Thanks again to everyone who helped prepare Support a Catholic Speaker Month 2012. As I mentioned a few times, this project is designed to do three things:
- Promote great Catholic speakers, who are so important to the life of the Church.
- Introduce new and unfamiliar speakers, who deserve a bigger platform.
- Help bloggers connect with their favorite speakers, blog about them, and build traffic to their own websites
Matt Warner, who came up with the idea back in 2009, says it best: “The goal is to create a rising Catholic tide on the Internet that lifts all boats, including speakers, bloggers, Catholic websites, and more.”
A couple weeks ago we welcomed nominations and built a list of more than 250 Catholic speakers. From there, over 11,100 people cast more than 82,000 votes to narrow our list down to 100.
Since this wasn’t meant to be a competition, I’ve decided not to release the results or rankings. Instead, you’ll find the top 100 speakers listed below in alphabetical order. I’ve also added each speaker’s home city, so if you’re planning an event in your area you can find some great local speakers.
Now on with the list!
Your Favorite Catholic Speakers of 2012
—> With supporting blog posts throughout September 2012
- Al Kresta (Ann Arbor, Michigan) —> Carson Weber
- Alan Keyes (Washington, D.C.) —> Being Open to Life
- Barbara McGuigan (Mission Viejo, California) —> ilfuoconecessario
- Bill Donaghy (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) —> Embracing Your Greatness
- Bob Rice (Steubenville, Ohio) —> Roman Catholic Cop
- Brian Patrick (Covington, Kentucky) —> The Catholic Beat
- Chris Padgett (Dayton, Ohio) —> Catholic Roundup
- Chris Stefanick (Denver, Colorado) —> Catholic Newlywed
- Christopher West (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) —> Likable Art
- Crystalina Evert (Denver, Colorado) —> Marta, Julie e Maria
- Curtis Martin (Westminster, Colorado) —> Seasons of Grace
- Dale Ahlquist (Minneapolis, Minnesota) —> The Flying Stars & Snoring Scholar
- Damon Owens (West Orange, New Jersey) —> Dyna’s Vocation
- Danny Abramowicz (New Orleans, Louisiana) —> After Glow Company
- Dave DiNuzzo (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) —> Brandon Vogt
- Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers (Portland, Oregon) —> Real Catholic Men
- Deacon Ralph Poyo (Steubenville, Ohio) —> The Blog of Edmund Mitchell
- Dr. Alice von Hildebrand (New Rochelle, New York) —> Pontifex Libris
- Dr. Bill Donohue (New York, New York) —> Austin Catholic New Media
- Dr. Brant Pitre (New Orleans, Louisiana) —> Neal Obstat
- Dr. Edward Sri (Littleton, Colorado) —> Bezalel Books
- Dr. Janet Smith (Detroit, Michigan) —> Seasons of Grace
- Dr. John Bergsma (Steubenville, Ohio) —> Evangelizing Catechesis
- Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio (Dallas, Texas) —> I am Third
- Dr. Michael Barber (San Diego, California) —> Reverenced Reading
- Dr. Peter Kreeft (Boston, Massachusetts) —> The Corner With A View
- Dr. Ralph Martin (Ann Arbor, Michigan) —> The Ironic Catholic
- Dr. Ray Guarendi (North Canton, Ohio) —> TJ Burdick
- Dr. Robert George (Princeton, New Jersey) —> Gaudium Dei
- Dr. Scott Hahn (Steubenville, Ohio) —> Living Catholic
- Dr. Tim Gray (Littleton, Colorado) —> Pursued by Truth
- Eduardo Verastegui (Los Angeles, California) —> Roses of St. Therese
- Elizabeth Scalia (Long Island, New York) —> CatholicMom.com
- Fr. Andrew Apostoli (Bronx, New York) —> Baptismal Vows
- Fr. Benedict Groeschel (Larchmont, New York) —> Baptismal Vows
- Fr. Bill Casey, CPM (Auburn, Kentucky) —> Catholic Exchange
- Fr. Donald Calloway (Stockbridge, Massachusetts) —> Catholic Biker
