Fr. Robert J. Karris, OFM

Fr. Robert J. Karris, OFM, is a Franciscan priest of the Sacred Heart Province whose headquarters are in St. Louis. He earned an STL from Catholic University of America and a Th.D. from Harvard University in New Testament and Early Church History. Fr. Karris is a former professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a former Provincial Minister of Sacred Heart Province and General Councilor of the Order of Friars Minor. Currently, he is research professor at The Franciscan Institute of St. Bonaventure University. He has been widely published and his most recent New Testament books are, John: Stories of the Word and Faith and Eating Your Way through Luke's Gospel. He is a past president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America and for the last four years he has preached in over 60 churches in the United States on behalf of the poor served by Food for the Poor.

Sr. Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ

Sr. Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ, was professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, from 1977-2003, and Charles Fischer Catholic professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University until her retirement in 2008. She is a former associate editor of The Bible Today and New Testament Book Review Editor of the Catholic Biblical Quarterly. Her most recent publications are Ordained Women in the Early Church, co-edited with Kevin Madigan (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), and A Woman's Place: Early Christian House Churches, co-authored with Margaret MacDonald. She holds a doctorate in New Testament and Christian Origins from Harvard University, and is a past president of the Catholic Biblical Association and the Society of Biblical Literature.

Sr. Patricia Smith, RSM

A native of Baltimore, MD, Sister Patricia Smith, RSM, works in leadership development and service excellence at Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore. She served recently as vice-president of the Sisters of Mercy, Baltimore Regional Community. She received her bachelor's degree in Latin Education from Mount Saint Agnes College, Baltimore: her master's degree in Theology from the University of San Francisco; her Ph.D. in Theology from the University of St. Michael's College, Toronto. She taught at Mercy High School and Loyola College in Baltimore and at St. Francis College in Loretto, Pa. She was academic dean and professor of Theology at St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore. She served as community theologian for the Sisters of Mercy, Baltimore Regional Community.

From 1992-2000, Sr. Pat was assistant to the president for theology, mission and ethics at Mercy Medical Center. In that role, she worked with managers, staff and physicians to integrate the mission of Catholic health care in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy into every area of organizational life. She helped address ethical issues, especially those arising from the corporate identity of health care organizations as recipients of the public trust. She has spoken in numerous programs of the Catholic Health Association and in other health care settings.

Msgr. Stephen C. Worsley, MD, STL

Msgr. Worsley is pastor of St. Stephen Parish, a bilingual community in Sanford, N.C. Drawing upon his experience as a physician and ethicist, he has lectured in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America and has published in church history, art history and ethics. Formerly vice president of mission at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, N.H., a member of the board of the Sisters of Providence Health System and the Catholic Health Association's Theologian/Ethicist Committee, he currently serves on the Mission and Ministry Committee of Catholic Health East.