A Letter from the President
10 years ago, the St. John Paul II Foundation was launched with the mission to proclaim the Gospel of Life and Family across the nation. Many of you have been with us from the start, and you know what an incredible journey it has been since May 15, 2014!
For a few years prior to our launch, my co-founder Chris and I had been organizing conferences for Catholic medical professionals in San Antonio. The goal of these events was to help bring about a convergence of the best of medicine and the best of ethics at the service of their patients. Small though we were, these were peerless events and continue to be a decade later as Converging Roads. Over the last 3 years, Converging Roads has served an average of 720 men and women annually, and since the beginning, nearly 1,100 students have attended on scholarship.
At the invitation of Archbishop Garcia-Siller, those early Converging Roads conferences gave rise to a conference series for Catholic clergy. We began with Shepherd’s Heart for priests, and in 2021 expanded to offer Servant’s Heart for deacons—together comprising our dynamic Clergy Initiatives. I am humbled that, after 10 years, this initiative is on pace to impact as many as 1,000 clergy this year alone. Even more remarkable is that since 2021, Clergy Initiatives has grown by 160%, with 6 events in 2021 and 16 events in 2024!
St. John Paul II’s passion for human life and family have always shaped our mission, and so it was only natural that his teaching on marriage and family life would be central to our plans for a third and final initiative: Together in Holiness. By the time we launched to pursue this mission full-time, we already had the first diocese on board to pilot Together in Holiness—and by way of Divine Providence, our patron had been canonized a Saint just weeks before! Since then, we have brought Together in Holiness to more than 25 dioceses, serving 14,500+ at conferences and 2,400+ through the Formation series.
I am fond of “reminding” St. John Paul II that this work is his, and if he wants it to succeed, we need his intercession—and he is a powerful intercessor. Over these ten years, our mission has been blessed with sterling track record of success, a team I’d put up against anyone, and supporters and donors whose service and gifts constitute exceptional generosity. It is truly a privilege and joy to work alongside these great people for life and family, and for the salvation of souls!
Today, we celebrate the first ten years of devoted service to life and family, enlivened by the passion and solicitude of our patron, that singular man, St. John Paul II. I cannot thank you enough for being part of our first decade on mission, and thanks be to God for entrusting it to each of us and sustaining it all these years. At the end of the day, everything really depends on Him.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Arland K. Nichols, President
