Mark

Lent 2026: 5 programs to help you grow in your faith #Catholic This year Lent begins on Feb. 18 with Ash Wednesday. As we quickly approach this time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, here are five programs to help you grow in your faith this Lenten season.‘Pray 40: The Return’ (Hallow)This year, Hallow’s Lent Pray40 prayer challenge is titled “Pray40: The Return.” The theme for this year’s challenge focuses on returning to God, just like we read in the parable of the prodigal son. To help go further into this idea, listeners will dive into “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky.Actor Jonathan Roumie will guide listeners through “The Brothers Karamazov”; Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt will provide fasting challenges; Mother Olga will meditate on Scripture; Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, will help listeners take part in imaginative prayer sessions; and Father Mike Schmitz will provide Sunday homilies.‘Crux’ (Ascension)Father Columba Jordan, CFR, will be hosting a daily Lenten program on the Ascension app titled “Crux.” Crux invites the faithful to see Lent as a transformative season through a four-part daily system rooted in both physical and spiritual discipline. The four daily challenges include daily reading of Scripture, a nightly examen, one form of physical exercise, and one dietary fast.“Crux” can be done individually, in parishes, or in small groups. Additionally, for those seeking a screen-free way to take part in the challenge, the “Crux: A Lenten Journey of Surrender” journal is also available.‘Seeking the Inner Room’ (Word on Fire)Word on Fire Institute will be hosting a virtual retreat this Lent led by Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, titled “Seeking the Inner Room.” The seven-week series will help participants dive deeper into Scripture and prayer in order to let the Holy Spirit into each of our inner rooms — our hearts. The retreat will also include reflections on “Gate of Heaven: Reflections on the Mother of God.”Lenten Phone Fast Challenge (Real Life Catholic)Real Life Catholic is inviting people of all ages to put down their phones this Lent to offer prayers and sacrifice to support the renewal of young Catholics. The Lenten Phone Fast Challenge offers participants the opportunity to specifically pray for the spiritual protection of Catholic teens. Participants will also receive weekly messages of support and spiritual guidance from evangelist Chris Stefanick.Programs offered through the EWTN Religious CatalogueIf you’re looking for Lenten devotionals or books you can read during this time, the EWTN Religious Catalogue has a variety of options including “Praying with Jesus and Faustina During Lent,” “Lent and Easter: Wisdom From Fulton Sheen,” and “Lenten Journey with Mother Mary,” among others.
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Lent 2026: 5 programs to help you grow in your faith #Catholic This year Lent begins on Feb. 18 with Ash Wednesday. As we quickly approach this time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, here are five programs to help you grow in your faith this Lenten season.‘Pray 40: The Return’ (Hallow)This year, Hallow’s Lent Pray40 prayer challenge is titled “Pray40: The Return.” The theme for this year’s challenge focuses on returning to God, just like we read in the parable of the prodigal son. To help go further into this idea, listeners will dive into “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky.Actor Jonathan Roumie will guide listeners through “The Brothers Karamazov”; Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt will provide fasting challenges; Mother Olga will meditate on Scripture; Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, will help listeners take part in imaginative prayer sessions; and Father Mike Schmitz will provide Sunday homilies.‘Crux’ (Ascension)Father Columba Jordan, CFR, will be hosting a daily Lenten program on the Ascension app titled “Crux.” Crux invites the faithful to see Lent as a transformative season through a four-part daily system rooted in both physical and spiritual discipline. The four daily challenges include daily reading of Scripture, a nightly examen, one form of physical exercise, and one dietary fast.“Crux” can be done individually, in parishes, or in small groups. Additionally, for those seeking a screen-free way to take part in the challenge, the “Crux: A Lenten Journey of Surrender” journal is also available.‘Seeking the Inner Room’ (Word on Fire)Word on Fire Institute will be hosting a virtual retreat this Lent led by Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, titled “Seeking the Inner Room.” The seven-week series will help participants dive deeper into Scripture and prayer in order to let the Holy Spirit into each of our inner rooms — our hearts. The retreat will also include reflections on “Gate of Heaven: Reflections on the Mother of God.”Lenten Phone Fast Challenge (Real Life Catholic)Real Life Catholic is inviting people of all ages to put down their phones this Lent to offer prayers and sacrifice to support the renewal of young Catholics. The Lenten Phone Fast Challenge offers participants the opportunity to specifically pray for the spiritual protection of Catholic teens. Participants will also receive weekly messages of support and spiritual guidance from evangelist Chris Stefanick.Programs offered through the EWTN Religious CatalogueIf you’re looking for Lenten devotionals or books you can read during this time, the EWTN Religious Catalogue has a variety of options including “Praying with Jesus and Faustina During Lent,” “Lent and Easter: Wisdom From Fulton Sheen,” and “Lenten Journey with Mother Mary,” among others.

