U.S. bishops name members of AI task force formed in response to encyclical
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Task Force on Preserving Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence is composed of eight bishops and three academics who will serve as consultants, the USCCB announced Oct. 16.
After meeting with AI experts and tech company executives in September, the U.S. bishops announced the creation of the task force as a response to Pope Leo XIV’s urging in his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas to “‘build forms of cooperation’ and cultivate a culture of shared responsibility” concerning the technology. Bishop Oscar Cantù of the Diocese of San José, California, leads the task force.
Members include Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago; Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle; Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky; Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Virginia; Auxiliary Bishop James Massa of Brooklyn, New York; Bishop Michael F. Olson of Fort Worth, Texas; and Auxiliary Bishop Slawomir Szkredka of Los Angeles.
Three academics will serve as consultants to the task force. They include Charles Camosy, professor of moral theology and ethics at The Catholic University of America; Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University; and Meghan Sullivan, professor of philosophy and director of the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good and Ethics Initiative at the University of Notre Dame.
The group’s focus will be to promote “policies and practices that protect human dignity, religious liberty, democratic institutions, workers, families, and vulnerable populations,” according to the USCCB.
“The Church enters the conversation on this issue as a teacher rather than a customer,” Olson told EWTN News. “It brings 2,000 years of reflection on human dignity, work, relationships, and truth to this conversation. We will listen carefully to Silicon Valley, but we will not outsource our understanding of the human person to it.”
We will listen carefully to Silicon Valley, but we will not outsource our understanding of the human person to it.”
Bishop Michael OlsonDiocese of Fort Worth, Texas
The Fort Worth Diocese adopted AI policies before the release of Leo’s encyclical that binds both clergy and staff, Olson said. “AI must remain a tool in human hands. It can assist human judgment, but it must never replace it, least of all in the care of souls,” he said.
“Nothing from the confessional or spiritual direction may ever be entered into an AI tool,” he said. “Homilies and pastoral counsel must come from a priest’s own prayer and discernment. And decisions about people, such as hiring, discipline, and who receives help, are made by people.”
Olson expressed his concern about ways AI has hurt the elderly and people with disabilities through scams, children through “fake” relationships with chatbots, and students, who are “handing off the very work that forms their minds and critical thinking skills” to AI: “If a technology cannot be made safe for our most vulnerable, it is not ready for the market,” he said.
Knestout said in an Oct. 19 statement that “AI is already having a profound impact on many aspects of our lives and will continue to develop in the coming years,” and it is Catholics’ “responsibility to protect the dignity of the human person as AI takes root and transforms life around us.”
He said Pope Leo’s encyclical “will guide us as we navigate life with AI and face inevitable questions about what it means to be human, created in the image of God.”
The U.S. bishops said in the Oct. 16 announcement that “the task force will emphasize that AI must serve human dignity and the common good” and “will maintain constructive and ongoing dialogues with the frontier labs, research organizations, academic centers and other stakeholders across the United States.”
“Special attention will be given to helping Church leaders understand both the opportunities and risks posed by AI in areas such as education, communications, employment, healthcare, evangelization, governance, and the protection of children and vulnerable persons,” the bishops wrote.
USCCB spokesperson Chieko Noguchi said in September that after their meetings with tech executives and experts, the bishops hoped “to identify ways the Church can contribute to the moral foundation of AI models and steps the companies can take to protect against misuse of their inventions and to guarantee human oversight of the technology.”
Pope Leo XIV speaks with Zelenskyy about humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine
Pope Leo XIV spoke by telephone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, days after holding a similar conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During Thursday’s call with Putin, Leo XIV requested a humanitarian ceasefire in Oleshky, a city in Ukraine’s Kherson region that has been facing a prolonged humanitarian crisis. Moscow, however, has blamed Kyiv for the situation, according to a Kremlin statement issued after the conversation.
The humanitarian ceasefire was also discussed during Monday’s call with Zelenskyy.
According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, “In the course of the conversation, the Holy Father recalled the grave situation in the city of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and made reference to the request for a humanitarian ceasefire that he had presented to the President of the Russian Federation.”
The statement continued: “His Holiness expressed the hope that cooperation between both parties will allow for the delivery of food and medical aid, and for the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population.”
“Finally, the Holy Father reaffirmed the commitment of the Holy See to promoting dialogue and peace,” the statement said.
The telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president marks another step in a diplomatic effort involving Kyiv, Moscow, and the Holy See that began with visits by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the pope’s special envoy, first to Kyiv and then to Moscow.
