Greetings, friends!

I hope you are well! We have just returned from the Alaska Experience. Our group of travelers arrived safely after spending a wonderful week in Alaska, visiting Anchorage and Fairbanks.

To begin, we witnessed the missionary work of Archbishop Andrew Bellisario and Fairbanks’ Bishop Steven Maekawa. The Catholic Church in Alaska is still truly missionary. These brave men preach the Gospel and administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to far-flung communities accessible only by boat, plane, snowmobile, and even dog sled. They lead priests who come from local communities, but mostly from abroad, who make great sacrifices for the salvation of souls—often in extreme winter conditions.

The natural beauty of Alaska did not go unnoticed. Through the kindness of Mrs. Cathy Rasmuson, our small group was able to take a privately chartered flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks, making a figure-eight around Mt. McKinley. By God’s blessing, it was a clear day, without turbulent winds or clouds. We were able to see deep cliffs, ancient glaciers, and towering peaks. America’s highest mountain was truly magnificent—it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The gracious Sisters of the Perpetual Adoration Monastery received us for Mass and a small tertulia afterward. These contemplative sisters left their native Mexico to establish the first contemplative monastery in Alaska. Their main apostolate of prayer is perpetual adoration. These sisters give witness that contemplative life is truly the foundation of missionary activity. Their pure and simple hospitality was evident in the delicious desserts they presented to us: a cake topped with flan and a delightful pineapple dessert made from their own recipes.

We would like to give special thanks to Napa guild member, Cathy Rasmuson, who opened up Alaska to us. During our tours, including a “Come and See” at the Kincaid Grill and a reception in Fairbanks with many lay leaders and missionary priests present, we were able to encounter the true face of Alaska—something many visitors miss. We learned that Alaska is more than just a place of arresting beauty fit for an adventurous vacation. Truly, it is a place where the pioneering spirit of America is still alive, 250 years after the country’s founding.

“I urge you to listen.”

That’s how Barry Rowan kicked off our Ecumenical Conference on March 18^th.

We gathered at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., with more than 80 attendees—roughly split between Catholics and Protestants. Barry’s first words inspired us all.

He urged us to listen to each other, looking beyond our theological differences. But even more than that, he asked us to listen to the voice of our Lord, and the convictions He puts on all our hearts.

It quickly became clear: Jesus spoke to everyone present.

While our denominations differ, often profoundly, Catholics and Protestants are united in our belief in the Nicene Creed and the Savior it points to. We recited the creed at the start of the day, reminding ourselves of the shared foundations of our faith.

From there, we joined in praise and worship, before moving into small-group discussions about where Catholics and Protestants can collaborate. We identified no shortage of ideas—advocating for Christianity in China, advancing the pro-life cause in America, restoring faith in K-12 education, and defending the Christian foundations of our country.

On that note, Alexei Laushkin from the Kingdom Mission Society said: “Faith shaped American history, and given the challenges to human life, the family, and an increasingly secularized society, our work together is needed to beat back the significant challenges we face today.”

Later in the program, Brandi Swindell—founder of Stanton Healthcare—beautifully spoke about how Catholics and Protestants work together at her organization to protect pregnant women and their unborn children.

Kristen Waggoner, CEO and Chief Counsel of the legal advocacy firm Alliance Defending Freedom, argued that partnership is essential to bearing witness to truth in a secular culture. She put it best: “The silver lining of the darkness we’re living in is that it allows light to shine even more brightly.”

We left the conference with a deeper commitment to not only our respective faith traditions, but also our shared responsibility to stand for what matters most. Religious liberty in the public square. The sanctity of marriage. Parental rights. Our basic identity as children of God.

And we committed as well to put aside our differences so we can make a bigger difference in our culture.

The high point of the day—for me—was the Mass, celebrated by Bishop Steven Lopes of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. It was the first Catholic Mass ever held at the Museum—a powerful statement of our desire to partner in pursuit of truth. And to close the conference, a Catholic and a Protestant jointly led a Scripture reflection, powerfully illustrating the Biblical treasure we share in common.

