McGrath Institute for Church Life

06/03/2026

The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This special devotion, which honors Our Lord's endless love and mercy for all, took shape in the 17th century with St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and has been carried down through the centuries by numerous saints.

Take some time to reflect and pray on the Sacred Heart this month. Listen to recordings of this past fall's Saturdays With the Saints lecture series, which focused on Saints and the Sacred Heart. Link in comments.

06/02/2026

Ave Crux, Spes Unica

This June, the USCCB will consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Notre Dame joins in this act of devotion as we look to the Heart of Christ as the source of all hope and the model of a love that embraces every person.

Ave Crux, Spes Unica

06/01/2026

We are excited to announce The Heart of the Family, a free, seven-part video series designed to help families rediscover the home as a domestic church: a place where faith is lived, shared, and passed on through everyday moments. Rooted in prayer, formation, and community, this series walks alongside families as they grow together in faith, inspired by the example of the Holy Family.

Through guided reflections, Scripture, and simple activities you can do at home, The Heart of the Family invites families to encounter God in the ordinary rhythms of daily life.

Join us in this guided family devotional, because the renewal of the Church begins at home.

Link in comments.

05/29/2026

Tune in to the latest episode of our Church Life Today podcast exploring Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas: Safeguarding The Human Person In The Time of Artificial Intelligence.

The encyclical takes its bearings from two biblical images: the Tower of Babel, where a unified language and a unified technology serve a project that aspires to reach heaven without God; and the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah, where a city is reborn through prayer and the shared responsibility of all. Pope Leo asks us which of these we are building. Technology, he reminds us, is never neutral. It takes the character of those who devise, finance, and deploy it.

Host Lenny DeLorenzo, Ph.D., is joined by Brett Robinson, Ph.D., of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, whose research focuses on the intersection of technology, media, and Catholicism.

Link to the episode in the comment below.

05/28/2026

“I’m not gonna embrace the Cross because somebody truth-bombed me” - Marlyn Batista, on authentic accompaniment.

Check out this week’s episode of the Gender Accompaniment Project to hear more from Marlyn, along with Julia Sadusky and Fr. Raphael Mary Salzillo, O.P., as they share their expertise in walking with those who experience gender disconnect.

Episode 7, "Alienation & Accompaniment", is now live wherever you get your podcasts.

05/26/2026

Join McGrath Institute for Church Life experts tomorrow, May 27, 2026, to hear an initial take on Pope Leo XIV’s first Encyclical Letter, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. The panel will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Zoom.

The document examines the moral and ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence and its impact on human dignity, human relationships, labor, and the future of work.

The event is hosted by The Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage at Loyola University Chicago, and panelists include our Science & Religion Initiative program scholars, Christopher Baglow, Ph.D., and Heather Foucault-Camm, PGCE, MSc, M.A.

For more details and to register, please see the link below.

05/25/2026

Statement from Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., on the papal encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas:"

In "Magnifica Humanitas," Pope Leo XIV has given us a profound gift: a teaching that reminds us that every human life possesses an inviolable dignity and that safeguarding this dignity must be the foundation of every decision we make as we develop and apply artificial intelligence.

Signing this encyclical on the 135th anniversary of "Rerum Novarum," Pope Leo XIII’s historic letter on the rights of workers, is a deliberate choice. Just as Leo XIII addressed the disorientation of the industrial revolution, Leo XIV calls us to moral clarity and solidarity in the midst of this latest societal transformation, underscoring the urgency of the questions humankind faces.

At Notre Dame, our mission as a global Catholic research university compels us to advance Pope Leo XIV’s historic contribution to Catholic social tradition through our research, our teaching, and all of our work in service of the common good. The Holy Father has highlighted the critical role that Catholic scholars and researchers — and all those of goodwill — must play in raising moral questions and actively shaping new technologies to ensure they serve the entire human family.