During Zuppi’s visit to Ukraine in June, the cardinal was asked whether the pope would be willing to advocate for humanitarian assistance for residents of Kherson and Oleshky.
Leo XIV agreed, and Zuppi conveyed the pope’s willingness to intervene on the humanitarian issue during his Sept. 28–30 visit to Moscow.
While Vatican News issued a report following Zuppi’s visit to Ukraine, no similar communication was released after the cardinal’s trip to Russia.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said the telephone conversation with Putin resulted from the pope’s desire for dialogue. “It was the Holy Father who took the initiative to plead the cause of this besieged city,” Parolin told reporters on Friday.
Russian sources, however, have noted that Putin was particularly interested in holding a second conversation with the pope following their first exchange in June 2025.
Monday’s call marked the third telephone conversation between Leo XIV and Zelenskyy since the beginning of the pontificate. The two leaders have also met three times in person.
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Ukrainian priest forcibly conscripted, could be sent to front lines
Father Andrii Stebivka, a priest of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, was forcibly detained by recruitment officers and taken to a military training camp from where he could potentially be sent to the front lines of the war with Russia, his family stated.
The incident took place on Oct. 12 at a checkpoint in the Rivne region of northwestern Ukraine. The 38-year-old priest, who was ordained two years ago, was returning from participating in a spiritual retreat, according to his parents, Bohdan and Natalia Stebivka.
Stebivka was recently transferred to a different parish, but administrative delays inherent in this change of pastoral assignment created a temporary gap in the state registry that formally certifies the pastoral work and ministerial service of priests in Ukraine.
Despite repeated efforts to provide proof of his active clergy status and ongoing pastoral service to the faithful, recruitment authorities rejected his documentation and sent him to a military training center. According to his family, he has already been assigned to a special assault unit and is expected to enter combat in the near future.
The bishop of the Eparchy of Mukachevo, Teodor Matsapula, and the apostolic nunciature in Ukraine are taking formal steps with government authorities to clarify the priest’s status and secure his reinstatement to his parish duties. So far, these requests have gone unanswered.
Stebivka, who was ordained a priest in June 2024 at the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, is also noted for his artistic work as an iconographer.
Throughout his ministry, he has created sacred compositions and apse murals in churches in Dublin, Boston, and various Ukrainian cities, such as Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Uzhhorod.
Faced with the imminent risk of being sent to the battlefield, the priest’s parents have made a public appeal to civil, military, and diplomatic authorities, requesting that the pastoral nature of his vocation be recognized and that he be permitted to continue carrying out his priestly ministry in Mukachevo.
This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Notre Dame, Boston College professors among new members of Vatican theological commission
Pope Leo XIV named 24 new members of the International Theological Commission, including University of Notre Dame theologian Father Khaled Anatolios and Boston College professor Boyd Coolman.
These appointments, announced by the Vatican on Monday, are members of an advisory body to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. They will not be required to relocate to Rome but periodically assist the dicastery in examining major theological questions and may publish study documents.
Members of the commission, who can number no more than 30, serve a five-year term that the pope may choose to renew.
2 theologians, both formed by Notre Dame and Boston College
Both Anatolios and Coolman are affiliated with Boston College and Notre Dame through their doctoral work or teaching careers.
Anatolios is a married Melkite Catholic priest who has served as the John A. O’Brien professor of theology at Notre Dame since 2015. He received his doctorate from Boston College in 1996 and taught theology at the college before leaving for Notre Dame.
Also an ecumenist, he has taught and published on several early Christian theologians, including Sts. Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and Athanasius, focusing on how patristic theology engages contemporary theology.
Anatolios, in a statement to EWTN News, thanked the pope for the appointment and praised him for his Christocentric focus.
“I am honored and humbled by this appointment,” Anatolios said. “Pope Leo has already set forth, in various explicit and implicit ways, a Christocentric agenda and vision for engaging the urgent challenges and sufferings of our current world.”
“I look forward to working with the other esteemed theologians of the commission in fulfilling this agenda and entering more deeply into this vision,” he added.
Coolman, who received his doctorate in Church history from Notre Dame in 2001, has taught theology at Boston College since 2005.
“This is truly a surprising and humbling appointment, but I look forward to serving the Church in this capacity to the best of my ability in the days ahead,” Coolman said in a statement to EWTN News.
Latest Notre Dame appointments to the Vatican
The appointments of Anatolios and Coolman reflect a broader trend of Vatican appointments affiliated with Notre Dame this year.