Ultimately, the Ecumenical Conference was both a time to listen—and a time to lead. The Napa Institute will continue to do exactly that, bringing together Catholics and Protestants to lead America back to God.

Tim Busch

Founder

Napa Institute

“That they may all be one; as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

— John 17:21 (RSV-CE)

Last year marked the beginning of an important new initiative at the Napa Institute: our Ecumenical Forum.

The forum was conceived as a serious dialogue centered on Jesus Christ, Sacred Scripture, and the pursuit of Christian unity rooted in truth. What began as a small exploratory gathering in March 2025 matured into a full inaugural forum held in October at the University Club in New York City, just steps from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Approximately sixty participants attended, half Catholic and half Protestant but all professing the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. The atmosphere was prayerful, intellectually serious, and deeply fraternal. By every measure, it was a remarkable success.

The inspiration for this forum emerged organically from the Napa Institute’s salon dinners, which bring together Catholics of differing theological, cultural, and political perspectives. Salon dinners have demonstrated that authentic friendship and respectful dialogue are not only possible amid disagreement but essential to renewing the Church’s witness.

So we asked a natural next question: Why not extend this model to our separated Christian brothers and sisters?

The need is real. Christianity today faces profound challenges—both internal and external. Catholics and Protestants largely share the same Scripture, yet divergent interpretations have led to growing doctrinal fragmentation. Without a central magisterium, many Protestant denominations have struggled to maintain consistent Biblical teaching on critical moral issues, including abortion, marriage, and human anthropology. Thankfully, many Protestants have remained strong on these critical moral issues.

Many Protestant Christians today feel spiritually displaced, grieving (and leaving) churches that have abandoned biblical authority in favor of cultural accommodation. But Catholics and many conservative Protestants alike continue to affirm a foundational Christian principle: love the sinner while rejecting the sin—a phrase that captures Christ’s own posture of mercy united to truth (cf. John 8:11).

As we approach historically significant milestones—the year 2030, marking approximately 2,000 years since the beginning of Christ’s public ministry, and 2033, commemorating the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection—the call to Christian unity grows louder. Not unity at the expense of truth, but unity grounded in Jesus Christ.

Against this backdrop, we’ve scheduled our next Ecumenical Forum on March 18, 2026, at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Many Catholics—and even many Protestants—are unfamiliar with this extraordinary institution, founded by Steve and Jackie Green, the family behind Hobby Lobby. The Greens, Evangelical Protestant Christians with deep respect for historic Christianity, envisioned a world-class facility dedicated to the impact, transmission, and authority of the Bible, located just blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

The museum is striking not only in scale but in spirit. It includes Vatican-related exhibits, presentations honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary from a Catholic perspective, a theater seating roughly 300, conference facilities, and on-site accommodations for scholars and benefactors. It is, without exaggeration, a pilgrimage-worthy destination.

Museum leadership has granted permission for the celebration of a Roman Catholic Mass during the forum—at 12:30 p.m., in the heart of the day’s dialogue. This Mass, celebrated according to the Ordinariate form of the Roman Rite, will be the first Catholic Mass ever offered inside the Museum of the Bible. The celebrant will be Bishop Steven Lopes, head of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, established by Pope Benedict XVI in Anglicanorum Coetibus (2009).

The Ordinariate uniquely welcomes former Anglicans into full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of their liturgical and spiritual patrimony. Married priests are permitted under specific conditions, demonstrating that the Church already accommodates such vocations within apostolic tradition. The liturgy itself reflects a reverent English expression of the Roman Rite, deeply rooted in the Church’s history.

This moment—Catholic Mass proclaimed in a Protestant-founded Bible museum—embodies the very prayer of Christ: that they may all be one.

As we prepare for the Ecumenical Forum, we pray for unity and the courage to pursue it. And above all, we pray that Christ’s prayer to the Father may continue to unfold in our time—drawing all who seek truth toward the fullness of communion He established in His Church.

