Encounter Tampa Bay brings the Catholic community and the wider community together each year for an opportunity to explore important questions about faith, culture, and the human experience. Through presentations, conversations, panel discussions, the event invites us to encounter new ideas, engage in meaningful dialogue, and discover how faith speaks to the world around us.
You‘re Invited to Attend!
3rd Annual Encounter Tampa Bay
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged.
Encounter Tampa Bay 2026
We live in an age of ever-increasing distractions that obscure our awareness of what makes us truly human. Together, let us heed Pope Leo XIV’s timely call to safeguard our human nature, create a culture that helps us flourish, and live our “Magnificent Humanity”.
Join us for an afternoon of presentations, discussions, and encounters.
Schedule
2:00pm — Welcome and Introduction
2:15pm — Presentation on Magnifica Humanitas
3:05pm — Panel Discussion
4:30pm — Musical Performance
5:00pm — Witness on the Life of Sr. Claire
5:30pm — Conclusion and Social Time
Musical Presentation
by Pietro Toffoletto
classical guitarist and
teacher at St. Petersburg Catholic High School
PRESENTATION
Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas
Explore Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, which reflects on human dignity and the common good in an age increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Fr. Ralph D’Elia will offer an introduction to the document and invite us to consider what it means to protect and promote what is truly human in a rapidly changing technological world.
Presenter
Fr. Ralph D’Elia
Priests Secretary and Master of Ceremonies, and Chaplain, St. Petersburg Catholic High School
PANEL DISCUSSION
How Can Technology Serve, or Undermine, the Deep Needs of the Human Heart? Artificial intelligence and other technologies are transforming how we work, learn, communicate, and live. But what happens when technology begins to shape not only what we do, but how we understand ourselves and one another? A diverse panel of experts will explore the opportunities and challenges technology presents and consider how we can ensure it serves the human person rather than the other way around.
Panelists
Lily Abadal
philosopher, applied ethicist and educational consultant, University of South Florida
Carlos Crestana
AI Product Manager, Disney World
Alberto Desimoni
Assistant Professor of Classics, North Carolina State University
WITNESS PRESENTATION & EXHIBIT
The Story of Sister Clare Crockett
Discover the remarkable story of Sister Clare Crockett, a vibrant young Irish woman who left behind her dreams of an acting career and Hollywood fame to embrace a completely different calling: becoming a Catholic religious sister. Her story offers a moving reflection on vocation, sacrifice, joy, and the search for a life of deeper meaning.
Exhibit: He Has Put Eternity in Man’s Heart
Presentation: Sr. Grace Silao and Sr. Kelly Pezo, sisters from the religious community that Sr. Clare belonged to, the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, will share their witness.
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Questions? Please contact us at: CommunionAndLiberationTB@gmail.com
Organized by Communion and Liberation, an ecclesial movement of the Catholic Church.