The Institute of Catholic Theology

Simone Rizkallah is the Director of Philos Catholic, an initiative of the Philos Project dedicated to renewing Catholic understanding of the Church’s relationship with the Hebraic and Near Eastern foundations of the Faith through education, media, and community-building. In October 2023, Philos Catholic launched the Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism (CCAA)—a growing network of Catholic leaders committed to rejecting antisemitism and affirming the Church’s teaching on the irrevocable covenant with the Jewish people. You can add your name to the CCAA statement by visiting www.catholicsagainstantisemitism.org. A first-generation American of Egyptian-Armenian descent, Simone describes herself as a “cultural gypsy”—Western-born and educated yet formed within an Eastern ethnic and cultural context. This unique background, combined with her experience in marketing, communications, media, radio, and theatre, gives her a distinctive lens on the universal longing for identity, belonging, and spiritual depth. She holds a graduate degree in Theological Studies with an emphasis in Systematic Theology from Christendom College. Simone has served in youth and adult formation at St. Ambrose Parish in Annandale, Virginia, and taught moral theology and Church history as Chair of the Theology Department at St. Mary’s Catholic High School in Phoenix, Arizona. She also worked for Endow, a Catholic women’s apostolate inspired by Pope St. John Paul II, and hosted The Endow Podcast from 2020–2023. You can view her talks, publications and the Beyond Rome podcast at simonerizkallah.com.