Speakers
Fr. Professor Robert J. Woźniak
He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Krakow, professor of dogmatic theology. He works at the Department of Theological Anthropology of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow. He obtained his doctorate in dogmatic theology in 2005 at the University of Navarre in Pamplona. He completed his academic years at the Fordham University in New York and at the Gregorian University in Rome. He lectured at the Facultad de Teología Pontificia and Civil in Lima, Peru. He was the editor-in-chief of Theological Research. He is the vice-president of the Polish Dogmatics Society. His research interests include Trinitarian theology, relations between theology and philosophy, and theological threads of postmodernism. He is the author of many books and a laureate of numerous awards.
Jose Granados
José Granados (Madrid, 1970) is the Superior General of the Disciples of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the President and Co-founder of the Veritas Amoris Project (www.veritasamoris.org). He has been the vice-president and a professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical Institute John Paul II for Studies on Marriage and Family. He has been appointed by Pope Francis as a Consultor to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (2013-2020), a Consultor to the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops (since May 2015) and a Consultor to the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life (since October 2018). He received his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (Bellarmine Prize). He holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Pontifical University of Comillas (ICAI), Madrid.
Fr. Professor Robert Skrzypczak
He is a professor of theology at the Catholic Academy in Warsaw, member of the Scientific Council of the National Heritage Institute of Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and a member of the Scientific Council of the John Paul II Thought Center in Warsaw. He is also a member of the Council of the John Paul II and Primate Wyszyński Museum, a member of the board of the "Personalism" Scientific Association in Lublin and the Luigi Stefanini Philosophical Society in Treviso (Italy). He works on the Italian personalism, the Second Vatican Council, ecclesiology and theological anthropology. He is a regular columnist for "Gościa Niedzielnego", translator, editor, chaplain and the author of over a dozen books. In 2013 he was honored with the "Totus" Award, the "Tulips of Life" Statuette in 2016 and the Medal of St. Edith Stein in 2017.
Dr hab. Barbara Strzałkowska
Dr hab. Barbara Strzałkowska, prof. UKSW - kierownik Katedry Egzegezy Starego Testamentu na Wydziale Teologicznym UKSW w Warszawie; wykładowca i popularyzator Pisma Świętego w różnych miejscach w Polsce i Europie; w latach 2008-2013 sekretarz Stowarzyszenia Biblistów Polskich; inicjatorka i kierownik chrześcijańskiej turystyki religijnej, nowego kierunku na Wydziale Teologicznym UKSW; konsultor Rady ds. Migracji, Turystyki i Pielgrzymowania przy Konferencji Episkopatu Polski; członek Zespołu "Laudato Si" przy Konferencji Episkopatu Polski; członek komitetu redakcyjnego La Revue Biblique; ceniony przewodnik po Ziemi Świętej i krajach biblijnych. Jej hobby jest kolekcjonowanie literatury wspomnieniowej z podróży na Bliski Wschód, jej kolekcja XIX- i XX-wiecznych książek tego typu liczy obecnie ponad 100 woluminów.
Fr. Professor Tomasz Kraj
Tomasz Kraj is a priest of the Archdiocese of Krakow, professor of theology, the head of the Department of Theological Bioethics at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow. His research interests include: bioethics, confession and issues of fundamental moral theology (human act, natural law, virtue).
Fr. Professor Michał Drożdż
He is a professor of social sciences, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, co-founder and first director of the Institute of Journalism, Media and Social Communication of that University (2008-2018). Also, he is the head of the Department of Media and Social Communication and the director of the Academic Media Center and the editor-in-chief of Studia Socialia Cracoviensia. In the years 1995-2000 he was the director of Biblos Publishing House and till 2003 he was the program director of Radio Dobra Nowina and Radio Plus. He is the author of several hundred articles and several books in the field of media philosophy, media theory, media ethics and philosophy of science. He is a member of the Board of the Polish Society of Social Communication, a member of the Scientific Council of the Polish Episcopal Conference and the Media Council of the Polish Episcopal Conference. He was the chairman of the Supreme Journalists' Court of the SDP (2016-2021) and a member of the Program Council of TVP3 Kraków (2016-2020 and 2021-2024), and of the Program Council of TVP SA (2021-2024). He is a member of the Scientific Committee of Social Communication and Media Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences and a member of the Communication Ethics Committee and the Media Studies Committee of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Krakow.
He is the author of numerous media studies. His main research interests include: ethics of journalism and media, axiology of media, ethics and axiology of social communication, ethics and theory of information, philosophy of media. He was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit (2019) and the Gold Medal for Long Service (2017).
