America Media is a work of the Society of Jesus of Canada and the United States. Jesuits have served on the staff of our flagship magazine since its founding in 1909. In 1999, Patricia Kossmann became the first layperson to serve as a full-time member of the editorial board. Today, the majority of America Media’s editors and staff are laypeople.

President and Editor in Chief

Samuel Sawyer, S.J.

Executive Vice President

Heather Trotta

Deputy Editor in Chief

Maurice Timothy Reidy

Executive Editors

Sebastian Gomes
Ashley McKinless
Kerry Weber

Editor at Large

James Martin, S.J.

Production Editor

Robert David Sullivan

Senior Editors

Kevin Clarke
James T. Keane
J. D. Long-García

Poetry Editor

Joseph Hoover, S.J.

Vatican Correspondent

Gerard O’Connell

Associate Editor

Molly Cahill
Colleen Dulle
Ricardo da Silva, S.J. 

Senior Director of Digital Strategy and Subscriptions

Zac Davis

Senior Audio Producer

Maggi Van Dorn

Studio Production Associate

Kevin Christopher Robles

Creative Director

Shawn Tripoli

Contributing Writers

Simcha Fisher
Nichole M. Flores
Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu
Rachel Lu
John W. Miller
Kaya Oakes
Nathan Schneider
Valerie Schultz
Eve Tushnet

Contributing Editors

Robert Collins, S.J.
Patrick Gilger, S.J.
William McCormick, S.J.
Paul McNelis, S.J.
Michael Simone, S.J.

Editor, The Jesuit Post

Ian Peoples, S.J.

Executive Director, Outreach

Michael O’Loughlin

Communications and Advancement Associate, Outreach

John Consolie

O’Hare Fellows

Leilani Fuentes

Connor Hartigan

Grace Lenahan

V.P. of Finance & Operations

Siobhan Ryan

Director of Development

Alessandra Rose

Grant Manager

Kathryn O'Loughlin

Strategic Programs Manager

Jackson Goodman

Advancement Associate

Julian Navarro

Executive Office Manager

Cynthia Edmunds Hornblower

Senior Director of Business Development and Strategic Services

Kenneth Arko

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

Lisa Manico

Business Strategy Consultant

Traug Keller

Human Resource Consultant

Barbara Meehan

Business Operations Staff

Glenda Castro
Jonathan Tavarez
Bianca C. Tucker

Editor Emeritus

Francis W. Turnbull, S.J.

Chair, Board of Directors

Michael Zink

There is a nagging, complicated and somewhat technical problem that occasionally springs up when a new papal encyclical is promulgated. All the details of the case need not be rehearsed, but students of Pacem in Terris will recall the unnecessary and misleading questions that arose in 1963 over an alleged lack of fidelity between the so-called official Latin text of Pope John's famous document and its vernacular translations. At the time, there were even hints of some form of foul play with the official text, and the matter became hopelessly confused and controversial before it was dropped by the press.

I write this just after the completion of the fourth general congregation in this second session of Vatican Council II. In four days, the conciliar Fathers and the attached experts have listened to 59 speeches by cardinals and bishops. It is already possible to give some idea of what is happening here.