As someone who wasn’t born or raised in the United States, I want to say something to my Catholic brothers and sisters in America—for what it’s worth (and it might not be worth much): don’t apologize for your influence on the universal Church. I know—America (and American Catholicism) is a mixed bag. But honestly, the spiritual fruit coming out of the Church in the U.S. is remarkable.
Last year alone, I traveled to over a dozen countries across Europe to evangelize—places like Austria, Ireland, Romania, Croatia, and more—and everywhere I went, I kept meeting people whose faith is being nourished by apostolates that started in America.
I mean, come on! I know there’s plenty of reasons to be upset, cynical, and critical, but just let that go for 60 seconds. After you’ve finished reading this you can get back to all that, but for now, smile, and thank the Good Jesus for all the beautiful things he is accomplishing:
Hallow is now the number one prayer app in the world. That’s wild! Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz continues to crush it, drawing both Catholics and Protestants back to Scripture (remember when people said Catholics aren’t into Scripture … and yet I’m fairly certain there isn’t a Protestant Bible podcast that gets as many downloads as Bible in a Year). Bishop Robert Barron and Word on Fire continue to evangelize with beauty and intellectual clarity. Ignatius Press is publishing some of the most spiritually rich books in the Catholic world. FOCUS missionaries are boldly proclaiming the Gospel to university students—not to mention they put on annual conferences that draw crowds not even Metallica could pull off (yes. I’m aware I’m dating myself). Catholic Answers is equipping the faithful to defend the faith with clarity and charity. The Dominicans at the House of Studies are forming minds and hearts through Aquinas 101 and deep Thomistic formation. The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology—under the leadership of scholars like Dr. Scott Hahn and Dr. John Bergsma—is equipping priests to know, love, and proclaim the Scriptures, helping the Church rediscover the deep unity of Scripture and Tradition. EWTN—the largest religious media network on the planet(you read that right)—brings the Mass, catechesis, and solid Catholic programming into millions of homes daily. Who else … Oh, Exodus 90 is challenging men across the globe to take their faith, their purity, and their vocations seriously.
(There are at least 800 more apostolates I’m forgetting, remind me below)
And now, for the first time in history, the Church has an American pope: Pope Leo XIV. A son of the Church in the United States now sits in the Chair of Peter.
God bless America, God bless the Catholic Church, God bless Pope Leo XIV.