Father Thomas Acklin, OSB, is a Benedictine monk of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He earned an MA in philosophy at Duquesne University as well as an STD in theology and a Ph.D in religious studies at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium where he specialized in psychology of religion. He is a psychoanalyst as well as a spiritual director and has been a professor at St. Vincent Seminary where he also served as rector. Fr. Acklin is the author of The Passion of the Lamb and The Unchanging Heart of the Priesthood.

Father Ben Bradshaw, STL, is a priest of the Diocese of Memphis. Fr. Ben holds a Licentiate degree in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C. He also holds a Masters of Arts and Masters of Divinity in Sacred Theology. His Licentiate dissertation focused on the response of the Catholic Church to the issue of Same-Sex attraction. Fr. Ben has attended courses at TOBI and has served TOBI as a course chaplain. He also consults on the development of TOBI’s Clergy Enrichment Program.

Bill Donaghy is an instructor, international speaker, and curriculum specialist for the Theology of the Body Institute Certification Program. Bill worked for nearly a decade teaching theology at Malvern Preparatory School as well as Immaculata University, while giving talks, retreats, and conferences for the Theology of the Body Institute. He has worked in the fields of mission and evangelization since 1999, and has given talks and retreats to bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, and the lay faithful throughout the United States, as well as Canada, Mexico, Chile, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. He and his wife, Rebecca, live just outside of Philadelphia, PA with their four children.

Father Timothy Gallagher, OMV, was ordained in 1979 as a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Having obtained his doctorate in 1983 from the Gregorian University, he has taught (St. John’s Seminary, Brighton, MA; Our Lady of Grace Seminary Residence, Boston, MA), assisted in formation work, and served two terms as provincial in his own community. He has dedicated many years to an extensive international ministry of retreats, spiritual direction, and teaching about the spiritual life. He is a frequent speaker on EWTN, and his digitally recorded talks are utilized internationally. He currently holds the St. Ignatius Chair for Spiritual Formation at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver.

Rev. Joe Koopman, M.Div, M.A., S.T.D., graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 1996, after which he entered St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland, Ohio. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Cleveland in 2001, and served as a newly ordained priest at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Parma. From 2005 to 2009, Fr. Koopman attended the Accademia Alfonsiana in Rome, Italy, where he received a license and doctorate in theology. Since 2009, he has been a professor of moral theology at St. Mary Seminary, along with serving as an advisor in moral theology and ethics for the Diocese of Cleveland and the Ohio Catholic Conference of Bishops.  

Father Boniface Hicks, OSB, is a Benedictine monk of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He has provided spiritual direction for many men and women, including married couples, seminarians, consecrated religious, and priests, even while completing his Ph.D in computer science at Penn State University. He became the programming manager and an on-air contributor for We Are One Body Catholic Radio in 2010 and has recorded thousands of radio programs on theology and the spiritual life. He has extensive experience as a retreat master for laity, consecrated religious, and priests. He became the Director of Spiritual Formation for St. Vincent Seminary in 2016.  

Dr. Janet E. Smith recently retired from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, MI. She is an acclaimed author, regular columnist and blogger, and has appeared on various television shows. Dr. 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 eight years. 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.  

Dr. Christopher West serves as President of the TOB Institute and as Professor of Theological Anthropology in the jointly sponsored M.A. program with Pontifex University. His global lecturing, best-selling books, multiple audio and video programs, and popular podcast (co-hosted by his wife Wendy) have made him one of the world’s most recognized teachers of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. His work has been featured in The New York Times, on ABC News, MSNBC, Fox News, and countless Catholic and Evangelical media outlets.

Father Brett Brannen is the pastor of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Savannah, GA.  He has preached at many diocesan priest retreats around the country as well as retreats for seminaries, discernment retreats for men, and parish missions.  He has taught a course on the “Identity of the Diocesan Priest” at The Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, NE, for the last seven years. Fr. Brannen attended the Theology of the Body Institute’s TOB1 and TOB2 courses, and he has taught Theology of the Body to high school and college students. He is the author of To Save a Thousand Souls: A Guide for Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood (2010). 

Father Cliff Ermatinger is a native of Chicago and is currently pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. He was ordained in Rome in 1997. He has lived and worked in Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Spain, Italy and Ireland where he has preached missions, taught the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, and worked as spiritual director. He is active in the ministry of Exorcism while training other priests to become exorcists. He is the author of numerous homiletics and articles, as well as six books including: Letters from the Desert: Two Centuries on Prayer in the Byzantine Tradition, Following the Footsteps of the Invisible: The Complete Works of Diadochus of Photike and St. Therese of Lisieux: Spouse and Victim. Father Cliff attended Theology of the Body I: Head & Heart Immersion course in 2007 and is co-author of the Theology of the Body and Priestly Prayer Curriculum.