News & Media

From 2012 to 2020, Fr. Paul Mankowski, SJ delivered hundreds of lectures and master classes at the Lumen Christi Institute. Seeking to share the depth of his scholarship, this podcast offers many of his lectures (edited for coherence and quality) to the public in digital format for the first time. 

The first season features a course that Fr. Mankowski gave on Joseph Ratzinger’s Jesus of Nazareth, and dozens of lectures centered around the books of the Bible (including Genesis, many of the prophets, the Gospel of Matthew, and St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans). Two interviews with people who knew Fr. Mankowski well and can offer an entry point to his person and scholarship conclude the season.

News
August 4, 2026
Thomas believed that the Catholic intellectual tradition had the power to transform minds, shape culture, and renew the Church. That conviction was the animating force behind everything he built at Lumen Christi and the reason this Institute exists today.
The programming that Fons Vitae provides at Duke, like each of the member-institutes of the network across the country, exemplifies Levergood’s vision for the expansion of the effort to maintain the Catholic intellectual tradition today.
Last July we set a bold goal, to grow Lumen Christi’s donor community to 400 members. I am thrilled to share that as of June 30, we have surpassed that goal.
For Washington, however, religion was fundamental. Without it, he argued, there would be no security for oaths taken in courts of justice. Without it, we could not expect that morality would prevail.
News
June 19, 2026
On June 19, our country remembers the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. To commemorate this moment, I would like to share with you an excerpt from a poem by Phillis Wheatley (1753-84).
We recently celebrated the feast of the Ascension. Christ’s departure from His apostles is described in the New Testament not as an occasion of mourning, but of joy. For He did not leave us alone.
News
May 25, 2026
For Catholics, the month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This year, Memorial Day coincides with the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, celebrated annually on the Monday after Pentecost.
Lumen Christi follows St. Paul’s injunction to attend to whatever is true, noble, right, admirable, and lovely. We support this endeavor by sponsoring a number of graduate student reading groups that may explore any genre, theme, time, and place.
Christ is Risen! On Easter Sunday, I write to tell you about St. Mary of Egypt, who is remembered by the Catholic Church on April 2 – Holy Thursday this year.
Rose Johnson, one of our Development Associates, tells her story of how Lumen Christi has shaped her adult relationship with Christ, especially during her time as a graduate student at UChicago.

Learn More and Register for the concert in Wilmette (May 21st) Learn More and Register for the concert at UChicago (May 22nd) The Lumen Christi Institute is excited to host Schola Antiqua for a series of concerts on the music

News
March 23, 2026
In the season of Lent, the Church calls us to reflect upon Christ’s years of ministry. In pondering His revelation and His divine miracles, I am particularly reminded of one essential part of Christ’s journey toward Jerusalem: He did not