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Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, beginning a season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in the Catholic Church.

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Diocese of Pittsburgh: 7 churches to close next month #Catholic The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced the permanent closure of seven churches, effective March 12.The decision was formally communicated to parishioners during Masses on Feb. 8 at St. Joseph the Worker Parish, where a letter from Bishop Mark A. Eckman was read aloud.In the letter, Eckman explained that St. Joseph the Worker Parish was established on July 1, 2020, through the merger of seven parishes serving communities in Braddock, Churchill, Forest Hills, Swissvale, Turtle Creek, Wilmerding, and surrounding areas.Since the merger, all eight church buildings initially remained open for worship. However, due to persistent declining Mass attendance and ongoing financial constraints, the parish has gradually reduced the number of active worship sites.After a yearlong review in 2025, including consultations with clergy, advisory councils, the facilities mission team, and parish senate sessions, it became clear that sustaining all current buildings was not feasible. Parishioner feedback was gathered through emails, phone messages, and meetings, with many acknowledging the challenges and the necessity for change.Father Michael Stumpf, the current pastor at St. Joseph the Worker, along with parish leadership, petitioned the bishop to close the church buildings of Good Shepherd, Madonna del Castello, Sacred Heart, St. Anselm, St. Colman, St. John Fisher, and St. Jude the Apostle.Eckman consulted diocesan officials in November 2025, who supported the rationale. He subsequently issued decrees approving the closures.St. Maurice Church in Forest Hills will remain the sole open worship site for the parish.Eckman acknowledged the emotional impact of the decision, noting that parishioners have invested years of faith, prayer, and service into the churches.“I recognize that this news brings a time of significant change and a sense of loss,” Eckman said in the letter. “For many years, you have poured your lives into these sacred buildings, strengthening your communities with holy faith, fervent prayer, and tireless service.”“We are a people of the Resurrection,” he said. ”And even in seasons of pruning, there is promise for new life. This decision is made with prayerful intent to better resource your parish, ensuring that the corporal and spiritual works of mercy may continue to reach the hearts of Braddock, Churchill, Forest Hills, Swissville, Turtle Creek, and Wilmerding for generations to come.”This announcement comes amid broader trends in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, including previous mergers and consolidations aimed at addressing similar demographic and financial pressures.
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Diocese of Pittsburgh: 7 churches to close next month #Catholic The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced the permanent closure of seven churches, effective March 12.The decision was formally communicated to parishioners during Masses on Feb. 8 at St. Joseph the Worker Parish, where a letter from Bishop Mark A. Eckman was read aloud.In the letter, Eckman explained that St. Joseph the Worker Parish was established on July 1, 2020, through the merger of seven parishes serving communities in Braddock, Churchill, Forest Hills, Swissvale, Turtle Creek, Wilmerding, and surrounding areas.Since the merger, all eight church buildings initially remained open for worship. However, due to persistent declining Mass attendance and ongoing financial constraints, the parish has gradually reduced the number of active worship sites.After a yearlong review in 2025, including consultations with clergy, advisory councils, the facilities mission team, and parish senate sessions, it became clear that sustaining all current buildings was not feasible. Parishioner feedback was gathered through emails, phone messages, and meetings, with many acknowledging the challenges and the necessity for change.Father Michael Stumpf, the current pastor at St. Joseph the Worker, along with parish leadership, petitioned the bishop to close the church buildings of Good Shepherd, Madonna del Castello, Sacred Heart, St. Anselm, St. Colman, St. John Fisher, and St. Jude the Apostle.Eckman consulted diocesan officials in November 2025, who supported the rationale. He subsequently issued decrees approving the closures.St. Maurice Church in Forest Hills will remain the sole open worship site for the parish.Eckman acknowledged the emotional impact of the decision, noting that parishioners have invested years of faith, prayer, and service into the churches.“I recognize that this news brings a time of significant change and a sense of loss,” Eckman said in the letter. “For many years, you have poured your lives into these sacred buildings, strengthening your communities with holy faith, fervent prayer, and tireless service.”“We are a people of the Resurrection,” he said. ”And even in seasons of pruning, there is promise for new life. This decision is made with prayerful intent to better resource your parish, ensuring that the corporal and spiritual works of mercy may continue to reach the hearts of Braddock, Churchill, Forest Hills, Swissville, Turtle Creek, and Wilmerding for generations to come.”This announcement comes amid broader trends in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, including previous mergers and consolidations aimed at addressing similar demographic and financial pressures.