- Fr. Dwight Longenecker (Greenville, South Carolina) —> Beautiful Spoon
- Fr. Frank Pavone (Amarillo, Texas) —> Pro-Life Corner
- Fr. James Martin (New York, New York) —> By Way of Beauty
- Fr. John Riccardo (Plymouth, Michigan) —> The Practicing Catholic
- Fr. John Zuhlsdorf (Minneapolis, Minnesota) —> Unam Ecclesiam
- Fr. Jonathan Morris (New York, New York) —> The Emmaus Road
- Fr. Joseph Fessio (San Francisco, California) —> Brandon Vogt
- Fr. Larry Richards (Erie, Pennsylvania) —> Team Whitaker
- Fr. Leo Patalinghug (Baltimore, Maryland) —> CatholicReligionTeacher.com
- Fr. Michael Gaitley (Stockbridge, Massachusetts) —> Columbus Catholic Women
- Fr. Michael Scanlan (Steubenville, Ohio) —> Team Orthodoxy
- Fr. Mitch Pacwa (Vestavia Hills, Alabama) —> St. Thomas More Catholic Church
- Fr. Richard Rohr (Albuquerque, New Mexico) —> Ordinary Time
- Fr. Robert Barron (Chicago, Illinois) —> St. Peter School
- Fr. Robert Sirico (Grand Rapids, Michigan) —> Ignitum Today
- Fr. Robert Spitzer (Spokane, Washington) —>Called to Holiness & Fallible Blogma
- Fr. Stan Fortuna (Bronx, New York) —> Brandon Vogt
- Fr. Tad Pacholczyk (Fall River, Massachusetts) —> Ignitum Today
- Fr. Wade Menezes, CPM (Auburn, Kentucky) —> The Kennedy Adventures
- George Weigel (North Bethesda, Maryland) —> Base Camp Creative
- Gloria Purvis (Washington, D.C.) —> The Guiding Star Project
- Greg and Jennifer Willits (Atlanta, Georgia) —> Catholic Drinkie
- Gus Lloyd (Tampa, Florida) —> Blessed Is The Kingdom
- Hector Antonio Molina Jr. (St. Louis, Missouri) —> Peter and Paul Ministries
- Immaculee Ilibagiza (New York , New York) —> At Least We’re Here
- Jackie Francois (Orange County, California) —> The Rosary Chick
- Jason Evert (Denver, Colorado) —> Unshakable Hope
- Jeff Cavins (Maple Grove, Minnesota) —> Of Sound Mind and Spirit
- Jennifer Fulwiler (Austin, Texas) —> Nunblog
- Jesse Manibusan (Grapevine, Texas) —> Everyday Catholic
- Jesse Romero (Mission Hills, California) —> Brandon Vogt
- Jim Burnham (Albuquerque, New Mexico) —> Supremacy and Survival
- Jimmy Akin (San Diego, California) —> Joe Wetterling
- John Martignoni (Birmingham, Alabama) —> Jongleur De Dieu
- John Michael Talbot (Berryville, Arkansas) —> Brandon Vogt
- Johnnette Benkovic (Oldsmar, Florida) —> The Best and the Worst…and Not Only
- Joseph Pearce (Merrimack, New Hampshire) —> Saints in Progress
- Karl Keating (San Diego, California) —> The Recovered Catholic
- Kimberly Hahn (Steubenville, Ohio) —> Five Halos
- Leah Darrow (San Diego, California) —> Call Her Happy
- Lino Rulli (New York, New York) —> The Catholic Traveler
- Marcel LeJeune (College Station, Texas) —> eCatholic Blog
- Marcus Grodi (Zanesville, Ohio) —> Restatement of the Obvious
- Mark Hart (Phoenix, Arizona) —> Mariella Hunt
- Mark Houck (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) —> Following The Truth
- Mark P. Shea (Seattle, Washington) —> BadCatholic
- Mary Ann Glendon (Cambridge, Massachusetts) —> Among Women
- Matthew Kelly (Cincinnati, Ohio) —> A Catholic Teen’s Perspective
- Michael Voris (Detroit, Michigan) —> Finding my Way
- Mike Aquilina (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) —> Scrutinies
- Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God (Tulsa, Oklahoma) —> 21st Century Pilgrim
- Msgr. Charles Pope (Washington, D.C.) —> Accepting Abundance
- Patrick Coffin (San Diego, California) —> Aggie Catholics
- Patrick Madrid (Granville, Ohio) —> Journey of a Catholic Nerd Writer
- Peter Herbeck (Ann Arbor, Michigan) —> Good Saints
- Raymond Arroyo (Arlington, Virginia) —> Musings from a Catholic Bookstore
- Simcha Fisher (Marlborough, New Hampshire) —> Sed Noli Modo
