Georgetown Representative Office in Rome

The event is organized by the Georgetown University Representative Office in Rome.

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Louis Komjathy 康思奇 is director, Chóngxuán 重玄 Chair, and distinguished scholar-in-residence at the Center for Daoist Studies 道學中心, the education and research branch of the Daoist Foundation 道教基金會. He is also senior translator and editor-in-chief of the Daoist Translation Committee 道教翻譯學會. He is the founding co-chair and principal architect of the both the Daoist Studies Unit and Contemplative Studies Unit of the American Academy of Religion. A leading international Daoist scholar-practitioner and translator of Daoist literature, he has published 14 books and some 30 academic articles and book chapters, including translations of 40 Daoist texts to date. His most recent book-length publications include Dàodé jīng 道德經: A Contextual, Contemplative and Annotated Bilingual Translation (2023) and Traces of a Daoist Immortal: Chén Tuán 陳摶 of the Western Marchmount (2024). He also is the featured Daoist scholar-practitioner in Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality (2017). Komjathy holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Boston University.

Ian Reader is professor emeritus in Japanese studies at the University of Manchester. He was previously professor of religious studies at Lancaster University, England, and he has also held academic positions in Japan, Scotland, the United States, and Denmark. His main research areas include the study of pilgrimage across cultures, contemporary religious practices in Japan, and studies of religion and violence. Among his books are Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan: The Case of Aum Shinrikyō (2000), Pilgrimage in the Marketplace (2014), Dynamism and the Ageing of a Japanese "New" Religion (2019, co-authored with Erica Baffelli), Pilgrims Until We Die: Unending Pilgrimage in Shikoku, (2021, co-authored with John Shultz), Religion and Tourism in Japan: Intersections, Images, Policies and Problems (2023), and On Being Nonreligious in Contemporary Japan: Decline, Antipathy, and Aversion to Institutions (2025, in press, co-authored with Clark Chilson).

Rev. Vincent Sekhar, S.J., is a Jesuit and a priest-scholar in Jain philosophy and religion with an M.Phil. and Ph.D. from the University of Madras, Chennai. He has master’s degrees in Sanskrit and in contextual theology. He undertook post-doctoral research at Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown University, and Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University; he taught at Fordham University and lectured at various universities in the United States, Italy, China, Brazil, Mauritius, and South Asian countries. He was secretary for the Commission for Interreligious Dialogue in the Jesuit Conference of South Asia (JCSA) and remains an occasional consultant to the Vatican Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue on Jain-Christian dialogue. He is currently associate professor in the Department of Philosophy, head of the Department of Human Excellence, and director of Campus Ministry at Arul Anandar College in Tamil Nadu, India.

Rev. Albert Alejo, S.J., (moderator) is a professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Gregorian University. He is a poet, priest, professor, and peace activist that is engaged in social research, indigenous people's rights advocacy, human rights promotion, poetic translation, spiritual retreats, fighting corruption, and integrity workshops. He holds a a Ph.D. in social anthropology from University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. He is the author of several books, including Generating Energies in Mount Apo: Cultural Politics in a Contested Environment (2000), Ehemplo: Spirituality of Shared Integrity in Philippine Church and Society (2010), and Nabighani: Mga Saling Tula ng Kapwa Nilikha (2015).

Debora Tonelli (introductory remarks) is Georgetown University representative in Rome and co-editor with Gerard Mannion of Exiting Violence: The Role of Religion (De Gruyter, 2024). She is research fellow at the Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, permanent researcher at the Center for Religious Studies of Fondazione Bruno Kessler, affiliated at the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California in Dornsife, and invited lecturer at Pontifical Athenaeum St. Anselmo and at Collegium Maximum - Pontifical Gregorian University. With a background in political philosophy and theology, her researches and teaching activities are focused on the legacy of the Bible in modern political thought, interreligious dialogue, religion and violence, and nonviolence.