The Herald’s latest survey of US Catholic leaders reveals how lay stewardship continues to shape the narrative of politics and education.
Two years after our inaugural survey of US Catholic leaders, where we argued that Catholic leadership in the United States was increasingly in the hands of the laity, rather than clergy, there is little evidence to suggest that anything has changed. Our 2024 survey includes many examples, but few are better than that of Leonard Leo, the 59-year-old lawyer and political influencer behind the Supreme Court conservative (and Catholic) majority, and thus largely responsible for the overturning of Roe v Wade. As co-chair of the Federalist Society, Leo is also using his alliance of conservative non-profits to help set up the first Catholic public, which is to say free, school in the US, in Oklahoma.
Other outstanding individuals on our list who are shaping intellectual public debate and education today include O Carter Snead, Professor of Law at the de Nicola Centre for Ethics at the University of Notre Dame, the intellectual battlefield of US Catholic identity. He is a superstar academic whose bestselling ethics book, What It Means to be Human, has been described by the Wall Street Journal as “among the most important works of moral philosophy produced in this century”. It is regarded as a milestone in intellectual understanding of the US abortion debate.
What’s clear is that Catholic lay influence – as opposed to clerical leadership – is increasingly prevalent today in the US public square. In this survey, we celebrate their achievements, values, example and philanthropy. This year’s US Catholic Leaders survey is larger than before and is enriched by the addition of more entries in the sphere of Catholic education, at a time when the mission of several high-profile US universities, notably Harvard, has been under existential scrutiny.
The furore over the resignation of Claudine Gay as president of Harvard – a university whose own chaplain is an atheist humanist – was partly a victory for donor influence. It’s no secret that many Harvard donors were behind her removal after she embarrassed the university at congressional hearings. But the rising influence of donors is a subject of concern, with some critics saying that the campus arms race for facilities and academic status on league tables has come at a price, especially at several big-name Catholic universities whose very Catholic identity is now under threat. At Boston College (known as BC), a convert philosophy student caused controversy in 2023 by publishing an article in the Torch, the campus Catholic paper, asking whether BC was even a Catholic university any more.
The in-fighting between liberal and conservative factions on campus reflects that of the ever-deeper polarisation of the Church itself under Pope Francis. With the Church hierarchy so divided – with many dioceses bankrupted by sexual-abuse scandals – it has fallen to Catholic lay leaders to lead by example and philanthropic effort to keep Catholic identity and communities together.
As we set out in our inaugural US Catholic University and College Guide, published last November, America’s Catholic institutions are now facing attack from the progressive tide of toxic cultural and gender politics as well as demands from donors for top rankings and sporting glory. With some colleges having vast endowments – Notre Dame has over $17 billion in endowment – we made the comparison between some of the wealthier Catholic colleges today and the doomed, well-endowed wealthy monasteries of the 16th century.
We have included a number of presidents or senior professors at smaller universities, such as the Catholic University of America in Washington DC (where Napa Institute founder Tim Busch is a major donor and serves on the board), Walsh University, Iona in New York City, and the Thomas More College for Liberal Arts, who are determined to retain Catholic values and identity on campus. Such leaders deserve acknowledgement at a time when speaking out or defending faith-based teaching can risk cancellation or social media backlash.
We have also included the influential Newman Society founder Patrick Reilly and two of his new Eucharistic Fellows. They have been appointed to “develop guidance and resources” for Catholic schools and colleges on teaching the “Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist” across the curriculum and adding “reverence and beauty” to student Masses, Eucharistic processions and prayer. The society’s Newman Guide to Catholic colleges remains an invaluable resource for parents and students wanting an alternative to the increasingly secularised Catholic college experience.
This year’s survey also acknowledges the influence of the Alfred E Smith Memorial Foundation. For 80 years, its annual dinner has raised millions of dollars for the most vulnerable children in American society. The white-tie event has hosted every candidate in presidential election years since 1960, as well as a panoply of renowned figures in politics, entertainment and business. Last year’s keynote speaker was the late Henry Kissinger who, at the age of 100, mounted the dais and won a standing ovation. An edited version of the speech, along with a fascinating interview with Cardinal Dolan about his friendship with Kissinger, appears elsewhere in this issue.
We have also added more distinguished, high-achieving Catholic women whose faith plays a decisive role in their working lives and philanthropic commitments. And we are launching a new series of expanded interview features entitled “Profiles in Faith”, taking as our inspiration the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage award created by the JFK Library and Museum in 1969 to honour public officials whose actions demonstrate politically courageous leadership in the spirit of Profiles in Courage, President Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book in which the then junior senator wrote about eight figures whose courage served as a clarion call to every American.
Our first such profile is that of transatlantic investment banker John Studzinski, who recently received the Faith & Culture Award from the Catholic New East Welfare Association (CNEWA) at its annual Healing & Hope Gala. The Catholic Herald’s chairman Chris Brown was delighted to support the event, which was chaired by Amanda Bowman, who also chairs the Catholic Herald Institute.
In his address on receiving the award, Studzinski said: “As a devout Catholic, my faith has a fundamental influence on my daily life, whether it’s professional, personal or relating to a charitable initiative.” His profile, written by Bowman, is an inspiration to read and an example of how faith, leadership, philanthropy and ambition can coexist when one lives according to a personal creed shaped by Catholic values. Next time you visit St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, look up to the benefactor stone plaque close to the main entrance and you will see Studzinski’s name. It was fitting that his award was handed to him by New York’s own Cardinal Dolan.
Another profile to follow will be that of New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson, who appears for the first time in our survey with an entry that details her wide-ranging professional life and faith-oriented philanthropic career. In so many ways, she is a model Catholic leader for our times.
Last year saw the founding of the non-profit Catholic Herald Institute in New York, with its mission to become a world-leading Catholic think tank supporting the 135-year mission of the Herald magazine to defend Catholic values and influence the Church to the good. Part of its apostolic mission is to support and nurture future generations of Catholic leaders. With a new affiliate in London, the Institute will be launching a dynamic series of events, lectures, symposia, conferences and pilgrimages to our growing audiences across the United States and far beyond.
As we enter a crucial American presidential election year, issues that are of interest to US Catholics will be widely debated. The Institute hopes to have an important voice in such debates, which include the war in the Holy Land, immigration to the US, abortion legislation and the conclusions of the Synod on Synodality.
How America’s Catholic leaders – and we list close to 300 here – think and act in regard to such issues will significantly affect American civic and spiritual life. While our selections are not infallible – this is a big-tent Catholic survey to be fine-tuned annually – we are grateful to those included for their courage in faith.
Jamie MacGuire is US Special Projects Editor and William Cash is Editor-in-Chief of the Catholic Herald.
This article first appeared in the February 2024 issue of the Catholic Herald magazine. To subscribe to our multiple-award-winning magazine and have it delivered to your door anywhere in the world, go here.
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