The Catholic Media Conference was held in Phoenix, Arizona June 24-27, 2025, and Fr. Paul Gabor, S.J., Vice Director of the Vatican Observatory gave a Keynote Presentation – “Why does the Pope have an astrophysics research institute?”
Fr. Gabor reports that there were 360 registered attendees at the conference. The keynote presentation took place during a lunch which was free of charge thanks to the “golden sponsorship” by the Pontifical Mission Societies. It is a fair assumption that nearly all 360 of the registered participants attended the lunch and therefore the keynote presentation.
It was a great audience. They laughed uproariously at all of Fr. Gabor’s jokes, and listened quietly and attentively to the serious parts. No rotten tomatoes were thrown.
Fr. Gabor spoke for 30 minutes and then had a few minutes for Q&A. There was no shortage of questions, and he had slides ready for every question asked.
The conference lasted four whole days, starting in the morning of Tuesday June 24 and ending in the evening of Friday June 27. For three out of the four days, thirty paying exhibitors had booths in the Exhibit Hall. The VO did not have a booth at the event.
1One of the perks of being a keynote speaker was free registration for the day, Wednesday June 25, which Fr. Gabor took full advantage of! In the morning, he attended a master camp entitled “What Makes Journalism ‘Catholic’?” And in the afternoon, he attended the “Editorial Roundtable.” He also concelebrated at the 5pm Mass at St Mary’s Basilica with the Very Rev. John Muir, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of Phoenix.
Fr. Gabor’s gracious hosts were Michael Walsh and Maureen Smith. Mike is from the Diocese of Camden, NJ, National Chairman of the Catholic Media Conference, and is hosting next year’s Catholic Media Conference in Atlantic City. Maureen is from the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Georgia, where she hosted last year’s Catholic Media Conference.
Fr. Gabor chatted with Laura Leraci – one of the presenters of the “What Makes Journalism ‘Catholic’?” master camp. She is an Eastern Rite Catholic from the Eparchy of Parma, Ohio, of which Fr. Gabor’s friend Monsignor Milan Lach, S.J., was the bishop in 2018-2023. Fr. Gabor also spoke with Sr Nancy Usselmann, FSP, director of Pauline Media Studies, who ran a master camp entitled “Be Renewed!A Spiritual Toolkit for Communicators.”
Fr. Gabor was approached by Deacon Jewel Gentry, director of Deacon Formation (and his other numerous hats) from the Diocese of Monterey, California. He was introduced to Cindy Wooden, Senior Correspondent of the Catholic News Service in Rome. He met Justin McLellan, National Catholic Reporter’s new Vatican correspondent (previously at the Catholic News Service), Christopher Gunty, Catholic Review’s CEO. He was also introduced to Inés San Martín of the Pontifical Mission Societies USA. And a dozen others.
The Catholic Media Conference provides professional development, networking, inspiration, a celebration of our peers, and support for the faith formation of our members. – From their FAQ
- Concelebration is the rite by which several priests say Mass together, all consecrating the same bread and wine. ↩︎