In March, Pope Leo XIV appointed Father Daniel Gerard Groody, CSC, vice president and associate provost for undergraduate education at the University of Notre Dame, to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development.
In August, the pope appointed two more Notre Dame professors to that same dicastery: Father Emmanuel Katongole, a professor of theology and peace studies, and Clemens Sedmak, a professor of social ethics and director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies. Leo also appointed Kathryn Koch, a Notre Dame graduate and member of its board of trustees.
In September, John Cavadini, a professor of patristic theology at Notre Dame, was named the winner of the 2026 Ratzinger Prize. He served on the International Theological Commission from 2009 to 2014.
Apostolic nuncio urges human-centered approach to technology at G20 Interfaith Forum
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia urged attendees at the opening ceremony of the G20 Interfaith Forum to advocate for economic and technological progress that promotes human flourishing and delivered a message on behalf of Pope Leo XIV.
“Technology offers extraordinary possibilities, but innovation alone does not tell us what is good,” Caccia said at the Oct. 15 event, according to the Fides News Agency, emphasizing the question of “Whether the progress we seek will truly serve the human person.”
“We still need the kind of judgment that asks whom progress is serving and whether it is serving them well,” he said.
Caccia further emphasized the need for every generation to shape the times in accordance with human dignity for themselves and the well-being of future generations.
The apostolic nuncio then read from a message sent by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on behalf of Pope Leo, who expressed hope that the event would be “a shining example of the solidarity of the human family.”
Leo also called for deepening of ties between nations in support of “the universal principles of human dignity, religious freedom, and common good.” The pope further called for “gentleness and respect” in discussions among attendees and conveyed his prayers and “an abundance of the Most High’s blessings” for the forum’s success.
The forum’s opening day featured a public discussion on overcoming political divisions with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox; David Beasley, former governor of South Carolina and former executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme; and Martin Luther King III, human rights advocate and son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; as well as the presentation of a Jewish-Muslim declaration promoting stronger interfaith cooperation.
Catholics in Ecuador mourn death of priest struck by falling crucifix during Mass
The Catholic faithful are mourning the death of Father Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari, parish priest of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Guayaquil, Ecuador, which occurred tragically on Saturday, Oct. 17.
The 53-year-old Redemptorist priest passed away after a crucifix mounted on the wall behind the altar fell on him during Mass.
The Archdiocese of Guayaquil issued a statement, signed by Cardinal Luis Cabrera, announcing that the priest “has departed for the Father’s House to enjoy His presence and His glory” and expressing that it joins “in prayer for the eternal rest of his soul, while offering its solidarity, affection, and care to the Redemptorist family, as well as to his own family and friends.”
In addition, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) and the Archdiocese of Guayaquil celebrated an Oct. 18 evening Mass for the soul of Sánchez at the same Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
Following the news of his passing, many colleagues and members of the faithful took to social media to express their shock and remember the priest.
“We thank God for all the good received through Father Patricio Sánchez, who accompanied the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and the young women — especially in our communities in Guayaquil — with closeness, love, and pastoral dedication,” the Salesians wrote regarding the priest, who was born in Cuenca.
“We are certain that he is already enjoying the presence of God. May the Lord, in His infinite mercy, welcome him into His Kingdom and grant comfort and strength to all of us who mourn his passing,” they added.
“May his soul have been received by Almighty God. We are deeply saddened by this situation. Death came upon the priest while he was in the midst of celebrating Holy Mass,” noted Betty Montaño.
Mari Pérez expressed her hope “that he is now rejoicing with God,” while adding: “but we must look into what caused this accident — there needs to be greater care taken when positioning religious images.”
“For a priest, it is an honor to depart from this world to the Father’s house while celebrating Holy Mass; it is a true reflection of Jesus, who died on the cross. He is now in heaven, enjoying the delights that God had prepared for him beforehand,” remarked Carlos Alberto Pastrello.
“Proclaiming Jesus Christ, God calls him into His presence,” María Augusta Guzmanberrezueta remarked.
Vicente Sauhing Dávila wrote on the priest’s Facebook page that “the Lord embraced him and took him with Him to His Holy Home. Jesus said: ‘Be prepared, with your lamps burning. You do not know the day or the hour.’”
San Lorenzo Parish in Vinces, where Sánchez also served as a parish priest, likewise expressed sorrow at his passing, highlighting his “dedication and pastoral love.”
