Don’t miss our podcast with Tony Scarpo, a modern Catholic hero
Tony Scarpo has fascinating stories! His autobiography, La Mia Famiglia: Never Let Them Steal Your Name, chronicles his family’s struggles against the mafia in Tampa. That hardship, it turns out, may have been God’s way of forming a soldier for Christ.
Tony later became a successful businessman and, with his wife Barbara, made a large donation to his daughters’ Catholic school. But as happens too often today, Tony and Barbara discovered this Catholic school was pushing radical ideology opposed to Catholic teaching on gender and human dignity.
So they sued to get their money back.
Their story gets even more interesting and inspiring. Hear it on The Cardinal Newman Society Podcast, hosted by Kevin Murphy, on our website and major podcast platforms. Moreover, I am excited to announce this is our first podcast episode with full video as well as audio! Thanks to your support, we purchased three cameras and the training needed for filming and editing. As our podcast grows in reach in popularity, this is an important step toward helping Catholics “see” the value of faithful Catholic education. Check out our podcast with Tony Scarpo and all our interviews with Catholic education heroes.
Keep reading here
Facebook campaign celebrates pro-life Newman Guide education
/in Blog Blog/by Patrick ReillyPerhaps you heard about Planned Parenthood’s annual report: they killed a record 402,200 unborn babies in 2023-24—while using almost $800,000,000 of our tax dollars. Still, wayward Catholic colleges refer students to Planned Parenthood, hire pro-abortion professors, and give credit for internships at pro-abortion groups.
That’s why we launched an online poll on social media asking, “Shouldn’t Catholic schools and colleges be PROUDLY pro-life?” And we’re offering our free eBook, Catholic Means Pro-Life, as part of the campaign. (Contact us for a copy.)
Continue reading…
…Read the previous article.
View the entire Programs Report as a PDF.
‘Newman Guide News’ reaches worldwide EWTN audience each week
/in Blog Blog/by Patrick ReillyI’m thrilled to announce that Kelly Salomon, Vice President for Newman Guide Programs, will now appear weekly on EWTN Radio to promote faithful Newman Guide education and address the latest issues facing Catholic educators. Her “Newman Guide News” segment airs each Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. (Eastern) on Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo. Be sure to tune in!
Continue reading…
…Read the previous article.
View the entire Programs Report as a PDF.
We’ll keep promoting Newman Guide standards… with your help
/in Blog Blog/by Patrick ReillyThanks to your generous support, 1,612 schools serving 434,390 students in 48 dioceses are now using The Cardinal Newman Society’s Catholic Curriculum Standards!
Back in 2016, most Catholic dioceses in the U.S. adopted the Common Core State Standards and claimed they had no satisfactory Catholic alternative. With leading experts, we developed standards for English literature, history, math, and scientific topics in grades K-12 to keep focus on Catholic education’s mission to integrally form students in Christ and transmit a Christian worldview.
Next year, on the 10th anniversary, we plan to update and issue a second edition of our Catholic Curriculum Standards. We’re also updating our Principles of Catholic Education, a synthesis of Vatican teaching on Catholic education. And a handbook of our Newman Guide policy standards is in the works, culminating years of developing guidance to ensure faithful Catholic education. Please continue praying for the success of all this work you make possible.
Continue reading…
…Read the previous article.
View the entire Programs Report as a PDF.
…and we can DOUBLE the size of our Newman Guide Leaders Summit
/in Blog Blog/by Patrick ReillyAfter its soft launch this year, our Newman Guide Network will be fully staffed in 2025-26 to support more than a dozen working groups of leaders from Newman Guide institutions and dioceses. Nicholas Reilly will coordinate Network activity, manage an online Network platform, and communicate with Newman Guide leaders.
Anong the Network plans for 2025-26 is a very special event. You may recall our successful summit of Newman Guide college leaders in June 2024. This time we hope to DOUBLE the Newman Guide Leaders Summit by inviting two cohorts to our summer 2026 sequel: leaders of Newman Guide schools and homeschool programs, and leaders of Newman Guide colleges and graduate programs. That would be amazing!
Continue reading…
…Read the previous article.
View the entire Programs Report as a PDF.
We plan to DOUBLE our Newman Guide recommendations
/in Blog Blog/by Patrick ReillyThank you, and congratulations! In 2024-25, your support helped expand The Newman Guide to recognize more than 100 faithful schools, colleges, and graduate programs! Together, we have made such enormous progress since announcing the Guide’s expansion in 2023.
And now, in the coming year, we’re gearing up to DOUBLE our Newman Guide recommendations to at least 200 model institutions. Members like you have recommended many faithful schools, and this summer, we’ll launch our major recruitment effort to persuade model schools to undergo the rigorous Newman Guide application process. I hope we can count on your support to make it a success! About 50 schools are already underway with their applications, and you’ll be excited to know we’ve been working with Regnum Christi schools and the Chesterton Schools Network.
