Keynote Speaker
John-Henry Westen
Co-founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.com
John-Henry is the co-founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews.com. He and his wife Dianne have eight children and they live in the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, Canada.
He has spoken at conferences and retreats, and appeared on radio and television throughout the world. John-Henry founded the Rome Life Forum an annual strategy meeting for life, faith and family leaders worldwide. He is a board member of the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family.
He is a consultant to Canada’s largest pro-life organization Campaign Life Coalition, and serves on the executive of the Ontario branch of the organization. He has run three times for political office in the province of Ontario representing the Family Coalition Party.
John-Henry earned an MA from the University of Toronto in School and Child Clinical Psychology and an Honours BA from York University in Psychology.
Dr. Peter Kwasniewski
Speaker and Author of
Tradition and Sanity
Peter A. Kwasniewski (quash-NEV-ski) holds a B.A. in liberal arts from Thomas Aquinas College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, with a specialization in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.
After teaching at the International Theological Institute in Austria, he helped establish Wyoming Catholic College in 2006, where he taught theology, philosophy, music, and art history and directed the choir and schola until 2018.
Today, he is a full-time writer, editor, publisher, and speaker, running a Substack called Tradition & Sanity; he has written or edited more than twenty books and his work has been translated into at least twenty languages.
He is also is a composer whose sacred choral music has been performed around the world.
Leila Lawler
Speaker and Author of
Summa Domestica
Leila Marie Lawler is a wife, mother of seven, and grandmother of many. She lives in Central Massachusetts
Leila encountered Christianity as a high school student, was baptized, and entered the Catholic Church in 1979, the year she was married to Philip F. Lawler, noted Catholic author and editor of Catholic World News.
Leila practices “kitchen sink philosophy” at Like Mother, Like Daughter, a website for practical and theoretical insight into all aspects of daily life. She writes on everything from cooking and knitting to education and recovering what she and her daughters call “the collective memory.” Her other blog Happy Despite Them offers occasional observations and essays on various topics.
Leila is a Fellow of the Center for the Restoration of Christian Culture, a project of Thomas More college of the Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire.
The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life, a three-volume boxed set, is published by Sophia Institute Press. This work is a compendium of all her wit and wisdom from Like Mother, Like Daughter, organized with new material and a helpful index.
The Little Oratory: Co-authored with David Clayton, A Beginner’s Guide to Praying in the Home, is published by Sophia Institute Press. Scott Hahn said of it, “How I wish I’d had this book when I first became a Catholic… This is one of the most beautiful books I've ever seen. It is inspiring yet practical, realistic yet revolutionary. If one book has the potential to transform the Catholic family (and society), this is it.”
God Has No Grandchildren: A guided reading of Pius XI’s encyclical Casti Connubii, On Chaste Marriage (2nd edition) is available from Arouca Press.
Father David Nix
Speaker and Roman Catholic Priest
Fr. David Nix is a Roman Catholic priest who was born on the 16th of August 1978 in Denver, CO, USA. He was raised in the city of Denver and graduated Regis Jesuit High School in 1996. He graduated Boston College in 2000. While premed in Boston, he also worked as an EMT.
After graduation, he became a paramedic for the city and county of Denver in 2002. Later, he did mission work and entered seminary in 2004. In 2010, he was ordained priest by Archbishop Chaput. He studies languages and has offered the sacraments in North America, South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. He contends for the end of abortion and child-trafficking.
He is now a diocesan hermit for the Archdiocese of Denver (a monk-missionary with apostolates approved in a rule-of-life under Canon 603.
Mrs. Tricia Nolan
Speaker and
Home-Schooling Mother of 13
Tricia Nolan is a homeschooling mother of thirteen children, with nine natural and four adopted children. After graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in Zoology, Tricia married and has since devoted herself to the raising and education of her children.
Both she and her husband decided early in their marriage that passing on the Catholic Faith to their children needed to be the priority of their marriage. From that decision came the decision to do the Will of God no matter what sacrifice or cost might be required. Those decisions led them to homeschool at a time when parents were being prosecuted and jailed for doing so, because they saw no other way to keep the souls of their children safe. They were one of the first Catholic homeschooling families in Oklahoma. "Our dedication was rewarded, and today their two oldest sons are priests of the Fraternity of St. Peter. Priesthood is a calling from the Lord. It was the Lord who saw to the spiritual growth of our children. We were faithful, and He did the rest. Except for two of the adopted children, all of their other children are practicing Catholics.
Tricia and her husband live near Guthrie, Oklahoma on 5 acres in a house that used to be a Catholic Church.
Kevin Roerty
Speaker and Founder of SOCA
Souls of the Christian Apostolate
Kevin Roerty spent two years in formation with the traditional order based in Dominican spirituality, the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer in France.
At the age of 23 he was then inspired to found Souls of the Christian Apostolate (SOCA) in 2018 based on the spiritual classic The Soul of the Apostolate. SOCA’s mission is a movement of renewal in the Church through awareness and formation in the interior life. With Bishop Strickland's close involvement, SOCA's team guides over 1000 individuals annually on a 12-step path to mental prayer and a support network of prayer accountability. Kevin has taught classes on tradition and mental prayer, and has run conferences with thousands of Catholics, especially the youth.
In addition to being the executive for SOCA, he envisions integrating spirituality with mental health initiatives to evangelize non-Catholics. His talk will cover the integration of femininity with the interior life of prayer particularly with mental prayer.
Helen Kish
Artist, Designer and Sculptor
Helen Kish has been married to her husband and long time business partner Tamas for 53 years. While raising their three children, Helen began sculpting little figures which eventually turned into a small business. She also sculpted and designed collectible dolls for many commercial companies; such as the Pleasant Company (home of the American Girl doll), the Franklin Mint, San Francisco Music Box Co. and many others. Along the way, Helen and Tamas started their own business, Kish & Company, which produced a line of collector dolls annually for several decades.
Since joining Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church some six years ago, Helen became active in the Altar & Rosary Society, eventually being elected president.
The Divine Artist created the unparalleled beauty of flowers. In designing pleasing arrangements, we strive to return these gifts to Him, for our Church and in our homes, all for the Glory of God.
Father Daniel Nolan
FSSP
Master of Ceremonies
Fr. Daniel Nolan, FSSP, Conference Master of Ceremonies, is Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Littleton Colorado.