Phyllis Zagano is an internationally acclaimed Catholic scholar and lecturer on contemporary spirituality and women's issues in the Church, and senior research associate-in-residence and adjunct professor of religion at Hofstra University. She is the author or editor of fifteen books in religious studies, including Women Deacons: Past, Present, Future (with Gary Macy and William T. Ditewig), Mysticism and the Spiritual Quest, and On Prayer: A Letter for My Godchild . Her twice-monthly column, Just Catholic, runs in the National Catholic Reporter .