Melissa Cedillo is currently reporting on Latinos in the Catholic Church for the National Catholic Reporter. She is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and Harvard Divinity School where she studied religion, ethics, and politics.

Posts By This Author

Santa Clara Adjuncts’ Union Is Latest Jesuit Labor Win

by Melissa Cedillo 07-13-2022

A group photo of the Santa Clara adjunct and lecturer faculty union in front of the Mission church on Santa Clara University’s campus on May 1, 2022. Courtesy Maggie Levantovskaya. 

Santa Clara University, a Catholic Jesuit university in California’s Bay Area, is among other Jesuit universities celebrating recent union wins, including dining workers at Loyola University Chicago and graduate students at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

How to Better Understand Abortion Polls (And Others Too)

by Melissa Cedillo 06-08-2022

A sign hangs on a fence in front of the Supreme Court reading: “Safe And Legal.” Photo by Allison Bailey/NurPhoto, via Reuters. 

As the country awaits the Supreme Court decision on federal abortion rights in Dobbs v. Jackson — which many expect will overturn Roe v. Wade — politicians, activists, pollsters, and news outlets are highlighting polling on abortion.

Farmworkers Receive Archbishop’s Blessing of Wendy’s Protest

by Melissa Cedillo 04-01-2022

Silvia Perez marches during a protest of Wendy’s in southwest Florida in Oct. 2018. Photo Courtesy CIW.

Farmworkers in Palm Beach, Fla. are set to march five miles in protest of Wendy’s treatment of farmworkers, and their protest has received a blessing from the Archbishop Thomas Wenski.

Reimagining Prison Ministry: From Visitation to Decarceration

by Melissa Cedillo 05-21-2020

When I began my time at Harvard Divinity School, I considered using my degree towards becoming a prison chaplain. But the more I learned about the exploitation of incarcerated people, their families, and their communities, I realized the pursuit of this ministry must be done in a way that does not reinforce the prison-industrial complex

'Jane the Virgin' Captures a Modern Form of Catholic Femininity

by Melissa Cedillo 05-02-2019

Screenshot: CW

As the U.S. Catholic Church discerns how to move forward amidst scandals, the CW’s Jane the Virgin provides a glimpse of what might be in store.