Kishore Jayabalan, chair of the Diocesan Commission on Catholic Social Teaching, grew up in the Flint area, attending St. Mary Queen of Angels parish school in Swartz Creek and Flint Powers Catholic High School before studying political science and economics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He worked as an economist for the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC before receiving a MA in political science at the University of Toronto. In 1996, he was received into the Church by Pope John Paul II, and served at the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican. He was director of the Acton Institute’s Rome office for fifteen years. He has spent most of his professional life promoting Catholic social teaching around the world. He recently returned to Flint and attends Mass at St. Matthew.
Moira Cullen, vice-chair of the Diocesan Commission on Catholic Social Teaching, is a parishioner of St. Thomas the Apostle in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She has been married to John for 22 years and they are in various stages of raising and educating their 6 children, ages 5 to 20. She has served at St. Thomas on the Parish Council and Beautification Committee. She studied Philosophy, Theology and Great Books at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, taught Theology at the High School level and began a Chastity program dedicated to sharing the good news about the Church’s teaching on sex and marriage in 1998. This work led to her testifying before Congress on the issue of abstinence education and continues to drive her in her passion to support parents in the education and formation of their own children. She loves to write about Catholic family life in her free time and is looking forward to serving the diocese in this important work.
Michael Andrews, Chancellor of the Diocese of Lansing, member ex officio, serves as the bishop’s liaison to the commission. He holds a master’s degree in theology from Mount Saint Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, Maryland and a bachelor’s in philosophy from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia. He joined the Diocese of Lansing as Director of Catechesis in August 2005 and served as Director of the Office of Worship from 2014 to 2018. He is an adjunct faculty member in the Program of Theological Studies at Siena Heights University, and serves as an instructor in Catholic social teaching for the diocesan formation program for deacon candidates. He and his wife, Susana, have two daughters, and are parishioners at St. Mary, Williamston.
Lisa Briggs, Coming Soon: Biography
Patricia Ellison, is a member of St. Patrick Parish, Brighton, where she served for four years as Christian Service Coordinator. A native of Colombia, Patricia holds a degree in systems and computer engineering from the University of Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia. She has extensive experience promoting the dignity of the human person as a hospice volunteer as well as through her leadership in founding and coordinating the Witness to Life Ministry, a movement encompassing over twenty parishes in southern California, as well as the Respect Life ministry at St Patrick Parish. She and her husband Bob have two daughters and one grandchild.
Dcn Jim Kasprzak, Coming Soon: Biography
Nathan Schleuter, Coming Soon: Biography
Dr. Eric Scorsone, was born and raised in Saginaw, MI and attended St. Thomas Elementary and Middle School. He attended Loyola University Chicago and majored in Economics, Michigan State University for a master's degree in Agricultural and Environmental Economics and a doctoral degree at Colorado State University with a focus on state and local public finance. Dr. Scorsone is a member of the St. Jude Catholic Community in DeWitt. His interest in Catholic social teaching is focused on the areas of a just wage, worker rights, income distribution and care for the environment.