Fr. Professor Piotr Mazurkiewicz
He is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Warsaw, professor of Catholic social sciences and political science at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw. In the years 2001-2008 he was a board member of the European Society for Ethics Research "Societas Ethica". Since 2002, he has been a member of the Council of the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In the years 2008-2012 he was the Secretary General of the Commission of Episcopal Conferences of the European Community, and from 2013 to 2014 he worked for the Pontifical Council for the Family. He was also the chairman of the Group of Experts working on the New Regulation on the Protection of Personal Data within the Catholic Church in Poland. Professor Mazurkiewicz is also the former dean of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.
His research areas comprise religion and democracy, Church-state relations, Catholic social science, ethics in politics, politics and reconciliation, European integration, European identity, totalitarianism.
He is the author and co-author of many books and scientific publications.
Prof. Sergio Belardinelli
Sergio Belardinelli is full Professor of Sociology of Culture at the Department of Political and Social Science of Bologna University.
His main research interests focus on ethical and political issues connected to the development of complex societies, with particular reference to bioethics and to the relationship between religion and politics, cultural identity and plurality of cultures. Among his books: L'altro Illuminismo. Politica, religione e funzione pubblica della verità, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2010; Sillabario per la tarda modernità, Cantagalli, Siena 2012; L'ordine di Babele. Le culture tra pluralismo e identità, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2018; All'alba di un nuovo mondo, Il Mulino, Bologna 2019 (co-authored with Angelo Panebianco); L'inesauribile superficie delle cose, Cantagalli, Siena 2022.
2002-2006 he was member of the Board of the National Committee on Bioethics;
2011-2015 he was member of the Board of the "Italian Institute of German Studies".
Costanza Miriano
Costanza Miriano is a tv journalist and a writer, but most of all is a wife and a mother of four. She was born in Perugia (near Assisi) in 1970, where she took an ancient arts degree. After that, while she was waiting to become a greek and latin teacher, she entered the Italian Television journalism school, and she began working for TV news, in the economics editorial board. Now she is working for Rai Vaticano and she writes for different newspapers.
Trying to convince her friends to get married, in 2011 she wrote a book, Get married and be submissive. After that, to promote it, she opened a blog and some social accounts, and she became a “catholic influencer” (she herself doesn’t know why): the book sold more than one hundred thousands copies all over the world. After that, she wrote six more books.
With a group of friends she organized two very big street demonstration against the same sex marriage and surrogacy.
In the last ten years she has been going in parishes and cultural centers all around Italy to speak about marriage and the difference between men and women.
She founded a meeting for people who want to pray together, called “wi-fi monastery”, wich has its annual meeting in Saint Peter Curch in Rome.
Fr. Professor Sławomir Bukalski
He is a priest of the Szczecin-Kamień Archdiocese He received his Ph.D. in humanities in the field of psychology and then a habilitated doctor degree in theological sciences in the field of pastoral theology. He is a researcher at the Institute of Theological Sciences of the University of Szczecin. He is also an expert witness of the Metropolitan Court. He is the author of several dozen scientific and popular science publications on theology and psychology which in particular deal with cult groups, religiosity, engagement, marriage and family issues.
Professor Stanisław Grygiel
He is an emeritus professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He got his PhD. in philosophy at the Catholic University in Lublin in 1965. In the years 1966-1967 he was a scholarship holder at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Louvain in Belgium. From 1962 to 1980 he was the editor of the Catholic monthly magazine "Znak" and a lecturer of philosophy at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Krakow. He has lived in Rome since 1980, where in 1981 he founded the Polish Institute of Christian Culture of the John Paul II Fundation. He was a lecturer at the Pontifical Institute of John Paul II in Washington D.C., the Theological Academy in Lugano (Switzerland). Since1981 he has been a lecturer of philosophical anthropology at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, He participated in the work of two Synods of European Bishops. He is the co-founder and long-time director of the quarterly magazine "Il Nuovo Areopago", published since 1982. Several of his books have been published in Poland, Italy, Spain and the United States. He has also published numerous essays and articles in several languages in Europe, North and South America, and Asia.
He is a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Vienna-Salzburg, the Academy of Philosophy in Argentina. and the Polish Philosophical Society. He has been awarded numerous orders and awards.
