About the Institute of Catholic Culture
In response to the Church's call for a new evangelization, the Institute of Catholic Culture was founded in 2006 by Rev. Franklyn McAfee, S.T.D., and Sabatino Carnazzo, M.A., as an outreach educational project within the Office of Evangelization at Saint John the Beloved Catholic Church in McLean, Virginia. From its inception in 2006, the Institute has offered weekly seminars in Catholic history, philosophy and theology, with a strong emphasis on the study of Sacred Scripture.
Soon after its founding, the Institute established a web site (www.InstituteofCatholicCulture.org) and began recording its lectures as a way to reach those beyond the parish borders of Saint John the Beloved Church. From 2006 to 2008, the Institute enjoyed steady growth in attendance and began to attract attendees from all over the Northern Virginia / Washington DC metropolitan area. Hosting influential Catholic educators such as Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R. (Founder, Franciscan Friars of the Renewal), Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. (Founder, Ignatius Productions), Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J. (Founder, Ignatius Press), Dr. Robert Moynihan, Ph.D. (Founder, Inside the Vatican Magazine), Dr. Timothy O'Donnel, S.T.D. (President, Christendom College), Dr. Paul Thigpen, Ph.D. (Professor of History, Georgia Catholic College), and Christopher Check (Executive Vice-President, Rockford Institute), as well as many others, the Institute of Catholic Culture became a center for Catholic orthodoxy where attendees could continue their Catholic formation in a relaxed social atmosphere confident in the educational content which they received.
Since 2006, the Institute has offered weekly lectures on topics such as Salvation History, Islam, Henry VIII, Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Early Councils of the Church, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Spanish Armada, the Angelic Choir, Biblical Apologetics, the Seven Deadly Sins, the Byzantine Churches and many more, offering to its attendees a panoramic view of history, philosophy and theology through the lens of the Catholic Faith.
By the beginning of 2009, the Institute of Catholic Culture was regularly hosting up to three lectures weekly, averaging more than 100 persons representing more than 25 Catholic parishes per seminar.
With an awareness of the great thirst that adult Catholics have for authentic Catholic faith formation, the Institute of Catholic Culture was established on July 1, 2009 as a non-profit Catholic educational institute dedicated to the re-evangelization of our society through educational and cultural projects open to the public at no charge. The Institute of Catholic Culture now presents regular lectures at various locations throughout the Northern Virginia / Washington D.C. metro area drawing hundreds of eager attendees.
The Problem
In his letter to the bishops of the Catholic Church, March 10, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI stated,
In our days, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel, the overriding priority is to make God present in this world and to show men and women the way to God. Not just any god, but the God who spoke on Sinai; to that God whose face we recognize in a love which presses "to the end" (cf. John 13:1) - in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The real problem at this moment of our history is that God is disappearing from the human horizon, and, with the dimming of the light which comes from God, humanity is losing its bearings, with increasingly evident destructive effects. Leading men and women to God, to the God who speaks in the Bible: this is the supreme and fundamental priority of the Church and of the Successor of Peter at the present time.
The Holy Father continued these thoughts when on his apostolic journey to Angola he stated,
Today it is up to you, brothers and sisters . . . to offer the Risen Christ to your fellow citizens . . . Someone may object: "Why not leave them in peace? They have their truth, and we have ours. Let us all try to live in peace, leaving everyone as they are, so they can best be themselves." But if we are convinced and have come to experience that without Christ life lacks something, that something real - indeed, the most real thing of all - is missing, we must also be convinced that we do no injustice to anyone if we present Christ to them and thus grant them the opportunity of finding their truest and most authentic selves, the joy of finding life. Indeed, we must do this. It is our duty to offer everyone this possibility of attaining eternal life.
Today, the Catholic Church is faced with a two-fold problem, we are witnessing not only, as the Holy Father stated in his letter to the Bishops quoted above, the disappearance of God from the human horizon, but also, the inability of those who profess him to communicate their faith to others. Before Catholics can follow the lead of the Pope in becoming a light of Christ to a world in darkness, they must themselves be formed in the knowledge of the Truth which saves.
Our Vision and Mission
In an age when the basic teachings of the Catholic Faith have been neglected and the faithful are in great need of intellectual faith formation, the Institute of Catholic Culture stands as a sign of hope. Taking our Lord's final command to the Apostles to "make disciples of all nations," (Matthew 28: 19-20) as our own, the Institute of Catholic Culture was founded in answer to the Church's call for a "New Evangelization."
While many Catholic parishes have instituted a consistent catechetical program for children, many have not heeded the Church's call for continued adult faith formation and the need for evangelical outreach. Most Catholics today, if they have received any catechetical formation at all, must rely upon an elementary level training, usually received in preparation for first Holy Communion and Confirmation. With this level of education in the faith, how can Catholics be expected to express the faith to their fellow citizens in a cogent and convincing manner?
In the General Directory for Catechesis, the Church has stated clearly, "Catechesis for adults, since it deals with persons who are capable of an adherence that is fully responsible, must be considered the chief form of catechesis" (General Directory for Catechesis, # 59).
From this foundation of a renewed education in the faith, the Institute of Catholic Culture is an answer to the Church's evangelical call in our age. "Today it is up to you, brothers and sisters . . . to offer the Risen Christ to your fellow citizens," Pope Benedict stated during his Apostolic Journey to Angola. The Institute of Catholic Culture is a living response to the evangelical challenge of our day!
To this end, the Institute hosts educational seminars specifically designed to build bridges of understanding, teaching authentic Catholic history, philosophy and theology as a way of healing the wounds in the Body of Christ, and reaching out to those who seek knowledge of the Truth.
Welcoming some of the most influential teachers of our time, the Institute offers participants an organic formation in the Catholic Faith while providing a social setting where the Faith is not only learned, but lived. All are welcome to join the Institute of Catholic Culture and seek the Truth revealed in our Lord and God, Jesus Christ.
About the Director
Short Biography:
Sabatino Carnazzo, M.A., founding director of the Institute of Catholic Culture, graduated from Christendom College in 2004 and completed his Masters degree in Systematic Theology with an Advanced Apostolic Catechetical Diploma in 2008 at Notre Dame Graduate School. In addition to offering frequent lectures at the Institute of Catholic Culture, he is a Lecturer in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Liturgy for the Catholic Diocese of Tulsa Diaconal Formation School and the Missionaries of Charity North American Novitiate Formation Program. Sabatino and his wife, Linda, have two children and live in Front Royal, Virginia.
1The founding documents for the Institute of Catholic Culture are the Apostolic Letter Novo Millenio Ineunte, (Pope John Paul II, 2000) and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's Address to Catechists and Religion Teachers, Jubilee of Catechists (December 12, 2000).
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