“As a Redemptorist family, we join in prayer for the eternal rest of his soul, and we ask the Lord to grant comfort to his family, his brother priests, and all the faithful who cherish his legacy and memory with gratitude.”
This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
Pope Leo XIV, Chris Pratt come together for new documentary about the tomb of St. Peter
A new documentary is bringing Pope Leo XIV and Hollywood actor Chris Pratt together to dive into the history and archaeological discoveries surrounding the tomb of St. Peter at the Vatican.
“Pétros Ení — Discovering the Origins” was produced by AF Films in collaboration with Vatican Media and the Fabric of St. Peter to mark the 400th anniversary of the consecration of St. Peter’s Basilica, which took place on Nov. 18, 1626.
Taking viewers into areas rarely seen by the general public, the film journeys back in time all the way to the Roman necropolis, which has been preserved beneath St. Peter’s Basilica.
The documentary brings together documents from the Archives of the Fabric of St. Peter, contributions from Pietro Zander (one of the leading experts on the Vatican Necropolis), images and audio recordings of the popes, and archival footage from renowned epigrapher Margherita Guarducci.
Pope Leo appears in the final scenes to talk more about the figure of St. Peter and the significance of his tomb’s presence beneath the famous basilica.
Pratt, who is best known for his roles in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Jurassic World,” speaks publicly of his Christian faith and is married to a practicing Catholic. According to Vatican News, he said the experience of making this film deeply moved him and helped him “define my faith.”
“What I would like audiences to understand about Peter after watching this documentary is that he was an imperfect man,” Pratt said. “He was a weak man. He was a human being. And I believe we are all broken, imperfect, and weak. But his strength lies in the grace of Jesus and his faith in God. With that strength, through grace and faith, you can be incredibly strong.”
He added: “It was an incredible honor to collaborate with Pope Leo and the Vatican on this project. The story of St. Peter is foundational to the Christian faith, and I am deeply grateful for the trust and access I was given to bring his legacy to the screen.”
“Pétros Ení” — which refers to a Greek inscription that means “Peter is here” and is found near the apostle’s burial grounds — is scheduled to start its theatrical debut in February 2027, during the first few weeks of Lent.
Hallow Studios will be in charge of U.S. and Canada distribution, Bosco Films will handle the distribution in Spain, and Cinépolis +Que Cine will oversee its theatrical release in Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia.
“When I first saw this film it changed my life. I think it is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. It is an honor to get to partner together on it,” Alex Jones, Hallow CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. “And the fact that it is led by one of our core Hallow partners in Chris and features such a powerful reflection from Pope Leo is just truly extraordinary.”
Watch the first trailer for “Pétros Ení — Discovering the Origins,” released Oct. 16, below.
French bishops appeal for calm as riots and looting sweep France
French bishops have appealed for an end to violence after a weekend of rioting in which public buildings were burned, shops were looted nationwide, and a Lyon interreligious peace march was postponed.
“I call on everyone not to be swept up in the spiral of this violence: Our city and our country deserve better than this,” Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, archbishop of Marseille and president of the French bishops' conference, said in an Oct. 18 communiqué.
In Marseille, he wrote, “shops were looted, churches broken into, the city hall invaded and damaged, a police station ransacked, and members of the police attacked.” The archdiocese has not said which churches were entered.
Archbishop Olivier de Germay of Lyon said in a statement on X that his city “was the scene of clashes, hatred, destruction, and looting that are unacceptable.”
“I am well aware that this violence is the sign of a society that is unwell, but I want to state forcefully once again that it is a dead end,” he wrote.
Organizers postponed a March for Peace that Lyonʼs Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders had planned for Sunday to mark the 40th anniversary of St. John Paul IIʼs 1986 interreligious day of prayer in Assisi, Italy.
No new date has been set.
What happened
The violence broke out Oct. 17 when about 550,000 people marched nationwide in what organizers called a protest against the rising cost of living, according to the Interior Ministry.
One labor union put the figure at 800,000, AFP reported.
The movement grew out of weeks of high school protests over school conditions, during which several schools were severely damaged by the demonstrators, including in Paris, Nantes, Marseille, and Rouen.
In Limoges on Saturday, masked mobs broke into the city hall and set it on fire. In Paris, AFP reporters saw groups of young men in balaclavas disconnect security cameras before smashing their way into shops. Paris looting continued Sunday night, Le Figaro reported.