Ludmiła Grygiel
Ludmiła Grygiel is a graduate of history at the Jagiellonian University. She is an essayist and translator and also the author of numerous articles published in Polish and Italian journals. She translated the "Letters" and "Prayers" of St. Catherine of Siena. Her oeuvre includes such books as „Zawierzyć Bożemu Miłosierdziu”, „Mistyka Siostry Faustyny”, „Święty Benedykt. Pierwszy Europejczyk”, „Prorok ze św. Anny. Biskup Jan Pietraszko”, “Świętość Dwojga. Pierwsza błogosławiona para małżeńska”. She has been living in Rome since 1980.
Professor Jarosław Kupczak, OP
He is the head of the Department of Theological Anthropology at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow and the director of the Center for Research on the Thought of John Paul II at PUJPII. He is also a lecturer at the Angelicum University in Rome and President of the Society of Dogmatists. Professor Jarosław Kupczak is the winner of the Totus Tuus Award in the 2018 edition.
Jean Laffitte
was born on May 5, 1952 in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France. He graduated with a degree in Political Science in 1973 and after language studies in various European countries, he carried out a professional activity in banking in France and Germany. In 1984, he entered the Seminary in Rome and studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University where he received the degrees of Bachelor of Philosophy and Theology. Member of the Emmanuel Community, he was ordained a priest on July 2, 1989 in Autun. He became Superiour of the Chaplains of the Sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial and Director of the Pilgrimage there. He pursued then further studies at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family and under the guidance of Professor Stanislaw Grygiel, he earned a doctorate in moral Theology in 1994. He taught at the Institute as a professor of conjugal ethics, anthropology and spirituality. In 2003 Pope John Paul II made him a Consultor at the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, then in 2005 he became Deputy Secretary of the Pontifical council for the Family, before being named by Pope Benedict XVI Vice-President of the Pontifical Academy for Life in 2006. In 2009 Pope Benedict appointed him Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family and Titular Bishop of Entrevaux. He was consecrated as a bishop on December 12, 2009. On July 3, 2015, Pope Francis appointed him Prelate of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Jean Laffitte is author of numerous publications among which Le Pardon transfiguré, Amour conjugal et Vocation à la sainteté, le Choix de la Famille, Christ destin de l’homme, all translated in various languages.
Professor Jerzy Szymik
He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Katowice, professor of theological sciences, poet and journalist. He specializes in Christology, methodology of theology, theology of culture, theology of J. Ratzinger / Benedict XVI. In 1986-2008 he was associated with John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, 2004-2014 he was a member of the International Theological Commission. He is the author of 70 scientific, poetry and essays books.
Janet E. Smith
Janet Smith is retired from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, MI where she held the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics. She is the author of Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later and A Right to Privacy. Self-Gift is a volume of her already published essays on Humanae Vitae and the thought of John Paul II. She edited Why Humanae Vitae is Right: A Reader, Life Issues, Medical Choices (with Christopher Kaczor), Living the Truth in Love: Pastoral Approaches to Same-Sex Attractions (with Rev. Paul Check) and Why Humanae Vitae is Still Right. Prof Smith served three terms as a consulter to the Pontifical Council on the Family and also served as a member of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission, III for 8 years.
She writes regularly for the National Catholic Register and for Crisis Magazine. She has received three honorary doctorates and several other awards for scholarship and service. More than two million copies of her talk, "Contraception: Why Not" have been distributed.
Professor Dorota Kornas-Biela
She is a professor at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. She obtained a doctoral degree and habilitation title in pedagogy, as well as a doctorate in psychology. She is the author of 8 books, editor of 9 books and several hundred scientific and popular science publications. She has participated in several hundred conferences at home and abroad alike. She was a Fulbright Scholarship Holder at Harvard University.
Her interests include: prenatal psychopedagogy, reproductive and family psychopedagogy, special education and health pedagogy. Professor Kornas Biea is the originator of prenatal pedagogy. She is the president of the Prenatal Psychology Section of the Polish Psychiatric Association and the head of the Interdepartmental Postgraduate Family Study at John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin; She is an appraiser of the Ministry of National Education.
Professor Dominika Żukowska-Gardzińska
She is a cultural theologian, lecturer and the head of the Scientific Research Institute of the John Paul II Thought Center, a professor at the Institute of Theological Sciences of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.
Her research interests include the theology of the body, identity, the dialogue of faith and culture, cultural policy, pedagogy of culture but also the areas combining science and broadly understood economic environment.
Fr. Przemysław Kwiatkowski, Ph.D.
