also frequently invited to speak in many countries around the world, both to Catholic and Protestant audiences.

He has received an Honorary degree in Laws from Notre Dame University (Indiana), in Sciences of communication from the University of Macerata (Italy) and in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio).

In addition to his early scholarly books on Patristic Christology, Easter in the Ancient Church and other topics he has published numerous books on the spiritual fruit of his preaching to the papal Household, translated in more than twenty foreign languages.

For 14 years, from 1994 to 2010 he has run a weekly program on the first channel of the Italian state television (RAI) on the Gospel of the following Sunday.

From 2009, when he is not engaged in preaching, he lives in a hermitage, at Cittaducale (Rieti) ministering to a small community of cloistered nuns.

On the 18th July, 2013 he was confirmed by Pope Francis as Preacher to the Papal Household.

Angèle Regnier is co-founder, along with her husband André of Catholic Christian Outreach. Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) is a university student movement engaged in the new evangelization for over 25 years. Angèle played a leading role in developing CCO’s methodology and the five books of their small-group faith study series. She is a natural teacher and a popular, entertaining speaker who shares her passion for: the Saints, the “Great Commission”, and abandonment to God’s will. She is the mother of five ridiculous kids and a proud grandmother. The Regniers currently reside in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada but still consider Saskatchewan “home”.

Michael graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with Bachelor degrees in Business Administration (BBA) and Philosophy (BA), St. Augustine’s at the University of Toronto with a Bachelor in Theology (STB) and Master of Divinity (MDiv), and Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Michigan with a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) with a concentration on the new evangelization. Michael has been involved in a variety of ministries dedicated to evangelization and has been involved in mission projects in Europe, Africa, and North America.

Michael and his wife, Linda, were married in the winter of 2008 and Therese Marie was born in the spring of 2013. They have recently been blessed with a second daughter, Anna.

Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at Boston College. He loves his five grandchildren, four children, one wife, one cat, and one God. Dr. Kreeft is the author of 75 books including: Handbook of Christian Apologetics, Christianity for Modern Pagans, Fundamentals of the Faith.

Christopher West is a proud husband and father of five. His global lecturing, best selling books and multiple audio and video programs have also made him the world’s most recognized teacher of John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” – a bold, biblical vision of love and sexuality that takes us to the “cor” of what it means to be human. As Founder and President of The Cor Project, he leads an international outreach devoted to spreading this liberating teaching and empowering others to live and share it. His work has been featured in The New York Times, on ABC News, Fox News, MSNBC, and countless Catholic and Evangelical media outlets.

Beyond his work as a popularizer of the Theology of the Body, Christopher has been teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on the subject since the late 1990s, having served on the faculties of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, and as a visiting professor of the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne, Australia. In 2004 he co-founded the Theology of the Body Institute near Philadelphia, PA and his week-long courses there continue to draw students from around the world.