Friends of Napa Institute: New Projects & Initiatives Renewing the Church and Transforming Culture | February 2026

Catholic leaders across publishing, media, scholarship, and public life are launching bold new projects that engage today’s cultural moment with clarity, beauty, and conviction. We are eager to highlight several new works from the friends of Napa Institute who are doing great work to illuminate truth and bring about human flourishing. 

Carrie Gress — Something Wicked: Why Feminism Can’t Be Fused with Christianity

Dr. Carrie Gress, scholar at the Catholic University of America’s Institute of Human Ecology and editor of Theology of Home, has spent years examining feminism, the sexual revolution, and their cultural consequences. In her latest book, Something Wicked, Gress argues that feminism has succeeded not merely as an ideology, but as a rival religion—one that subtly mimics Christianity while undermining its foundations.

Rather than focusing only on feminism’s outcomes, such as abortion or gender ideology, Gress exposes its deeper spiritual structure: a “shadow church” with its own commandments, virtues, evangelization, and sacrament. Drawing from history, psychology, philosophy, and culture, she traces feminism’s anti-Christian origins and explains why autonomy severed from truth cannot lead to happiness.

The book debuted at the top of multiple charts, selling out on Amazon within days. Gress recently spoke at the Catholic Information Center (link here), outlining the hidden roots of feminism and why Christians must address the ideology itself.

EWTN Studios — Seeking Beauty with David Henrie

Seeking Beauty is a new EWTN Studios adventure documentary series that invites audiences to rediscover how beauty draws the human heart toward God. Hosted by actor, director, and producer David Henrie, the series explores culture, architecture, art, food, and music as pathways to the sacred.

Traveling alongside local artisans, contemporary artists, and expert guides, Henrie shows how our senses become doorways to transcendence. The series offers a joyful and accessible approach to evangelization, meeting viewers not with arguments, but with wonder.

Henrie, who has starred in major mainstream roles, has increasingly become a leading advocate for creating content that feeds the soul rather than corrodes it. A new Board Member of Napa Institute and Chair of the Napa Institute Arts Festival, Henrie embodies a renewed Catholic engagement with culture, one that reclaims beauty as essential, not optional. Because in the end, all of us are seeking beauty.

White Collars Podcast — Faith, Work, and the Life of the Church

White Collars is a new podcast from Veritas Catholic Network examining the intersection of Catholic business leadership and the life of the Church. The show is hosted by Fr. Colin Lomnitzer of the Diocese of Bridgeport and Charles Busch, a Napa Institute collaborator who leads Shepherds Circle priest programming.

Together, they explore how faith shapes leadership, vocation, and moral responsibility in professional life. Conversations address real-world challenges Catholics face in business—ambition, integrity, stewardship, and the tension between success and sanctity.

Fr. Lomnitzer, a member of the Napa Institute Shepherds Circle, brings pastoral and theological insight, while Busch offers experience grounded in business experience and leadership development. White Collars reflects a growing recognition that renewal in the Church must extend into the workplace, where faith is lived daily and often tested most acutely.

Frank DeVito — JD Vance and the Future of the Republican Party

In JD Vance and the Future of the Republican Party, Napa Legal Senior Counsel and Director of Content Frank DeVito examines the rise of one of the most influential political thinkers in America today. More than a biography, the book is an analysis of ideas, movements, and political realignment.

DeVito traces Vance’s journey from a broken home in Ohio to the Marines, Yale Law School, Silicon Valley, and national leadership. Unlike many politicians, Vance is a public intellectual who wrestled with questions of family breakdown, class, and economic dignity long before holding office.

DeVito argues that Vance represents a potential reorientation of the GOP toward a pro-family, pro-worker vision rooted in the middle class. As the post-Trump era unfolds, the book makes the case that Vance’s clarity and seriousness may shape what comes next—for both the party and the country.

The Pope has given us a joyful and unexpected gift: the proclamation of a Jubilee Year dedicated to the beloved Saint Francis of Assisi.