He received his Ph.D. in theology and in particular in the theology of marriage and family at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He is the originator, translator and editor of the Italian-Polish edition of Karol Wojtyła's works on human love, marriage and family. He is involved in the pastoral care of families, the formation of candidates for the priesthood and the ongoing formation of priests. In 2010-2019 he was a professor of the theology of spirituality and the Catholic social science at the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Rome. Since 2016, he has been giving lectures on the pastoral care of families at the Primate's Higher Seminary in Gniezno and at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań. In the years 2014-2016 he was the personal secretary of the Primate of Poland, Archbishop Wojciech Polak. Since 2016, he has been the Rector of the Primate's Higher Seminary in Gniezno. Since 2016, he has also been the President of the Management Board of the St. Wojciech-Adalbert Fundation. Since 2020 he has been the Secretary of the Board of the Conference of Rectors of Higher Theological Seminaries in Poland.
Elżbieta Rafalska
She was a senator of the Republic of Poland of the 6th, 7th and 8th terms of office. She was also the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy in 2006-2007. In the years 2015-2019 she was the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy in the government of Prime Minister Beata Szydło, and then Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. In the elections to the European Parliament in May 2019 she was elected a member of the European Parliament. Currently, she is a coordinator in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee.
Fr. Professor Tadeusz Borutka
He is a professor of theology (Catholic social science), priest of the Bielsko-Żywiec Diocese. He is the head of the Department of Family Sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow. He is a lecturer of the Catholic social science, sociology of religion, family sociology at the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow. He is the author of dozens of books, numerous scientific and popular science articles. Also, he is a founder and long-time editor-in-chief of "Bielsko-Żywiec Theological Studies", co-founder of the scientific journal "Świat i Słowo".
Marguerite A. Peeters
Born in 1963 in New-York, USA, holds a PhD in political science from the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University. For some twenty years she specialized as a researcher in post-Cold War developments at the United Nations and authored over 300 reports on UN reform, the UN conference process, the emergence of new political and cultural paradigms and of a global postmodern ethic expressed by means of a new global language. Her books, including The Globalization of the Western Cultural Revolution and The Gender Revolution, were translated in several languages. Marguerite Peeters currently directs Dialogue Dynamics, a Brussels-based institute specialized in these issues. She has held lectures and seminars for a wide variety of audiences internationally, especially in Africa. She has taught a course on global ethics in several universities and institutes, including the Pontifical Urbaniana University, the Catholic University of Congo and the Canon Triest International Institute. She is a consultor for the Pontifical Council for Culture.
Karol Grabiec
He is the Managing Director of the Three Plus Big Families Association. He has extensive experience in the areas of culture and civil society. He is the author of a training program for non-governmental organizations working for families and the originator of the Talent Academy - a scholarship program for socially engaged youth from large families. He is a certified trainer for married couples.
Professor Iwona Przybył,
She is a family life sociologist at the Department of Sociology of the Individual and Social Relations at the Faculty of Sociology of the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań. In her work she deals with the issues such as marriage, family relations and morphology of the social network. She is the author or co-author of numerous books and articles published in sociological scientific journals.
Michał Gierycz
PhD DSc, political scientist, associate professor at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences. Main research areas: axiology and anthropology of politics; relations between religion and politics; European integration. Winner of the Countess Aniela Potulicka Award, the Feniks Award. Lately published: “European Dispute Over the Concept of Man. A Study in Political Anthropology” (2021) by Springer in series: Contributions to Political Science], “Mała pochwała katolicyzmu. Kościół i polityka w późnej nowoczesności” (2021) by Teologia polityczna in series: Życie codzienne idei.
Contact: m.gierycz@uksw.edu.pl
Fr. Marcin Szczerbiński, Ph.D.
He is the Director of the Department of Pastoral Care of Families of the Metropolitan Curia in Warsaw. As part of his pastoral activity, he coordinates the preparation for the sacrament of marriage. He is the author of the new premarital catecheses, "Love is the greatest." He also runs the Marriage and Family Study course at the Catholic Academy in Warsaw, the Single Mother Home in Chyliczki, the Psychological Clinics "Dewajtis" and the Catholic Archdiocese Outpatient Clinic. He is the founder of the Helpline for spouses in crisis.
Aleksandra Brzemia-Bonarek, Ph.d
Aleksandra Brzemia-Bonarek - Doctor of jurisprudence in canon law; lecturer at UPJP2 in Krakow, from 2010-2021 defender of the bond at the Metropolitan Tribunal in Krakow, and from 2022 Judge of the Metropolitan Tribunal in Katowice. She specializes in procedural canon law and issues related to the relationship between civil law and canon law and their impact on the life of the faithful in respect to marriage and family. Since 2018, she and her husband have been appointed by Pope Francis as members of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. Mother of five children.