Other public buildings were also attacked and torched. In Lyon, the tourist office on Place Bellecour was ransacked and set on fire. In Bordeaux, rioters ransacked the regional prefectʼs residence, and firefighters put out fires at the prefecture building, a bank, and shops, Sud Ouest reported.
Nearly 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were injured, the Interior Ministry said. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told France 2 on Monday that authorities took 2,331 people into custody over the weekend, 70% of them adults “very often known to the police and the justice system,” Le Figaro reported. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said about 350 people were arrested in Paris alone on Sunday and overnight.
Prosecutors in Toulouse and several other cities said most of the people they held had no previous criminal record.
Trump and Vance react
In reaction to the images of chaos, violence, and looting across France, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance both pointed to immigration.
“Western liberals imported the third world into France,” Vance wrote on X.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday that “the immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country,” AFP reported.
Nuñez said rioters acted at the instigation of “the ultra-left” and were joined by “opportunistic delinquents,” Le Figaro reported. On Monday, he confirmed security forces had “lost control” at points during the violent riots.
On Monday, Macron refused Nuñezʼs resignation, offered the day before, and pointed to “failures of anticipation and intelligence,” Euronews reported. Darmanin said the authorities had “unquestionably failed.”
Pope Leo XIV to resume Wednesday general audience this week, skips Castel Gandolfo
Pope Leo XIV will resume his Wednesday general audience at the Vatican this week. But he will skip his usual Monday-evening-through-Tuesday-evening stay at the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo southeast of Rome.
The pontiff returned to the Vatican on Saturday, four days after surgery to remove a cancerous lung nodule. The same day, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, who operated on Pope Leo on Oct. 13 at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, cleared the pope to proceed with his apostolic journey to South America in November.
The next day, Oct. 18, Leo resumed praying the Sunday Angelus from the window of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.
“Having overcome this delicate phase, as you know, I will now gradually resume my activities, always with Godʼs help and your prayers,” the pope said in his Angelus address.
Brother surprised that pope’s South America trip will proceed
Louis Prevost, one of Pope Leo XIV’s brothers, expressed surprise in a Sunday interview with Fox News that Margaritora had cleared the pope’s trip.
“I thought maybe theyʼd postpone that,” Prevost said.
Prevost, who is receiving treatment for multiple myeloma, a form of cancer, also expressed surprise that Leo had been diagnosed with lung cancer, which had never occurred in the family.
“He was the first with the lung cancer, which came out of the blue. Nobody else had that in our family that Iʼm aware of,” Prevost said.
Prevost also shared that he and the pope had talked every day during his hospitalization.
“Every time I talked to him or texted him [during his hospitalization], he was answering,” Prevost said. “So, I know other than during the operation and in his brief, quick recovery, he was incommunicado. But since then, almost anytime I reach out to him, he is right there.”
“When we get on the phone or talk, we give each other crap, you know?” Prevost said. “We tell jokes; some are off color.”
Asked how he could give the pope crap, he replied: “You tell him he’s being stupid.”
Beauty, tradition, fellowship drive surge in new Catholic converts at Stanford University
At Stanford University, one of the worldʼs most prestigious academic institutions, a quiet spiritual movement is taking hold. Over the past year, the Catholic Community at Stanford (CC@S) has seen a dramatic rise in adults entering the Catholic Church through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA).
According to the university’s independent newspaper The Stanford Review, 16 adults were baptized at the 2026 Easter Vigil and 46 candidates were received into full communion with the Catholic Church — a major increase from the historical average of just four per year over the last three decades.
The growth at Stanford reflects a wider trend among young adults seeking stability, meaning, and purpose.
The surge in interest in Catholic sacramental life at Stanford follows a shift within the campus ministry, led by the Dominican friars, or Order of Preachers, who have served the university for more than 35 years.
“Stanford is our mission field, and if excellence is on the mind of the people that weʼre serving, we also need to make excellence a part of our ministry,” said Dominican Father Bart Hutcherson, pastor of the CC@S for the past two years.
“There has been a shift in the last couple of years because we decided two years ago that we were really going to focus on the student community. Our real mission, our real reason for existence as a parish on the university campus, is to serve the needs, the spiritual needs, the religious needs of the student population.”
Hutcherson also noted a shift in student preferences toward sacred history and rich heritage of Catholic culture and theology compared with previous decades.
