Special Guest Contributors
More to come!
Along with our founding contributors, we will be featuring a special guest contributor each month!
October 2021
Robyn Aguila
Robyn is a joyful disciple and loves to co-create with God! She graduated from the University of Ottawa, where she fell more deeply in love with her faith and learned more about God rather than Biomedical Sciences. Currently, Robyn serves Regina Mundi Parish in the Diocese of Hamilton as the Evangelization Coordinator and is pursuing her Master of Theological Studies at St. Augustine's Seminary in Toronto. She is excited to see where this wonderful adventure with Christ will lead her!
September 2021
Brendan Steven
Brendan is a husband and parishioner at St. Basil's Catholic Parish at the University of St. Michael's College. Passionate about Catholic community-building, Brendan is involved with several Catholic organizations in Toronto, Ontario. He serves as executive director of Catholic Conscience, a lay apostolate focused on nourishing Catholic civic and political leadership and civic evangelization through Catholic social teaching.
Learn more about Brendan’s work with Catholic Conscience!
August 2021
Patrick Peori
Patrick lives everyday in the freedom of being a chosen son of the Father. He is a proud Ottawa boy and graduate of Carleton University's journalism program. You can typically find him running fast, laughing loud or dancing freely. He is keen on using his gifts to build the city of God in the city of man.
Read some more of Patrick’s reflections on his blog https://pursuinghigherthings.wordpress.com//!
Patrick also is the chief editor of Upon This Rock, a ministry dedicated to daily Gospel reflections, written for men, by men.
July 2021
Michael O'Brien
Born in Ottawa in 1948, Michael David O’Brien is the author of thirty books, including twelve novels, which have been published in fourteen languages and widely reviewed in both secular and religious media in North America and Europe. His essays on faith and culture have appeared in international journals such as Communio, Catholic World Report, Catholic Dossier, Inside the Vatican, The Chesterton Review and others. For seven years he was the editor of the Catholic family magazine, Nazareth Journal.
Since 1970 he has also worked as a professional artist and has had more than 40 exhibits across North America. Since 1976 he has painted religious imagery exclusively, a field that ranges from liturgical commissions to visual reflections on the meaning of the human person. His paintings hang in churches, monasteries, universities, community collections and private collections throughout the world.
Michael O’Brien lives in Barry’s Bay, Ontario, where he is Artist and Writer in Residence at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College. He and his wife Sheila have six children and twelve grandchildren.
Learn more about Michael O’Brien’s work at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom and explore his many books available on Ignatius Press!
June 2021
Rev. Cristino Bouvette
Fr. Cristino Bouvette is a native Albertan ordained for the Diocese of Calgary on June 22, 2012, on the 26th anniversary of his Baptism. He served as a seminarian and associate pastor in a number of parishes before taking up his current role as Vicar for Vocations and Young Adults in July, 2017. Since then he has helped to establish the St. Francis Xavier Chaplaincy for university students and young adults in the Diocese of Calgary. He continues to oversee that growing project based out of St. Mary's Cathedral.
To learn more about the St. Francis Xavier Chaplaincy in Calgary check out the website https://www.sfxc.ca/ !
May 2021
Sr. Magdalene Teresa
Founded in 1991 by John Cardinal O’Connor, the late Archbishop of New York, the Sisters of Life is a religious community of consecrated women who, by way of a fourth vow, are dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the sacredness of human life.
Living in 5 convents in the Archdiocese of New York, one in Connecticut, one in Colorado, one in Philadelphia, one in our nation’s capital and one in Toronto. The community numbers 115 professed, novice and postulant members from all over the United States (30 states to date - everywhere from California to Louisiana, Michigan and Kansas) Canada, Spain, England and Ireland. Some enter the community directly from University studies – those who enter later have come with skills ranging from trauma nursing to NASA engineering, graphic arts to biological research – one sister even owned her own toy company! All have come seeking to put all their gifts, all they are, at the service of the Lord of Life. Truly, God calls every human being, in every human endeavor, to the joy and wonder of His Life and grace.
Among the women who responded to John Cardinal O’Connor’s inspiration for the Sisters of Life is, Sr. Magdalene Teresa, then studying for a masters in Theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. At that time her hope was to build beautiful churches across the country and to add to the beauty of the Church in general. Sr. Magdalene Teresa, received the original call to consecration while completing a degree in Fine Arts at the University of Washington. Now in her 24th year in the community, God has used her desire to transform the culture through art, by increasing her dedication to prayer and works for the sacredness of human life. She sees herself as transforming the culture one heart at a time. For the past sixteen years her mission has been to serve vulnerable pregnant women through our Visitation Mission in Manhattan.
Be sure to learn more about the Sisters of Life from their webpage or on their Youtube channel!
April 2021
Chris Lewis
Chris is the artist behind Baritus Catholic Illustration, an endeavour which seeks to bring the beauty of the Catholic Faith to the culture at large. Baritus is a Latin word, meaning war-cry, or trumpeting, and was just the image that was needed when deciding to launch a project devoted to combating the imagery of the age that was often encountered taking walks down various cities of the world where Obey and Che Guerera unfortunately reigned. After half of a life spent festering in "none-ism," Chris had a series of profound conversion experiences after deciding to darken the doorway of a Catholic Church thanks to a love interest which soon became his wife, and being brave enough to listen to a Scott Hahn conversion story. Asking his Catholic in-laws "who was the first pope?" lit the unquenchable fire which would rage for over a decade lighting his pursuit for Truth and desire to understand the origins of ancient Christianity after rejecting a fundamentalist Protestant upbringing early in life.
