The Catholic Herald was in full view at the 18th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington, DC, on March 13. Mark Randall introduced Archbishop Christopher Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, who relayed Pope Francis’s greetings. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Catholic Herald Institute had its own booth at the breakfast with Mark Ackermann and Jamie MacGuire handing out copies by the boxful. Guests at the Institute table included Hudson Institute fellow Nina Shea, Clark Judge of the White House Writers Group, Elizabeth Spalding of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Matthew Spalding of Hillsdale College, Michael La Civita of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, and Melkite-Rite deacon David Black.
The glitzy breakfast, broadcast live on EWTN, is one of the most prestigious events in the US Catholic Leaders’ calendar. The packed ballroom included influential Catholic business and political figures like Leonard Leo, co-chairman of the Federalist Society, Tim Busch, founder of the Napa Valley Institute and Brian Burch, president of Catholic Vote, who was also a guest speaker. Prof Carter Snead of Notre Dame called for “a compassionate Catholic response to attacks against human dignity in a post-Roe v Wade world.”
Mary Rice Hasson, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, accepted the 2023 Christifideles Laici Award honouring the work of the laity. The keynote speech was given by the Most Revd Borys Gudziak, the Ukrainian Archeparch of Philadelphia. He recounted in moving detail the ongoing struggle Ukrainians are waging against Russian oppressors and emphasised its profoundly spiritual dimension. Mark Ackermann, CEO of the Herald Institute, added: “Being in the ballroom with over a thousand other like-minded devout Catholics was nearly overwhelming, on a very personal level. Many of them knew the Herald well and were overjoyed that we are making a renewed effort to bring it to the States. If this microcosm of American Catholics is a good representation of how the entire nation feels, the Herald has a great future in America.”