This gift of grace comes on the heels of the Jubilee Year of Hope, which concluded on January 6. That jubilee invited the faithful worldwide into renewal, reconciliation, and pilgrimage—and this new jubilee invites us to embrace the poverty and charity that defined St. Francis.

This latest jubilee—which began on January 10, 2026 and concludes on the same day next year—marks 800 years since the death of Saint Francis.

He was born around 1181, and in a remarkably short life of just 44 years, he transformed the Church through radical fidelity to the Gospel and deep love for the poor.

Canonized only two years after his death, his witness of faith and charity has endured for eight centuries.

“This Jubilee is not nostalgia, but a living testimony that the Gospel simplicity of Francis still speaks powerfully to the Church and to the modern world.”

— Pope Leo XIV

Saint Francis was the people’s saint. But it’s striking that it took nearly 800 years for a pope to choose his name, which Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio did when he became Pope Francis in 2013. That decision reflected a profound identification with the saint’s embrace of poverty, humility, and dependence on God.

While many saints have lived lives of simplicity, few expressed it as visibly and poetically as Saint Francis. His voluntary poverty and trust in divine providence remain a powerful challenge in a world often defined by excess.

The integration of faith and daily life is central to the mission of the Napa Institute. Our purpose has always been to immerse Catholics into a lifestyle that unites work, leisure, and spirituality. Faith is not meant to lived in just one hour on Sunday. It is meant to be lived 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in everything we do and with everyone we meet.

Pope Leo XIV has emphasized that this Jubilee is meant to show how Francis’s way of life — though 800 years old — is just as achievable in modern society. It reminds us that simplicity, surrender to God’s providence, and authentic Christian witness are timeless.

May all of us embody the best of that Saint—so that we, like him, may do good works on earth and walk the road to heaven.

The Grace of the Jubilee

The Jubilee offers real and extraordinary graces. A plenary indulgence will be granted to those who:

• Participate in a pilgrimage ‘to any Franciscan conventual church, or place of worship in any part of the world named after St. Francis or connected to him for any reason.’
• Recite the Apostles’ Creed
• Attend at Mass within eight days
• Receive Sacramental Confession within eight days before or after
• Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father
• Be in a state of grace

The Busch Group, a group of companies owned by Timothy R. Busch, is pleased to announce the hiring of Tyler Lomnitzer as Chief of Staff and Grant Administrator. In this role, he will manage the Napa Institute Foundation, taking on a wide array of executive responsibilities, organizational priorities, and strategic projects for Mr. Busch. In his role, he will also assist in fostering cross-functional collaboration to accelerate and increase impact.

“We are excited to welcome Tyler to the team,” said Tim Busch, Chairman of the Busch Group, Napa Institute, Napa Institute Foundation, and Napa Legal Institute.

“His nearly decade long experience serving the Church professionally at the USCCB and Knights of Columbus will be beneficial as Tyler provides strategic vision for the Napa Institute Foundation, propelling our mission to renew the Church and transform culture.”

Tyler, a graduate of The Catholic University of America, just concluded 7 years at the Knights of Columbus. His most recent role was in the Executive Office of the Supreme Knight as Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, where he provided day-to-day coordination and oversight for the Knight’s grantmaking and special projects.

As Chief of Staff, he will establish the Busch Group’s Manhattan office and manage the administration of the Napa Institute Foundation and its grantmaking priorities. Given the Foundation’s close collaboration with the Napa Institute, Tyler will also support facets of Napa Institute’s work, with an emphasis on New York-based initiatives like the Napa Nights NYC, and salon dinner programs.

“I am incredibly grateful to Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and the Knights of Columbus for helping to form me into the Catholic professional, husband and father that I am today.”

“I look forward to bringing that same commitment to holiness and excellence to the diverse portfolio of Mr. Busch, including the Napa Institute Foundation and the work of its collaborators like the Napa Institute, in this critical time for the Church.”