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Parishioners learned that seven churches will be closed in March due to financial constraints and lower Mass attendance.

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U.S., Hungarian thought leaders share ethical concerns over mass migration #Catholic “The Crisis of Migration for Families and Nations” was the subject of a Feb. 4 symposium that brought together American and Hungarian thought leaders who share concerns about the phenomenon of mass migration and its impact on the common good of their respective nations. The event coincided with the release of a new paper titled “Migration and Ethics: The Axioms of a Christian Migration Policy” by the Budapest-based Axioma Center, a Christian think tank. The Catholic University of America’s Chad Pecknold (left) endorses the Hungarian think tank’s approach to Christian migration policy. | Credit: Ken Oliver-Méndez/EWTN News The paper, which was endorsed by Chad Pecknold, associate professor of systematic theology at The Catholic University of America, notes that “the Christian perspective on immigration has historically emphasized compassion and solidarity with refugees, along with a welcoming attitude towards foreigners.”However, the paper continues, the Christian perspective on immigration “also calls for a prudent balance between these values and the legitimate responsibility of rulers to protect their people.” In this context, the paper explains, “national security, cultural and moral traditions, the rule of law, public order, and social cohesion are all essential components of what constitutes the common good.” In the face of illegal immigration, the authors assert that “mass deportations may be a legitimate response to mass migration.”At the event, Samuel Samson, a senior adviser at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, said he does not see large-scale migration as a “moral necessity” but rather the opposite.“It is actually fundamentally disordered and impacts the well-being and the common good of society,” he said. Samson said the Trump administration has sought to “shift the general narrative” about migration to bring this awareness to the fore.In the United States, more than 14% of the population was born outside the country. In the European Union (EU), nearly 10% of the population was born in a country that is not an EU member. The panel was moderated by the America First Policy Institute’s Kristen Ziccarelli (left) and included the participation of Center for Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian (right). | Credit: Ken Oliver-Méndez/EWTN News For his part, Heritage Foundation Vice President for Economic and Domestic Policy Roger Severino contended that the United States is not essentially a “nation of immigrants” but “a country of pioneers who took on immigrants who bought into the ethos of the United States.”Addressing the issue of the assimilation of immigrants, Severino, who is Catholic and the son of Colombian immigrants, lamented that the “salad bowl” (as opposed to “melting pot”) concept of immigration encourages “separate independent cultures that, in practice, don’t even end up talking to each other.”Severino also faulted the largesse and abuses of the modern welfare state for not serving the interests of either the nation or immigrants.In his remarks, Pecknold reflected on the corrosion of the understanding of the family and the understanding of the nation. “A nation comes from a commonwealth of families that bring life,” he said.Pecknold said the wealth of nations is not simply the GDP but rather, in Christian terms, has been “providentially given” by God and said the erosion of borders, heritage, language, customs, and religion is an “attempt to deconstruct the very belief of God as the providential provider” of families and nations.Pecknold also contended that mass migration has negative impacts on family for both the immigrants and the native-born population.For migrants, he said “it almost inevitably breaks up the family,” with some leaving their home country and others staying behind or sometimes trying to enter illegally. He said it also hurts the American family by filling the workforce with cheap labor, saying: “You actually are taking jobs away from … young Americans who deserve those jobs.”Pecknold encouraged Christians to take into account the faith’s long tradition on the subject of immigration, citing St. Thomas Aquinas as a prime example. In the Summa Theologiae, Aquinas speaks about the need for assimilation and that danger could otherwise arise if someone who does “not yet having the common good firmly at heart” is given full citizenship.“Christians have to take some of these principles and think outside of the bounds of liberalism,” he said.USCCB approachThe United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has recently raised concerns on immigration that markedly differ from those presented at the Hungarian embassy symposium, particularly when it comes to the Trump administration’s mass deportation program.In November 2025, the bishops voted 216-5 to issue a special message rejecting “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.” It noted that Scripture commands Christians to care for vulnerable people, including “the stranger,” and said Catholic teaching instructs nations “to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants.”The Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs prosperous nations “to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner.” It also instructs immigrants “to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”According to the catechism, political authorities can regulate immigration “for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible.”
