Contact Our Director on Catholic Health Policy
One inbox, a real person reading it, and a genuine willingness to talk through the hard questions about Catholic teaching and HIV prevention.
How to Reach Us
We keep this simple on purpose. Every message about our work reaches Javier Morales Vélez, our Director, and he reads them himself before deciding where they go next.
That choice has a cost. Replies sometimes take a few days, especially when a question deserves more than a stock paragraph. We think that trade-off is worth it. People writing to us about condom policy and Catholic moral theology usually aren't looking for a form letter, and we'd rather give a slower answer that actually engages than a fast one that dodges.
So write to us. Disagree with us, even. The questions that sharpen our thinking rarely arrive pre-packaged in agreement.
Director inquiries: [email protected]
Who to Contact for Specific Topics
A theology student researching the development of magisterial language on prophylaxis needs something different from a journalist on deadline. Both can reach us at the same address, but a little framing in your subject line helps us route your message to the right depth of answer.
Policy and theology questions
Questions about the moral arguments themselves — lesser-evil reasoning, double effect, the 2010 papal interview remarks — go straight to the Director. Our work on the catholic condom policy grows out of these debates, and Javier prefers to handle them personally.
Prevention and public health
If your question sits closer to epidemiology or program design, mention that. Our material on hiv aids prevention tries to keep the clinical reality and the moral debate in the same frame, and we can point you toward the right pieces.
Press and advocacy
Reporters and campaigners covering our advocacy campaigns should note their outlet and deadline. We treat press requests as time-sensitive even when the rest of our queue moves slowly.
Regional and global perspectives
Bishops' conferences, dioceses, and lay groups vary enormously by region. If your question concerns a specific country or church province, say so — our regional policy contexts coverage is where that nuance lives.
For Donors and Volunteers
Most of our donors found us after reading a single article that put words to something they'd felt for years. We mention that because it shapes how we treat support: not as a transaction, but as people deciding our work matters enough to back.
If you want to give, email the Director and ask how. We'll explain where money goes, what we don't spend it on, and what we can't promise. Small recurring gifts keep the lights on more reliably than large one-time ones, but we're grateful for both.
Volunteers are a different conversation. We lean on people who can read theology carefully, translate between languages, or help amplify global catholic voices that rarely reach English-speaking readers. Tell us what you're good at and how much time you actually have — honest small commitments beat ambitious vanishing ones.
A note on expectations: we're a small operation. We can't always match a volunteer to a perfect role immediately, and we'd rather tell you that upfront than leave you waiting on a task that never comes.
Grant Inquiries
Foundations and institutional funders, here's how to save us both time.
Send an initial inquiry email rather than a full proposal. Name the funding program, its scope, and any thematic priorities your board cares about. We'll tell you honestly whether our work fits before either side invests hours in paperwork that goes nowhere.
We've turned down funding before when the conditions attached would have compromised our editorial independence on Catholic teaching. That's not a boast; it's information you deserve early. If your grant requires us to soften or sharpen a theological position to fit a campaign, we're the wrong recipient, and an early email spares everyone the disappointment.
Grant correspondence also goes to [email protected]. Mark the subject line clearly so it doesn't sit behind general mail.
Community Partnerships
Partnerships are where advocacy stops being abstract. A parish health committee, a university chaplaincy, a diocesan AIDS ministry — these are the places where the debate we cover meets people who have to act on it Monday morning.
We approach partnerships cautiously and for the long term. A one-off shared statement rarely changes anything; a working relationship that survives a few disagreements usually does. When we describe a collaboration as ongoing, we mean it has weathered at least one hard conversation and kept going.
If your organization works in HIV prevention, pastoral care, or Catholic social teaching and you see overlap with what we do, reach out. Describe your community, what you're trying to change, and where you think our voice might genuinely help rather than just add noise. We'd rather build something modest and durable than announce something grand that quietly fades. Honest caveat for this page: we say yes to far fewer partnership requests than we receive, simply because doing a few well beats doing many poorly.
Whatever brings you here — a question, a doubt, an offer, or an argument, the door is the same. Write to the Director, and write as plainly as you'd speak.