The Busch Group is a group of companies owned by Timothy R. Busch. To learn more, visit: Pacific Hospitality Group – www.pacifichospitality.com; The Busch Firm – www.thebuschfirm.com; Trinitas Cellars – www.trinitascellars.com; Napa Institute – www.napa-institute.org; Napa Legal Institute – https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/.

As the end of the year approaches, Catholics across America will give generously to charitable causes. It’s a powerful expression of our Christian commitment to showing God’s love for the vulnerable. But it should also remind us that such love can only be shown by individual people—not impersonal bureaucracies.

One of the great injustices of our time is that charity has largely been outsourced to government. The federal government alone spends at least $1.2 trillion a year on social support and welfare programs. States and local government add billions more to the total. This massive system reflects the earnest belief among many Americans—including many Catholics—that only government is big enough to solve problems like poverty. But this view is a fundamental misunderstanding of how charity works. And far from being a sign of God’s love, it often blocks the most vulnerable from becoming who God made them to be.

Catholic social teaching insists that authentic charity—caritas—is always personal. It flows from one human heart to another, and is never reducible to tax policy, state programs, or impersonal redistribution. While the Church affirms the legitimate role of government in promoting justice and the common good, she consistently teaches that love cannot be delegated to the State. Charity is a virtue, not an administrative function; a personal act of encounter, not a bureaucratic mechanism.

At the center of this vision is the truth of the human person. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that man is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake” (CCC 356). Because each person possesses inherent dignity, the response owed to him—especially when he’s in poverty—is not merely material assistance but love, freely given. The Christian vocation to charity is therefore not satisfied by paying taxes or supporting public welfare programs. 

No papal document articulates this more clearly than Pope Benedict XVI’s Deus Caritas Est. Benedict distinguishes sharply between the role of the State, which must pursue justice, and the role of the Christian, who must exercise love: “The State may not impose religion, yet it must guarantee religious freedom… Yet the State cannot and must not take upon itself the responsibility for love. Love—caritas—will always prove necessary, even in the most just society” (Deus Caritas Est, 28). Even when a society succeeds in creating equitable structures, personal charity remains indispensable because the human heart longs not only for fairness but for encounter and compassion.

This principle is embedded in another foundational pillar of Catholic social teaching: subsidiarity. First articulated clearly in Pope Pius XI’s Quadragesimo Anno, the principle states: “It is an injustice, a grave evil, and a disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do” (Quadragesimo Anno, 79). Subsidiarity is not a technical principle of governance; it is a protection of human dignity. It insists that assistance should be offered at the most local and personal level possible—beginning with the family, then the Church, then civil associations. Only when these fail should the State intervene.

The Catechism reinforces this teaching: “A community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order” (CCC 1883). The reason, the Church explains, is that subsidiarity “sets limits for state intervention” (CCC 1885), ensuring that society remains rooted in human relationships—not abstract systems.

St. John Paul II developed this further in Centesimus Annus, where he critiques what he calls the “Social Assistance State.” While acknowledging the necessity of governmental frameworks to support those in need, he warns that excessive state control “leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic ways of thinking than by concern for serving their clients” (Centesimus Annus, 48). When the State replaces families, churches, and voluntary associations as the primary agents of care, the result is not only inefficiency but a loss of personal responsibility and the diminishment of the moral life of the community.

Government aid, though often necessary, can never produce the spiritual goods that flow from personal charity: friendship, solidarity, compassion, and evangelization. Pope Benedict XVI noted in Caritas in Veritate that integral human development requires more than technical solutions—“Charity goes beyond justice… but it never lacks justice” (Caritas in Veritate, 6). Structures of justice are essential, but they do not exhaust the Christian mission. Only persons—converted and animated by grace—can love other persons.

This point becomes especially clear when examining tax systems and government welfare. Public policy may encourage or discourage private giving, but it cannot replace it. Tax credits or deductions may incentivize generosity, yet they cannot substitute for the spiritual discipline of giving one’s time, presence, prayer, and material goods in love. As the Catechism teaches, almsgiving is “a witness to fraternal charity” and “a work pleasing to God” (CCC 2462). It is not merely a financial transaction; it is an act of worship and discipleship.

