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Leading Catholic Thinkers Gathering to Strategize for the Culture Wars of Today, Tomorrow, and 2024

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  July 24, 2023 11:15 AM

This week, the Napa Institute — self-described as a "conduit" to allow Catholics to "courageously and eloquently defend our faith in the public square" — will convene Church and political leaders for its 13th annual summer conference which aims to "engage, encourage, and inspire" Catholics ahead of the 2024 election. 

In times of crises brought by the current administration — helmed by "devout Catholic" Joe Biden — the 2023 annual conference will focus on a "renewal and reinforcement of hope" — spurred by Jesus' words in John 14:27: "my peace I give unto you" — in Catholics' daily lives, the work of the Church, and in the tumult wrought in the culture at large. 

Napa expects more than 800 participants from the across the country to gather for the conference taking place July 26-30 with speeches and discussions broaching some of the most pressing issues facing Americans today and in the years ahead, as well as topics that have called the Church to act in defense of its institutions and beliefs. 

Sessions such as "Religious freedom after the sexual revolution" and "Is ESG Catholic?" will be interspersed with keynote addresses by former Vice President Mike Pence and others as the Napa Institute looks to prepare Catholics to boldly face the issues of today and tomorrow. 

Discussions will help Church leaders and members understand which states are friendly (or markedly un-friendly) to faith-based nonprofits, what the recent Supreme Court decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis means for religious liberty, and how to counter crimes committed against pro-life pregnancy resource centers and Catholic churches in the wake of last summer's Dobbs opinion.

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The group's work "in a confusing and changing world" to remind people that "only Christ can reroute us back to truth, beauty, and purpose" is all the more important as President Biden, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other Catholic lawmakers seek to base their pro-abortion, anti-science stances on their stated Catholic faith.