Recently, the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI) was opened in São Paulo, Brazil, an initiative of Regnum Christi that offers extra-academic training for Catholics who want to grow in their knowledge of the faith, develop leadership skills, and find inspiration and support for projects that can transform society.
The Institute will initially offer three types of activities: free open conferences on current topics; courses on various subjects such as the Bible, Catholic leadership, meditation, Christian-inspired businesses, Gnosticism and relativism, life purpose, etc.; and online videos with courses and training materials. Additionally, the institute will provide spaces for debate, congresses, marriage encounters, and special events.
More than 140 people, including executives and company presidents, religious, social, and communication leaders, attended the inauguration held on April 3rd. During the event, Dr. Ives Granda Martins shared his testimony and spoke about how his “professional career, marriage, family, and education were always built on the experience of God, who is a real presence in our lives.”
Father Rodrigo Hurtado, LC, director of the Institute, emphasized that efforts will be made so that “all people who come into contact with the organization have an authentic experience of Christ and become leaven that transforms society through the testimony of their lives and through the concrete apostolic action inspired by God,” also recalling that the “secret to a full life is not something, but Someone.”
For Father Cleomar Ferronato, LC, territorial director of Brazil, the CLI is a concrete response to the needs of the Church in Brazil: “If we believe that the Gospel is the best for each individual and for society as a whole, then we must prepare laity and priests to understand it and testify to it to the world. As the Institute’s motto says, the time has come for Catholics to let their light shine (Cf. Mt 5:16).”
“The leadership approach proposed by the Institute stems from the joy of being Catholic, from discovering each person’s life purpose, and from the desire to live and testify to it in the world. […]. A leader can be a parent, a business owner, or an employee within a company; leaders can be priests, politicians, intellectuals, communicators, etc. If we lived all of this with the spirit of the Gospel, with the same conviction and love of Christ, we would surely set the world on fire,” said Father Rodrigo Hurtado, LC.