Moreover, Catholic social doctrine emphasizes that love is transformational. The one who gives and the one who receives are both spiritually enriched. Bureaucratic systems, while often necessary for large-scale social functions, cannot effect such mutual transformation. They deliver resources but not relationship.

Even the Church’s institutional charities remain rooted in personal love. As Benedict XVI writes, “Christian charitable activity must be independent of parties and ideologies… It is love which gives the Church her credibility” (Deus Caritas Est, 31). Catholic institutions serve the poor not because the State is inadequate but because Christ commands His followers to love in His name.

Thus, the Church’s teaching is not an argument for eliminating government involvement in social welfare; rather, it is a reminder that the State must serve justice while Christians must serve love. The State may distribute goods, but only persons can give themselves. And without the gift of self, society loses the very heart of charity.

In the end, Catholic social doctrine returns repeatedly to this truth: a just society is necessary, but it will never be sufficient. The human person was made for love, and love is always personal. Therefore, the renewal of society and the uplifting of the vulnerable requires not merely better policies but deeper holiness—men and women who encounter Christ and, filled with His grace, carry that love to their brothers and sisters.

This truth is worth remembering, not only as we end the year, but also as we look to the new year. As faithful Catholics, we should begin thinking how we can begin to roll back the massive yet increasingly ineffective government bureaucracy—and replace it with our own charitable efforts. Lay apostolates in particular have a powerful role to play, as providers of social assistance and evangelization. 

America needs our witness of Christian love. And America needs our witness, expressed in charity, far more than it needs more ineffective and unaffordable government programs.

This is a wonderful day for the Catholic Church in the United States. Archbishop Paul Coakley — the
ecclesiastical advisor to the Napa Institute — was elected President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops!

Archbishop Coakley is defined by his extraordinary faith, wise counsel, and servant leadership. Since
2019, he has helped guide the Napa Institute, even as he has guided his own archdiocese of Oklahoma
City since 2011. Now he will help guide the Church at the national level, stewarding the USCCB with firm
reliance on God.

Every attendee to the Napa Institute’s summer conference can speak firsthand to Archbishop Coakley’s
faith, humility, and leadership. So can every Catholic who’s ever met him or heard him speak. His moral
clarity on the sanctity of life is unsurpassed, and he’s a stalwart champion of religious liberty, religious
vocations, and the role of religion in public life.

Tim Busch, the Napa Institute’s co-founder, issued the following statement:

“We give thanks to God for Archbishop Coakley’s election. It’s a powerful testament to his faith and
leadership that his fellow bishops have entrusted him with this great responsibility. As President of the
USCCB, he will strengthen the Church in the United States, just as he has helped strengthen the Napa
Institute. What a grace that even more people will soon encounter his impact in service to Jesus Christ.”

Congratulations, Archbishop Coakley!

Jimmy Lai needs your prayers.

Our fellow Catholic has been unjustly imprisoned by Communist China since late 2020. He’s been punished for exercising his freedom — and living out his faith.

Jimmy’s plight is in the news after President Trump personally asked Chinese dictator Xi Jinping to release him. More and more people now know Jimmy’s story. How he converted to Catholicism. How he spoke out against the Communist crackdown on Hong Kong. How he has suffered for his courage and faith.

At Napa, we have long prayed for Jimmy’s release. But now we’re taking our prayers to the next level.

On Jimmy’s behalf, we’re launching a Novena to Our Lady, Help of Christians.

We’ll start the Novena on November 15^th and conclude on November 23^rd — the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

Will you join us in praying this Novena? Will you join us in petitioning our Lady and our Lord for Jimmy’s release?

Access the novena here

Thank you for offering up this prayer to heaven. May it lead to freedom for Jimmy Lai!

Listen to Jimmy Lai’s talk at the 2020 Summer Conference