Who are we?

Director. Miriam Diez Bosch, PhD. (Girona, 1973) – Her articles

Director and founder of the Observatory and Chair of Religious Freedom and Belief of Catalonia. PhD in Social Sciences from the Pontifical Gregorian University. Main researcher of the SGR STReaM Research Group. Senior Lecturer and Vice-Dean for Research and Internationalisation at the Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations (URL). Former President (2023-2025) of the ISMRC International Society for Media, Religion and Culture; member of the Advisory Board of the AC Advisory Board of the Centre for the Anthropology of Religion and Cultural Change, Sacro Cuore University, Milan. Co-coordinator of the Media and Religion Group of the IAMCR (International Association for Media, Communication and Research). She was Vice-President of the Fundació Catalunya Religió until 2024. She is a regular contributor to the newspapers El Punt Avui and El Nacional.

Deputy Director. Alba Sabaté Gauxachs, PhD. (Sant Carles de la Ràpita, 1991) – Her articles

Researcher at the Observatory and at the Chair of Religious Freedom and Conscience in Catalonia. Coordinator of the Global Communication Management Degree at the Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations (URL). Professor on the Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and the Master’s Degree in Advanced Journalism-Reporting at the same centre. Member of the Board of Directors of the World Association for Christian Communication and Fellow 2020 of the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC).

Valentina Laferrara, PhD. (Córdoba, Argentina, 1993) – Her articles

PhD in Communication from Ramon Llull University, with a research plan financed by the Generalitat de Catalunya and the European Social Fund. Researcher of the Chair of Religious Freedom and Conscience of Catalonia. Coordinator of the Degree in Journalism and Corporate Communication, as well as the University Master Degree in Advanced Journalism. Reporting (FCRI-URL). Professor at the FCRI. Collaborator at Catalunya Religió. Youth Editor at Trípodos. Member of the AIECS. She has a Master in Journalism and Advanced Report (FCRI-URL) and she has studied Professional Journalism and Social Communication in Cordoba (Argentina). 

Verónica Israel Turim, PhD. (Montevideo, 1984) – Her articles

Ph.D. in Communication from Ramon Llull University, Barcelona. Academic coordinator of the Master in Cultural Production and Communication and a Professor of undergraduate and graduate studies at the same University. Researcher in the STReaM group and the Blanquerna Observatory of Communication, Religion, and Culture, and member of the Chair of Religious Freedom and Conscience of Catalonia. Gender editor of the magazine Trípodos and member of the Women in Research group.

Lana Kazkaz, PhD. (Hamah, Syria, 1992) – Her articles

Researcher at Blanquerna Observatory on Communication, Religion and Culture, where she is responsible for the Islam and Religious Minorities research line. Lana holds a PhD in Communication from the Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations at Ramon Llull University. She is a 2025 GINGKO Interfaith Fellow. She also holds a Master’s Degree in New Media and Journalism from the Jordan Media Institute (Jordan). Lana has worked as a fact-checking journalist and continues to engage in research and journalism. She speaks Arabic, English, Spanish, and has knowledge of Catalan.

Victoria Vanesa Dos Santos Bustamante, PhD. (Los Teques, Venezuela, 1989) – Her articles

Postdoctoral researcher at the Blanquerna Observatory of Media, Religion and Culture (Ramon Llull University, Barcelona), where she develops her Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions–funded project DRIVEN, focused on digital religion, embodiment, and immersive virtual environments. She holds a PhD in Semiotics and Media from the University of Turin and is an associate member of the Institute for Philosophical Studies ZRS in Koper (Slovenia). She has a bachelor’s degree in Communication Science from Andrés Bello University in Caracas (Venezuela) and a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Barcelona and Columbia University in New York. Her research focuses on religious practices in virtual platforms, digital embodiment, new materialisms, and media studies.

Joby Kappipparambil (Pala, Kerala, India, 1986)

Journalist and Catholic Priest. PhD student in the Blanquerna-URL School of Communication and International Relations and member of Blanquerna Observatory of Media, Religion and Culture. He is an assigned priest in the Basilica of Sagrada Família, Barcelona. He is from a small village called Pala, Kerala, India and belongs to the Missionary Society of St Thomas the Apostle (MST). He has four Bachelors (Philosophy, Theology, Arts and Education) and three Masters in English literature, Global communication, Leadership and Corporate diplomacy and Advanced Journalism and Reporting. He is a visiting professor in the seminaries in India in communication and Innovative and generative leadership. He worked as Manager and Principal of different educational national and international institutions in India.

Pilar Baradat Marí (Eivissa, 2001) Research Support and Digital Communication Manager

Recipient of the FPU pre-doctoral grant from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; PhD student in Communication at the FCRIB-URL. Graduate, at the same faculty, in Audiovisual Communication and from the Master’s Degree in Fiction for Film and Television. Pre-doctoral researcher in the STReaM research group at the FCRIB-URL. She obtained the Collaboration Grant from the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, with which she began to collaborate in the Observatory. She has experience in the audiovisual sector, having worked at: the Acadèmia del Cinema Català, the production company Lavina and the CSAD Eòlia, where she taught classes.