These many conversions over the years led to a restlessness in his professional life as a corporate graphic designer, inspiring him to pick up the long lost love of illustration from his youth again, this time with a focus on portraying the various aspects of the Catholic Faith for which he was so indebted. With a passion for the faith, and a love of the rich artistic traditions of the Catholic Church which came before him, he now creates Catholic art for a modern world but true to the traditional aesthetic.
Chris resides in the Southeastern United States with his wife Natalie, and 5 children and now works as a Catholic artist full-time.
You can check out his work, or learn more about BARITUS Catholic Illustration at www.barituscatholic.com, on Instagram @barituscatholic, or shop some of the many Catholic products such as prayer cards and prints that he offers at https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BaritusCatholic
February 2021
Mirjana Villeneuve
Mirjana is a Masters of Creative Writing student at the University Toronto, with a B.A. and B.Ed from Queen's University. She is the founder and editor of The Catholic Millennial. Her work can be found in online publications such as Convivium, The Catholic Register, and The Catholic Woman, among others. Be sure to check out The Catholic Millennial on their website and on Instagram @thecatholicmillennial_!
January 2021
Angèle Regnier
Angèle was born on November 29, 1966 in Leask, Saskatchewan and received her Bachelor of Education cum laude from the University of Saskatchewan. Along with her husband André, Angèle founded Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) in Saskatoon in 1988. For over 3 decades CCO has been affecting change in the lives of the university students to whom it ministers, calling them to a conversion to Jesus Christ and to live actively as missionary disciples. Currently they work at CCO’s national headquarters in Canada’s national capital, Ottawa. CCO is increasingly supporting the work of parish renewal through the same methods and materials they have seen success with on campus.
Be sure to check out CCO on their website and on Instagram @ccocampus!
December 2020
Rev. Dr. Andrew P.W. Bennett
The Rev. Dr. Andrew P.W. Bennett is Director of the Cardus Religious Freedom Institute. He is an ordained deacon in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in the Eparchy (Diocese) of Toronto and Eastern Canada.
Fr. Deacon Andrew served as Canada's first Ambassador for Religious Freedom and Head of the Office of Religious Freedom from 2013 to 2016 during which time he led in defending and championing religious freedom internationally as a core element of Canada's foreign policy. At the same time, he served as Canada's Head of Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, a 31-country body which leads international efforts in Holocaust education, research, and remembrance.As Director of the Cardus Religious Freedom Institute, Fr. Deacon Andrew works to promote religious freedom and the importance of public faith to our common life. In conjunction with his work at Cardus, Fr. Deacon Andrew is Director of the North America Action Team and Senior Fellow at the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) in Washington, DC. The RFI is a leading independent think-tank committed to achieving broad acceptance of religious liberty as a fundamental human right, the cornerstone of a successful society, and a source of national and international security.
Fr. Deacon Andrew holds a Ph.D. in Politics (2002) from the University of Edinburgh as well as degrees in history from McGill and Dalhousie universities. When not praying, studying, or advocating, Fr. Deacon Andrew can be found with his fly rod in a stream, listening to bluegrass or Bach, or reading the Church Fathers.
Be sure to learn more about Cardus and the important work they are doing.
November 2020
Ante & Roberta Skoko
The word that best describes Ante is "passionate." He spent his teens and early twenties being passionate about work, sports and fitness; but his faith lacked as a "Cultural Catholic". When he was 24 at a concert, lyrics to a song changed his life: "All I Need is You, Lord." He dedicated the next 5 years to reforming his life, living for God. When he was 29, he met Roberta. Roberta had her reversion to the Catholic faith at the age of 20 after being encouraged by a Protestant friend to find the Truth. Eleven years later, Jesus and His Catholic Church are the defining forces in her life.
Ante knew the day they met that Roberta would be his wife. They courted for a short time, married, and together they started Catholic et Cetera, a lifestyle forum to discuss all things Catholic. Roberta gave birth to their son in September of 2019, and they spend their days amazed at his beautiful life; to say he is a joy is an understatement.
After eight years of working in Civil Engineering, Ante is now the cofounder of St. Joseph Realty @stjosephrealty. Roberta works part-time as an occasional teacher. They share the joint dream of the traditional family, with Roberta homeschooling their now fourteen-month-old son and any future blessings.
Be sure to check out Catholic et Cetera (@catholicetcetera) and visit St. Joseph Realty (@stjosephrealty) for more about this wonderful family and all the good they do!
October 2020
Tianna Williams
Born into a ministry family, Tianna began a career in graphic design at the age of 16 and developed a passion for bringing beauty to the Church through the visual arts. Shortly after she was married in 2015, she picked up a brush and tentatively began painting. What started as a few portraits of the modern saints for her daughter's bedroom soon blossomed into a ministry of creating new and unique Catholic art.
Tianna currently resides in Alberta, Canada with her husband and daughter where she spends her days painting and putting the throw pillows back on the couch.
You can check out her website at www.ti-spark.ca, by following her on Facebook, and her Instagram HERE!
September 2020
Fr. Harrison Arye
Fr. Harrison was born and raised near Vancouver, BC. Having decided that he needed to get out of dodge, he decided to move to Vancouver Island to go to the University of Victoria to study computer science. But computers, it turns out, are boring. In the midst of his third program - philosophy - he had a profound conversion experience which turned his life to focus on Jesus.
He entered seminary in 2008 and was ordained a priest on February 7th, 2015. He is currently Pastor of St. Peter's Parish in Nanaimo, BC. He got his MTh from Newman Theological College and is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Theological Anthropology from the Maryvale Institute.
Besides the mountains of books he loves to be surrounded by, Fr. Harrison is an avid Canucks fan and a beer snob. He knows you ought not to judge, but he’s pretty sure God allows him to judge people who drink bud lite.
Be sure to check out his podcast Clerically Speaking!