Our Contributors
“I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, but God declared: “Go down again – I dwell among the people.”

Father Juan Vélez

Fr. Juan  is a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei who resides in Miami. He holds a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre. His doctoral thesis was on John Henry Newman’s Eschatology. Fr. Vélez has a medical degree, also from the University of Navarre, and was previously board certified in internal medicine.

Prof. Barb H. Wyman

Barbara H. Wyman, M.A., M.F.A., teaches English and Latin at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana where she lives with her husband, also professor at McNeese. She is Assistant Director of the Honors College and has written on Boethius, George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins and others. With Scott Goins she has edited and translated Boethius’ “Consolation of Philosophy” (Ignatius Critical Editions, 2012).

James Toler

James Toler helps as a Website designer/developer and provides technical support to the team. He spends most of his time assisting persons with disabilities in their work as a Vocational Rehab Counselor/Job Coach. He is also an Opus Dei cooperator and member of the Legion of Mary. 

Patricia Sharp

Patricia Sharp (here with her daughter Janis), emigrated from Hong Kong to the U.S. in 1959, having graduated with an Honours degree in English. She was employed in the executive suites of Chevron, U. S. Steel, and as administrative assistant to the President of Itel Corporation. She feels honored to work with our group and with her keen eye checks our grammar, punctuation and makes sure we dot our I’s and cross our T’s.

David Warren

David John Warren is a Catholic and freelance writer who lives with his wife and daughter in Glen Ellyn, IL. He has a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Biblical Studies from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He also works as a tennis instructor.

Robert Kirkendall

Robert Kirkendall teaches Humanities at St. Thomas More Academy in Raleigh, NC where he lives with his wife Staycie and daughters Petra and Carmen. Raised Protestant, he and his wife became Catholic in 2017 largely due to Newman’s writings and witness.

Father Peter Conley

Fr Peter Conley is Assistant Priest at St Joseph the Worker and Assistant Chaplain to Warwick University in Coventry, England. He popularizes the life and thought of St John Henry Newman for the Archdiocese of Birmingham and is the author of Newman: A Human Harp of Many Chords (2019).

Fr. John Henry Hanson

Father John is a Norbertine priest of St Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California. He entered the community in 1995, earned his STB and Masters in Theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome, and was ordained to the priesthood in 2006. He teaches English  at St Michael’s Preparatory School, the boarding school operated by the Norbertine Fathers, preaches retreats, and is chaplain to the cloistered Norbertine Nuns in Tehachapi, California. He and his community are cooperators of Opus Dei.