“Now, I find itʼs shifted so that students are really attracted to a more traditional kind of worship, and we worship in the beautiful church here on Stanfordʼs campus,” the priest said. “It lends itself to more traditional forms of worship, and so my attitude is that our liturgy has to be as majestic and beautiful as the place that we worship. I find that young people are responding to beauty. Beauty is one of those things that, you know, in Catholic tradition, we call it ‘transcendental.’ So many people are responding to that in a really glorious way, and so what we’ve seen is an increase in the number of people that participate in our worship on Sunday.”
Longtime faculty members have also witnessed this shift firsthand across the campus community.
Stanford professor and director of its Religious Liberty Clinic James Sonne said increased interest in the Catholic faith is one of the most remarkable developments he has seen in his time on campus, which is more than a decade.
“From my perspective, Stanford is a particularly encouraging place for students of all faiths,” he told EWTN News. “For Catholics, the vibrancy of that community here reflects in many ways a new springtime for the Church, rooted in hope, love, and mercy, that Pope John Paul II famously envisioned.”
Sonne also highlighted the unique contribution of Dominican friars serving the university’s intellectual and spiritual needs, stating that their joy and hope are one of the best gifts they have to offer the community, as valuable as their intellect and understanding of the Catholic Church.
Sonne noted how defending religious freedom fosters human connection across diverse backgrounds. “In a program that honors religious liberty as a universal right through supervised advocacy for clients of all faiths, our students’ thoughtful and collaborative work for individuals and communities who suffer for their beliefs has illustrated that such liberty can and should be a uniting human value for those of any or no religious faith,” he said.
At an institution like Stanford, where graduate students make up a significant portion of its student body, intellectual inquiry and community play essential roles in attracting newcomers and religious seekers. Doctoral candidate Lisa Archuleta, who also serves as co-president of the Stanford Graduate Catholic Student Association (GCSA), recalled her initial arrival on campus and her desire to stay close to her faith.
“My faith is always something that I’ve taken with me wherever I’ve gone,” Archuleta told EWTN News. “I knew coming to Stanford wouldn’t be any different. Stepping into leadership was something that called me during my second year of my Ph.D., but I didn’t actually help until my third year. Now, I’m serving as co-president, and I have the opportunity to connect with students intentionally and intimately. Our mission focuses on empowering grad students to flourish in all aspects of their life. Every year since I’ve been a grad student, we’ve grown as a community and expanded the different events we host.”
For Archuleta and many others, GCSA’s offering of space where rigorous academic inquiry and Catholic dogma intersect is a saving grace.
“GCSA hosts monthly dinners and talks where we invite speakers from all over to speak on topics from ‘Art and AI’ to ‘How to Pray in Grad School’ to ‘Being Gay and Catholic.’ The wide range of topics allows for students to bring their curiosities and intellectual interests into conversation with the Catholic faith,” Archuleta explained.
Hutcherson told EWTN News that Stanford students are drawn specifically to Catholicism’s 2,000-year philosophical and theological tradition rooted in consistent teaching and the philosophy of the West.
“I think that the intellectual minds of a place like Stanford, who are not looking for quick, easy answers, I think that the intellectual tradition of the Church really does give them something to sink their teeth into,” he said.
For many students navigating demanding academic loads and heavily packed schedules, frequent access to Eucharistic adoration, daily Mass, and personal fellowship provides an essential spiritual anchor.
“During my time here, I’ve definitely noticed a huge shift toward Catholicism, and more generally, community amongst grad students over the past two years,” Archuleta said. “One major initiative that Father Chrysostom {Mijinke, OP] and Father Bart have provided at CC@S is multiple opportunities for weekly Eucharistic adoration and confessions. For me, this was huge. I knew that there were set times where I could encounter the Blessed Sacrament, which provided a solid foundation for my continual spiritual development.”
Beyond structured lectures and classes, personal encounters and peer mentorship remain the heart of evangelization on campus. Archuleta reflected on how one of the most fulfilling moments during her time at Stanford was meeting a dear friend through one of their mutual classes and connecting through Mass, guiding each other through their faith journeys. A quarter of the school year later, he asked Archuleta to be his confirmation sponsor.
While hesitant to declare a nationwide trend based on local figures alone, Hutcherson recognized that in his 30 years of working in the university’s campus ministry, something remarkable is taking place among Gen Z Catholics at Stanford and beyond.
“Iʼve been hesitant to call it a revival. I donʼt think that we have enough data to say itʼs a revival,” Hutcherson said. “The Spirit is moving in remarkable ways. And thatʼs what Iʼm seeing now in a way that I havenʼt seen in a while … thereʼs a group of people that are willing to express their love for Jesus and his Church and her teachings. So Godʼs doing great things.”