- Sr. Helen Prejean (New Orleans, Louisiana) —> Fumbling Toward Grace
- Steve Angrisano (Plano, Texas) —> Beth Anne’s Best
- Steve Ray (Livonia, Michigan) —> Creative Fidelity
- Teresa Tomeo (Detroit, Michigan) —> Glory & Praise to Our God
- Tim Staples (San Diego, California) —> Cool Cats
- Tony Melendez (Branson, Missouri) —> Chocolate For Your Brain!
(Speakers: If I have the wrong website or location, please email me at speakers@brandonvogt.com so I can fix it right away.)
Honorable Mention
Video Interviews
To encourage video interviews for Support a Catholic Speaker Month, they will be specially embedded right here on the main page.
Now this is just the beginning. Support a Catholic Speaker Month wasn’t designed to just create a nice list. The real fun starts now. It’s time for you, and all other Catholic bloggers, to choose one of the speakers above to profile on your own site. Anyone with a blog or website is welcome to participate, but speakers will be claimed on a first-come, first-serve basis.
When choosing your speaker, don’t just rush to claim one of the “big names.” Rather, consider this an opportunity to learn about someone new, and to help an unfamiliar speaker gain more exposure.
To claim your speaker, just use the form below. I’ll update the above speaker list as claims are made to show which speakers have already been selected. I want to emphasize that by filling out this form, you’re promising to publish a post sometime during the month of September on the speaker you choose. So please only participate if you’re sincerely dedicated to writing a post. We’re all counting on you!
ALL SPEAKERS HAVE BEEN CLAIMED. However if you’d like to profile a speaker not listed above, write a post on your blog or website then email the link to speakers@brandonvogt.com so I can link to it under the Honorable Mention section above.
Once you claim your speaker, begin crafting your post. The entire month of September is marked as Support a Catholic Speaker Month so you can really post anytime during the month. However the earlier you post it, the quicker I can add your link to our list above. Ideally, you’d post it within the next couple weeks.
As for the style of the post, that’s totally up to you. You can do a biography, an interview, a compilation of clips, or whatever you want. Interviews are especially nice since they let us hear from the speaker personally. Check out these links for some inspiration:
- Blog posts from Support a Catholic Speaker Month 2009
- How to Record a Skype Video Interview in 7 Easy Steps
- Sample interviews I’ve done
(If you record a video interview, I’ll feature it prominently and embed it right on this page.)
However you choose to do your post, email me a link whenever it goes live:
Send blog post link to: speakers@brandonvogt.com
After all 100 speakers are claimed, I’ll then open up the process to anyone who wants to write about any other Catholic speaker. So if there’s a speaker you love who didn’t make the list, they’ll still have a chance to be highlighted. These additional speaker posts will be listed under the Honorable Mention heading above. Check back on this page for instructions after the top 100 speakers are all claimed.
Finally, as mentioned before, we really need your help spreading the word about these speakers. Whether you blog about a speaker or not, please share this page or paste one of the graphics onto your website, blog, sidebar, social media account, or wherever you want. [Badge link code here]
If you have any questions about Support a Catholic Speaker Month, leave a comment below or email me at speakers@brandonvogt.com. Thanks again for all your help. Now let’s go out and support our great Catholic speakers!