The Catholic University of America’s ‘Visionary’ New Board Chairman Takes the Wheel

In 2025, Pope Francis elevated Father Emil Kapaun’s journey to sainthood to “Venerable” — and here, we are telling his story. 

Civil dialogue experts from across the country gathered at The Catholic University of America to discuss how faith-based colleges and universities can foster conversation rather than polarization. This public session, held on June 8 in Heritage Hall, was part of the third annual convening of the American Council on Education’s Commission on Faith-Based Colleges and Universities.

In 1941, our alumnus Venerable Fulton J. Sheen published A Declaration of Dependence. With prophetic clarity, Sheen’s Declaration helps us see that the founders’ claims about the “self-evident” fact that we have all been created by God rests upon a tradition that preceded them by 18 centuries. This role is one our Church has continuously played in the American drama.