This month, we welcome our Newman Guide liaison Molly Metzgar to lead this major recruitment drive. Molly has been a Catholic educator for 15 years, most recently as resource director and instructional coach at Newman Guide Recommended St. Rita School in Alexandria, Va. Molly managed St. Rita’s application to The Newman Guide, and she’s excited to help others do the same!
Continue reading…
…Read the previous article.
View the entire Programs Report as a PDF.
With your help, we can DOUBLE our Newman Guide promotions
/in Blog Blog/by Patrick ReillyI’ve spent the past few weeks with The Cardinal Newman Society leadership team, developing major plans for our 2025-2026 fiscal year, which begins July 1. I hope you’re excited as I am by what we have envisioned—and with your continued prayers and generous support, and God’s abundant grace, we can move mountains.
In the next year, your ongoing partnership can help us DOUBLE our online Newman Guide College Fair. We’re scheduling a second online fair in Spring 2026, as well as Fall 2025. In addition, we’d like to DOUBLE the reach of our Newman Guide Scholarship contest. This year, we tested allowing both high school juniors and seniors to enter the contest. In 2025-26, we’ll make the change permanent, which should motivate many more families to learn about Newman Guide colleges.
Continue reading…
…Read the previous article.
View the entire Programs Report as a PDF.
Together, we’ll move mountains with God’s grace
/in Blog Blog/by Patrick ReillyIt’s amazing how life comes full-circle! After 32 years of promoting faithful Catholic education, I see how this renewal has blessed my own family—and my wife Rosario and I are deeply grateful for what you’ve made possible, as are so many other families.
Our youngest child, Ana, graduated in May from Aquinas Learning, a Catholic-classical homeschool program, and she’ll attend Ave Maria University in the fall. She’ll be near her brother Joseph, a graduate and now employee at AMU.
Our son Nicholas graduated last month from Christendom College. He’s joining the staff of The Cardinal Newman Society, and his brother Daniel, a student at Benedictine College, is one of our four summer interns. Ian, our oldest, married a fellow Benedictine College grad who previously attended Seton School, also recognized in The Newman Guide. Deo gratias!
Continue reading…
View the entire Programs Report as a PDF.
St. John Henry Newman’s beautiful, passionate Stations of the Cross
/in Blog Blog/by Patrick ReillyUrge your friends to get this eBook and pray with us this Lent
Are you looking for reverent Stations of the Cross meditations from one of the most influential Saints of our time? Join is in praying St. John Henry Newman’s Meditations on the Stations of the Cross during Lent. They can also be used as a personal meditation during Lent or any other time of the year.
Download your copy by clicking the banner image on our website homepage or by visiting the webpage below: www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/offers/newman-stations-2025-dnd.
Keep reading here
They sued their daughters’ Catholic school
/in Blog Blog/by Patrick ReillyDon’t miss our podcast with Tony Scarpo, a modern Catholic hero
Tony Scarpo has fascinating stories! His autobiography, La Mia Famiglia: Never Let Them Steal Your Name, chronicles his family’s struggles against the mafia in Tampa. That hardship, it turns out, may have been God’s way of forming a soldier for Christ.
Tony later became a successful businessman and, with his wife Barbara, made a large donation to his daughters’ Catholic school. But as happens too often today, Tony and Barbara discovered this Catholic school was pushing radical ideology opposed to Catholic teaching on gender and human dignity.
So they sued to get their money back.
Their story gets even more interesting and inspiring. Hear it on The Cardinal Newman Society Podcast, hosted by Kevin Murphy, on our website and major podcast platforms. Moreover, I am excited to announce this is our first podcast episode with full video as well as audio! Thanks to your support, we purchased three cameras and the training needed for filming and editing. As our podcast grows in reach in popularity, this is an important step toward helping Catholics “see” the value of faithful Catholic education. Check out our podcast with Tony Scarpo and all our interviews with Catholic education heroes.
Keep reading here
The key to pro-life success is Newman Guide education
/in Blog Blog/by Patrick ReillyYour support is forming a new pro-life generation
It was no accident that our Newman Guide college presidents meeting was the day before the March for Life in Washington, D.C. It is an ideal time to meet, because these colleges have such a big presence at the March, and their presidents are there as well.
As I commented on a social media post about a pro-life initiative at the faithful University of Dallas: “A Catholic education is pro-life, by definition. Thank God for faithful and pro-life Newman Guide schools and colleges… and take note of the Catholic institutions that hide from our core belief in the sanctity of all human life.”
Check out our website for recent articles highlighting the beautiful witness of pro-life Newman Guide education! There is a spread of photos from faithful Catholic schools that will make your heart sing. And the story of the Short family—two generations of heroic pro-life leaders, all graduates of Thomas Aquinas College—is inspiring!
Also, I have a treat for you: our newest eBook, Catholic Means Pro-Life, which you can download at www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/offers/catholic-means-prolife. It is, I believe, a powerful argument for forming young people in faithful Newman Guide education. It’s thanks to you that we can publish and promote these eBooks, and I hope you’ll share it with your family, friends, and parish community.
Keep reading here