Archbishop Mark O'Toole

Archbishop Mark O'Toole is the Chair of the Department for Evangelisation and Discipleship in the Bishops Conference of England and Wales. He is also Archbishop of Cardiff and Bishop of Menevia.

Originally from London, Archbishop Mark studied for the priesthood at Allen Hall Seminary and was ordained in 1990. In 2008 he was appointed Rector of Allen Hall Seminary and first became a Bishop in 2014 as the Bishop of Plymouth.

Monsignor James Shea

Our keynote speaker, Monsignor James Shea, is co-author of the bestselling book ‘From Christendom to Apostolic Mission’. He is also President of the University of Mary, North Dakota.

Monsignor Shea grew up on a dairy farm in Hazelton, North Dakota, and has studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., the Vatican’s North American College, the University of Chicago, and Harvard.

He is passionate about the Church’s ability to respond to the challenges of the contemporary age.

Claire Fernandes

Claire is passionate about helping children and families grow in relationship with God. She works for the CELEBRATE Trust, where she is the Children and Family Lead involved in running events, helping families parent for faith, producing family resources, and representing CELEBRATE on the Committee for Marriage and Family Life for the Bishops’ Conference.

She also lectures in teacher training at St Mary's University, Twickenham, and serves as a trustee for Mark 10 Mission, a prayer and liturgy provider for Catholic schools whose aim is to help children encounter Jesus.

Dr Hannah Vaughan-Spruce

Dr Hannah Vaughan-Spruce is the Executive Director of Divine Renovation UK. She read Theology at Cambridge and was awarded her PhD from St Mary’s University, Twickenham in the area of sociology of religion and theology.

She has published a number of books, including, ‘Why Catholics Leave, What They Miss and How They Might Return’ (Paulist Press, 2019) and Handbook for Catechists (CTS, 2018). She is a consecrated virgin of the Archdiocese of Southwark.

Chris Martin

Chris has worked in Catholic education for over 20 years. For the last 6 years, he has been Principal at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School; a large and successful secondary school in South Birmingham.

Formerly an Ofsted inspector, he is now a Lead Inspector for the Catholic Schools Inspectorate. Chris has previously chaired the Catholic Association for Secondary Headteachers for 3 years across the Archdiocese of Birmingham and is currently the Chair of Trustees for The Mark 10 Mission.

Dr Ann Marie Mealey

Dr Ann Marie Mealey is a graduate of St Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth, and has worked at Leeds Trinity in various roles for a total of 18 years.

She is the author of multiple articles and blogs that focus on the intersection of ethics, theology and society, Catholic Social Teaching, values in Higher Education and is the author of two monographs: The Identity of Christian Morality (2009) and, more recently, The Lecturer’s Survival Guide (2023) as well as an edited collection of essays on social justice (2018).

She is currently the founding Director of Catholic Mission at Leeds Trinity University and steers the strategic direction of the University’s Catholic identity.

Dr Gregory Stacey

Gregory Stacey has taught Theology and Philosophy of Religion at several UK universities; he is currently a Teaching Fellow at the University of Leeds.

His research seeks to show the compatibility of faith and reason by bringing Catholic theology into conversation with modern analytic philosophy. From 2018-2022, he worked as Co-ordinator for Catholic Formation in the Diocese of Leeds, providing formation to catechists and other lay people.