Anna Marek- Cycoń
She obtained her master degree in pedagogy and marriage and family issues. She specializes in fertility and marital sexuality. She graduated from the Ignatianiu Academy and the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Rome. Since 2012 she has been an instructor of the Creighton Model - a modern method of fertility recognition.
She works as a family life counselor in the Archdiocese of Krakow. At the same time, she helps married couples to diagnose and treat infertility and reproductive health disorders.
Fr. Professor Przemysław Kisiel
He is the Head of the Department of Sociology and the director of the Institute of Political Science, Sociology and Philosophy of the College of Economy and Public Administration of Krakow University of Economics.
He is a former Member of the Presidium of the Science Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences (in the 2019-2022 term), co-founder and Chairman of the Sociology of Art Section of the Polish Sociological Society (since 2016). He is the author of over 80 scientific publications.
His academic specialization includes: sociology of culture, sociology of art, sociology of science, methodology of social research.
Professor Agnieszka Regulska
Professor Agnieszka Regulska is a professor at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw and the vice-dean of the Faculty of Family Sciences.
Her research interests include family pedagogy and social pedagogy. In her works she focuses on the problem of children deprived of families, organizing and functioning of the foster care system and adoption, family issues and also personalistic basics of education as well as social support and care for dependent people.
Isabelle Ecochard
Medical doctor, married to René, 4 children and 15 grandchildren.
She worked in a hospital center for 35 years where she taught natural family planning.
She was responsible for the training and evaluation of instructors in the sympto-thermal method in France. She was president of the European Institute of Family Education from 1997 to 2000.
She has participated in research work on NFP, in particular the Quidel survey.
With her husband she participated in the development of the Africa Family Life Federation.
Together they wrote the Petit Manuel d'Ecologie Humaine (Centurion), the book Intimacy, Sexuality, Fertility (Tequi), and in 2022, in collaboration with José Noriega, they co-edited the Encyclopedia on Human Sexuality, Love and Fertility (Tequi).
Currently, with the Gabriel Medical Association, she is helping to open medical practices that are respectful of life and NFP.
dr Urszula Miernik
dr Urszula Miernik - PhD of family sciences, family psychologist and psychotherapist. Since 2019, I have been the vice-president of the Family Counselling Foundation, which was established by the Archdiocese of Krakow. Currently, I am responsible for the development of specialist family counseling in the Archdiocese of Krakow. Normally I work as a therapist with married couples and individuals. My scientific interests involve legal and sociological aspects of marriage and family.
Prof. Renee Ecochard
René Ecochard, married with Isabelle, they have 4 children and 15 grandchildren
Physician, epidemiologist, Professor Emeritus of the Claude Bernard University in Lyon (France)
He holds a PhD in biostatistics and demography from Cambridge (Great Britain)
Specialist in reproductive biology, he is co-author of 30 scientific articles in fertility and a total of 275 articles.
He participated in the development of the African Federation for Family Action. With his wife, he works to promote a human ecology.
They have written, among other things, the Petit Manuel d'Ecologie Humaine published by the Centurion,
the book Intimacy, Sexuality, Fertility published by Tequi
and in 2022 the Encyclopedia on Human Sexuality, Love and Fertility published by Tequi.
He is in charge of the Fertility Restoration course at the Claude Bernard University, which is intended in particular for doctors and midwives.
For the past three years, he has devoted himself to the neuroscientific foundations of anthropology
and published in 2022 the book Homme, Femme, ce que nous disent les neurosciences, published by Artège.
Fr. Dr. Tomasz Jaklewicz
He is a doctor of dogmatic theology, journalist, columnist, retreatist, member of the Polish Episcopate Council for the Apostolate of the Laity. In the years 2004-2018 he worked in the editorial board of "Gość Niedzielny". Currently, he is the parish priest of the Parish of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in Katowice. His teaching is mainly based on the theology of the body of St. John Paul II. He is the author of numerous books.
Dr Stephan Kampowski
Dr. Stephan Kampowski was born in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, in 1972. He is full professor of philosophical anthropology at the Pontifical Theological John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Rome. He is also an invited professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas (Angelicum), Rome. He is the author of several publications. Among them Accompanying, Discerning, Integrating: A Handbook for the Pastoral Care of the Family according to Amoris Laetitia (2017), which he has co-authored with José Granados and Juan José Pérez-Soba. His most recent work is entitled Il caso serio della vita. La morale cristiana tra autonomia e libertà del dono, which is scheduled to come out at the end of September 2022. You can also refer to my homepage: http://stephankampowski.com/curriculum.html
