If you’re looking to make some sense of what has happened, watch this webinar I presented for the Institute for Catholic Culture this summer, and please share it with others: cardinalnewmansociety.org/educational-emergency-video. It focuses on Pope Benedict’s warning about today’s “educational emergency” and why there is renewed hope in Newman Guide Recommended education.
Exciting things are happening in Catholic education, thanks to your support. But the horrific killings of Charlie Kirk and the students at Annunciation School in Minneapolis are still weighing heavily on my mind. Please know that our staff is praying with you for the victims and their families and teachers. And like you, we are dismayed and outraged by this great evil.
So much has already been said. Allow me to just add a few brief comments relevant to Catholic families and educators. I’d love to hear your thoughts, too! Send me a note in the enclosed envelope or to members@cardinalnewmansociety.org.
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Greg Baylor’s path to becoming one of the nation’s leading defenders of religious liberty was marked by conviction and purpose. As Senior Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, he has spent decades protecting religious schools, families, and ministries from government overreach and cultural pressures that threaten their freedom to live faithfully.
In this conversation, Baylor breaks down the most pressing legal challenges facing Catholic education today, from Title IX disputes to conscience protections. With clarity and conviction, he explains why vigilance in the courts is essential for safeguarding Catholic identity, and how educators and parents alike can stand firm in the face of growing opposition.
This is a timely and practical look at the front lines of religious liberty — and why the fight for faithful education matters for the future of the Church.
Click here to watch on YouTube
Pope Benedict XVI warned of the “educational emergency” that leaves modern man ignorant of truth, without hope in Christ. For decades, most education in the U.S.—including much of Catholic education—has failed to provide young people the integral formation they deserve: practice in virtue and religion, cultivation of the mind through study of the liberal arts and sciences, and humility and reverence toward God by the grace found in prayer and Sacrament. But today, there is renewed hope in the example of parents, clergy, and religious who are reforming and renewing faithful Catholic education—by introducing new innovations and recovering the best of the past.
Click here to read.
West Virginia has a law protecting fairness in women’s sports. The 4th Circuit ruled against it, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in West Virginia v. B.P.J. This and Little v. Hecox (see below) could settle the issue of men and boys playing in woman and girl sports and lead to the resolution of similar lawsuits by girls and women in other states.
As a parallel case to West Virgina v. B.P.J. is Little v. Hecox, an Idaho case where a transgender female (born male) is questioning “the Equal Protection Clause allows states to protect fairness and safety by reserving women’s sports for females?” The Ninth Circuit held that “Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act unlawfully discriminates based on sex and transgender status.”
Click here to read.
This case is about whether a religious nonprofit can make employment decisions based on its religious beliefs. Catholic Relief Services stopped providing spousal benefits to John Doe’s legal husband because doing so conflicts with its Catholic faith. In part, the dispute is whether Title VII and the Constitution allow religious organizations to make such employment decisions. While this is a complex case, initially ruled for John Doe at the Maryland Supreme Court, the focus of the amicus brief is Title VII and its exemption for religious employers.
Click here to read.
The canonizations of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati on September 7, 2025, are a beautiful reminder for Catholic families that youthful holiness is possible. This joyful occasion should also inspire all the faithful to dwell on the urgent need to foster holiness in young people today.
Models of Faith for the Young
Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at just 15, will become the first millennial canonized a saint. Known as a “computer geek” with extraordinary digital skills, Acutis used his gifts to direct hearts to Christ.
The young Italian toiled to bring to life his Eucharistic Miracles of the World exhibit to foster greater devotion to the Real Presence. In 2007, the Real Presence Association entrusted The Cardinal Newman Society with promotion of the exhibit to schools and colleges.
Between 2007 and 2015, The Cardinal Newman Society reached hundreds of students with Acutis’ exhibit, part of an effort to encourage students’ devotion to the Eucharist and especially the practice of Eucharistic adoration.
Students gave stirring testimonies about how the exhibit impacted them on their faith journey. One student wrote:
“It was a beautiful opportunity to be able to see a display about so many Eucharistic miracles. Some people don’t believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, so I look forward to sharing some of the things I read in hopes that they will someday fully embrace the truth. These miracles are amazing and beyond our comprehension, but knowing that the Eucharist really is the Flesh and Blood of Jesus should make us want to run to Mass and Adoration! After all, a wonderful King awaits us.”
For Acutis, the Eucharist was his “highway to heaven,” as he once explained. Shortly after receiving his First Communion at age 7, he told his mother, “To always be united to Jesus: This is my life plan.”
He lived that plan faithfully through daily Mass and Eucharistic adoration, practices that inspired many of his peers and even led his parents back to the practice of their faith.
“People who place themselves before the sun get a tan; people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints,” Acutis once remarked—a conviction that defined his short but powerful life.
Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died in 1925 at age 24, embodied a life of charity, prayer, and joy. An avid mountaineer and Third Order Dominican, he dedicated himself to the poor, the sick, and the marginalized, even contracting polio while serving them.
