Mr. Darius Villalobos

Chair

Darius A. Villalobos serves as the Director of Strategic Partnerships and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion for the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM). He previously served in the Archdiocese of Chicago in a variety of ministry roles, including youth ministry, young adult ministry, evangelization, and catechesis. He currently serves on the National Advisory Team for Young Adult Ministry of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and as a founding board member of the National Institute for Ministry with Young Adults. He was born and raised in Chicago and is a graduate of DePaul University where he received his bachelor’s degree in English and Catholic Studies. Darius is a Bernardin Scholar at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in the Master of Arts in Intercultural Ministry program. He has served as a parish RCIA director, liturgical music minister, retreat director, catechist, and youth minister. 

Bishop Edward Burns

The Most Reverend Edward J. Burns is the Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas, Texas. He had previously served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Juneau, Alaska. 

Bishop Burns was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania and after earning a bachelor's degree from Duquesne University he attended Mount St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1983 and served in two parish assignments before being appointed to St. Paul Seminary, Pittsburgh, as Vocation Director, Vice-Rector, Dean of Studies, and then appointed as Rector of St. Paul Seminary.  Bishop Burns also served the Diocese of Pittsburgh as the Director of Clergy Personnel.  

From 1999-2008, he served on the national level as Executive Director of the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Washington, D.C. He was the Executive Director of the Fishers of Men vocation project, staff of the Apostolic Seminary Visitation called by St. Pope John Paul II, and staff for the bishops’ committee for the re-writing of the Program of Priestly Formation, Fifth Edition.  

Bishop Burns has been an active member of the USCCB, the Northwest Regional Bishops Conference, and the Alaska Catholic Conference of Bishops. He is the past Chairman of the USCCB Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, a current member of the Committee for Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and served on the Catholic Relief Services Board of Directors. Bishop Burns is currently on the boards of The National Catholic Bioethics Center and The Papal Foundation. As the Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas, Bishop Burns serves as the Chancellor of the University of Dallas.  

Dr. Hosffman Ospino

Hosffman Ospino, PhD is an Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Education at Boston College, School of Theology and Ministry where he is also Chair of the Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry. He is the Director of the university’s Graduate Programs in Hispanic Ministry. Hosffman is the principal investigator for several national studies on Hispanic Catholics. His research in particular explores closely how young Hispanics are served in the Catholic Church through education and youth ministry. He is the author/editor of more than a dozen books. He is a past President of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS) and serves on the boards of several organizations, academic and ministerial.

Dr. Catherine Punsalan-Manlimos

Catherine Punsalan-Manlimos is Vice President for Mission Integration and Professor in Theology and Religious Studies at Seattle University. She held the Malcolm & Mari Stamper Chair in Catholic Intellectual and Cultural Traditions when she served as inaugural director of the Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture at Seattle University. She has also served as Chief Mission Officer at University of Detroit Mercy. She began her academic career at the Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines) where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Masters in Theological Studies and taught undergraduate and graduate theology courses for five years. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in Systematic Theology. Her recent publications include contributions to the volumes, Women Engaging the Catholic Social Tradition (eds. Erin M. Brigham and Mary Johnson, SNDdeN) and Catholic Higher Education and Catholic Social Thought (eds. Bernard G. Prusak and Jennifer Reed-Bouley). She also co-edited the volume “Why We Can’t Wait”: Racism and the Church with Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier and Elisabeth T. Vasko. Her current collaborative project is focused on Catholic Theology and the University.

Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR

Father Agustino Torres, CFR, is a priest with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal based in the Bronx, New York. He is the founder of Corazon Puro, an organization dedicated to forming youth. He hosts the EWTN television shows Icons and Clic con Corazon Puro in Spanish. Father Agustino was one of the friars who founded Catholic Underground, an apostolate of the Friars of the Renewal, and the Casa Guadalupe (women) and JPII (men) houses of discernment. He is internationally sought to address topics such as the Church’s teachings about human sexuality, vocational discernment, and missionary discipleship.