Chiara Fagone (Milan, 1992)

Currently PhD student in communication at Blanquerna-URL and winner of the Joan Oró 2024 FI Predoctoral Grant. Member of the STReaM research group and coordinator of the Women & Research group. Graduate in Languages, Communication and Media with a Master’s degree in Media Management at the Università Cattolica of Milan. Research interests: history of television and cinema, gender studies, media sociology, semiotic analysis of cultural products and transmedia representation of the Holocaust.

Laia Palos Rey, PhD. (Barcelona, 1998)

Laia Palos Rey. Graduated in history with a minor in philosophy from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, master’s degree in education from the Camilo José Cela University and PhD in Communication from Blanquerna-URL in the STReaM research group on communication of Human Rights, environmentalism and education.

Gemma Morató Sendra, PhD. (Reus, 1972)

Dominica of the Presentation. PhD in Humanities, journalist, master in Moral Theology and Theology of the Religious Life expert, and teacher of Special Education. Professor at the Blanquerna-URL School of Communication and International Relations since 1999, where she teaches the “Communication, Culture and Spirituality” class; professor, since 1998, at the Don Bosco Superior Religious Sciences Institute of Barcelona affiliated with the Salesian Pontifical University of Rome, where she teaches classes of “Fundamental Moral, Personal Moral, Social Moral, Pedagogy and Pastoral of MCS”. She is also a professor at Domuni Universitas – International Dominican University, online university of the Dominican Order, and the Research and Religious Studies Institute of Lleida (IREL). She directs the Project Maria, Queen of Peace in Barcelona (center of meetings-university residency).

Jordi Llisterri i Boix (Barcelona, 1972)

Director of the Catalunya Religió Foundation and collaborator Animaset Media and Communication. Graduated in Communication Sciences (UAB). He has been dedicated to religious information since the beginning of the 90s, and he has been a collaborator, manager and promoter of several religious media in Catalonia. He also collaborates as a generalist media expert and coordinates the publications of the Blanquerna-URL School of Communication and International Relations. In the last years, he has specialized in institutional communication and crisis management, and he likes to know what goes on in the Church.

David Gisbert Fosch (Sabadell, 1991)

Graduate in international relations (URL), postgraduate degree in religious institutional communication (URL), master’s degree in corporate communication, protocol and event organisation (UOC) and currently a doctoral student in communication (URL). Since 2022, he has been working as a researcher at the OBS, specialised in digital institutional communication, religious diplomacy and foreign policy in the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Alain Blomart, PhD. (Brussels, 1968)

Associate Professor of Anthropology at the School of Psychology, Education Sciences, and Sport (Blanquerna, URL). He holds a degree in Classical Philology from the University of Brussels, was a fellow at the Academia Belgica in Rome, and earned a PhD in Anthropology and History of Religions from the Sorbonne (EPHE – Paris). He has been a “Senior Fellow” at the Center for the Study of World Religions (Harvard) and a visiting professor at the Divinity School of Harvard. He was a “Maître-Assistant” in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona (UB). His research focuses on the construction of identity, particularly cultural identity and various forms of alterity, as well as “foreign” or Eastern religions. He was the coordinator of the postgraduate program “Immigration, Religions, and Identity” at UB.

Anna Mateo (Barcelona, 1992)

First-year PhD student in Communication at the Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations (URL). Graduate in Journalism from Blanquerna, specialising in international and political journalism, with two master’s degrees: one in International Political Journalism from the Barcelona CSchool of Management (UPF) and an MBA from the Euncet Business School and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. She has extensive international experience in event and conference management in the corporate and pharmaceutical sectors, having worked for companies such as American Express Global Business Travel and Reed & Mackay. Her professional experience also includes institutional communication and political journalism in media outlets such as El Periódico de Catalunya and Diari ARA.

Davide Nocca (Roma, 2003)

Fourth-year undergraduate student of International Relations. Former intern at InAfrica Strategy, where he served as International Business Development Manager. Participant in the 2025 edition of the EISA Pan-European Conference (PEC). He has taken part in a cultural inclusion and exchange programme in Ankara, Turkey, promoted by the European Union Solidarity Corps. He was awarded the Collaboration Grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, which currently enables him to collaborate with the Observatori Blanquerna de Comunicació, Religió i Cultura.

Alba Martorell Cid (Tortosa, 1996)

Intern at the Blanquerna Observatory on Media, Religion and Culture. Student of the Master’s Degree in Advanced Journalism–Reporterism at Blanquerna–Ramon Llull University (URL). Graduate in Humanities from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). Secondary school teacher of Catalan language and literature. Holder of a Master’s Degree in Teacher Training from Rovira i Virgili University (URV).

Júlia Mora Rendé (Barcelona, 2007)

First-year student of Global Communication Management at the Blanquerna School of Communication and International Relations (URL) and intern at the Blanquerna Observatory on Media, Religion and Culture. Graduate of the Dual Baccalaureate, with a special interest in communication and religion.