On a photograph of his final climb, he wrote the words “Verso l’Alto” (“to the heights”), a motto that continues to inspire young Catholics to strive for the summit of holiness.
St. John Paul II, who beatified Frassati in 1990, described him as a “man of the eight beatitudes … entirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor.”
Frassati’s witness to holiness shows that youthful zeal, when rooted in prayer and charity, can transform not only one’s own soul but the world around us.
Why Catholic Education Matters
The canonizations of Acutis and Frassati remind us why the mission of The Cardinal Newman Society is so critical.
Many young Catholics today face the lure of secularism, confusion about truth, and education that neglects or even undermines their faith. Without strong Catholic formation, too many drift from the Church, idolizing celebrities instead of saints.
But Acutis and Frassati show another path—the path of faithful Catholic education and formation.
The schools and colleges recommended in The Newman Guide prioritize devotion to the Eucharist, daily prayer, and authentic Catholic teaching. These institutions help students see clearly what Acutis and Frassati knew well: life’s aim is not the fleeting satisfaction of this world, but the eternal joy of heaven.
The Cardinal Newman Society’s work to promote and defend faithful Catholic education ensures that more young Catholics are prepared to live holy lives, standing out as “rebels” against a culture of sin.
As Acutis once observed, “All people are born as originals but many die as photocopies.” Catholic schools and colleges must form young men and women to live authentically in Christ—not as copies of a broken culture, but as saints.
Saints for Our Children
The canonizations of Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati are more than a celebration; they are a challenge. The extraordinary lives of these young men are proof that holiness is possible even for teenagers and young adults. But if we want our children and grandchildren to follow in their footsteps, they need daily reminders of heaven’s call: Mass, Confession, Adoration, prayer, study, and friendships rooted in Christ.
Faithful Newman Guide education provides these supports. Through The Newman Guide, Catholic families can find schools and colleges that nurture saints-in-the-making—a mission that is vital for the future of the Church.
On September 7, when the Church proclaims Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati as saints, the faithful should rejoice—and then rededicate ourselves to forming new generations of Catholics who can follow them “to the heights” of holiness.
On Thursday, October 9, 2025, The Cardinal Newman Society invites all high school students discerning a college and their parents to attend the Newman Guide Virtual College Fair.
By attending the Fair, you’ll learn about potential scholarships, receive free merchandise, hear from renowned speakers on navigating the college search, explore virtual booths of Newman Guide Recommended colleges, and “chat” with admissions representatives.
Registration is free and is required to attend the event.
One of this year’s featured speakers is Rich Olon, a youth minister for the past 14 years at St. John Francis Regis in Hollywood, Maryland. Olon organizes and escorts youth groups to in-person visits of Newman Guide Recommended colleges because he has witnessed firsthand the impact a college choice has on a young person.
“Young people are being formed in a culture more vicious than we’ve seen before. Our nation’s most prestigious universities have become bulwarks of gender ideology, transgenderism, LGBTQ activism, and atheism. Therefore, it is not hyperbole to suggest that in choosing a college, a young person is making a choice that will quite literally affect their eternal salvation,” said Olon.
Last year’s Newman Guide Virtual College Fair saw a 23% increase in attendance over the previous year as Catholic families increasingly seek higher education that more closely aligns with their values.
“Whether you’re just beginning the college search, or trying to make a final college decision, the Newman Guide Virtual College Fair will have something for you,” said Kelly Salomon, vice president of Newman Guide Programs at The Cardinal Newman Society. “After attending the Virtual Fair, you’ll want to visit these campuses in person.”
This year’s Newman Guide Virtual College Fair is made possible thanks to our sponsors:
Kolbe Academy
Kolbe Academy is a classical, Catholic homeschool program. Kolbe offers traditional homeschool, live online, and asynchronous online courses.
Mother of Divine Grace School
Mother of Divine Grace School exists to help Catholic families raise their children in a living Catholic culture in their homes, mentoring them in using the MODG Catholic classical curriculum to lead their children to good judgment concerning the good, true and beautiful.
Aquinas Learning
Aquinas Learning is homeschool hybrid program in which Catholic is the core, classical is the approach, family-friendly is the style, scholastic reasoning is the training, and sainthood is the goal.
MiraVia
MiraVia’s free College Residence Program on the campus of Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina offers on-campus housing, meals, childcare, material assistance, and professional support. Student mothers enrolled at any institution of higher learning may apply.
Quick links:
Register
Agenda
Map of Recommended Colleges
Resources to Share with Schools
In a closely watched case currently in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, Zinski v. Liberty University, tests the Title VII exemption for religious colleges under Bostock v. Clayton, which includes “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in the list of actions within the definition of sex discrimination. The Cardinal Newman Society joined an amicus brief with other like-minded organizations. The brief argues that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1954 recognizes “a religious organization’s right to make religiously based employment decisions.”
Click here to read.
