Joan Chittister, a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA, is one of the most influential religious and social leaders of our time. She is the author of over 60 books, including (with Orbis) The Way of the Cross, A Passion for Life, There is a Season, The Way We Were, and Illuminated Life.

Mary Lou Kownacki, also a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, is the former executive director of the Alliance for International Monasticism, USA. In 2006 she was honored by Pax Christi USA as their Pope Paul VI Teacher of Peace.

Mary Hembrow Snyder is professor emerita of Catholic Theology & Religious Studies who taught at Mercyhurst University for over three decades. She edited Spiritual Questions for the Twenty-First Century: Essays in Honor of Joan D. Chittister and co-edited Joan Chittister: Essential Writings with Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB. Dr. Snyder is also an Erie Benedictine Oblate.