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U.S., Hungarian thought leaders share ethical concerns over mass migration #Catholic “The Crisis of Migration for Families and Nations” was the subject of a Feb. 4 symposium that brought together American and Hungarian thought leaders who share concerns about the phenomenon of mass migration and its impact on the common good of their respective nations. The event coincided with the release of a new paper titled “Migration and Ethics: The Axioms of a Christian Migration Policy” by the Budapest-based Axioma Center, a Christian think tank. The Catholic University of America’s Chad Pecknold (left) endorses the Hungarian think tank’s approach to Christian migration policy. | Credit: Ken Oliver-Méndez/EWTN News The paper, which was endorsed by Chad Pecknold, associate professor of systematic theology at The Catholic University of America, notes that “the Christian perspective on immigration has historically emphasized compassion and solidarity with refugees, along with a welcoming attitude towards foreigners.”However, the paper continues, the Christian perspective on immigration “also calls for a prudent balance between these values and the legitimate responsibility of rulers to protect their people.” In this context, the paper explains, “national security, cultural and moral traditions, the rule of law, public order, and social cohesion are all essential components of what constitutes the common good.” In the face of illegal immigration, the authors assert that “mass deportations may be a legitimate response to mass migration.”At the event, Samuel Samson, a senior adviser at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, said he does not see large-scale migration as a “moral necessity” but rather the opposite.“It is actually fundamentally disordered and impacts the well-being and the common good of society,” he said. Samson said the Trump administration has sought to “shift the general narrative” about migration to bring this awareness to the fore.In the United States, more than 14% of the population was born outside the country. In the European Union (EU), nearly 10% of the population was born in a country that is not an EU member. The panel was moderated by the America First Policy Institute’s Kristen Ziccarelli (left) and included the participation of Center for Immigration Studies Executive Director Mark Krikorian (right). | Credit: Ken Oliver-Méndez/EWTN News For his part, Heritage Foundation Vice President for Economic and Domestic Policy Roger Severino contended that the United States is not essentially a “nation of immigrants” but “a country of pioneers who took on immigrants who bought into the ethos of the United States.”Addressing the issue of the assimilation of immigrants, Severino, who is Catholic and the son of Colombian immigrants, lamented that the “salad bowl” (as opposed to “melting pot”) concept of immigration encourages “separate independent cultures that, in practice, don’t even end up talking to each other.”Severino also faulted the largesse and abuses of the modern welfare state for not serving the interests of either the nation or immigrants.In his remarks, Pecknold reflected on the corrosion of the understanding of the family and the understanding of the nation. “A nation comes from a commonwealth of families that bring life,” he said.Pecknold said the wealth of nations is not simply the GDP but rather, in Christian terms, has been “providentially given” by God and said the erosion of borders, heritage, language, customs, and religion is an “attempt to deconstruct the very belief of God as the providential provider” of families and nations.Pecknold also contended that mass migration has negative impacts on family for both the immigrants and the native-born population.For migrants, he said “it almost inevitably breaks up the family,” with some leaving their home country and others staying behind or sometimes trying to enter illegally. He said it also hurts the American family by filling the workforce with cheap labor, saying: “You actually are taking jobs away from … young Americans who deserve those jobs.”Pecknold encouraged Christians to take into account the faith’s long tradition on the subject of immigration, citing St. Thomas Aquinas as a prime example. In the Summa Theologiae, Aquinas speaks about the need for assimilation and that danger could otherwise arise if someone who does “not yet having the common good firmly at heart” is given full citizenship.“Christians have to take some of these principles and think outside of the bounds of liberalism,” he said.USCCB approachThe United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has recently raised concerns on immigration that markedly differ from those presented at the Hungarian embassy symposium, particularly when it comes to the Trump administration’s mass deportation program.In November 2025, the bishops voted 216-5 to issue a special message rejecting “the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.” It noted that Scripture commands Christians to care for vulnerable people, including “the stranger,” and said Catholic teaching instructs nations “to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants.”The Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs prosperous nations “to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner.” It also instructs immigrants “to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”According to the catechism, political authorities can regulate immigration “for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible.”

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A Hungarian think tank’s new paper “Migration and Ethics: The Axioms of a Christian Migration Policy” prompts a meeting of the minds.

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From Baptist pastor to Catholic priest: A unique journey to priesthood #Catholic Father Travis Moger on the day of his ordination alongside his son, Mark; wife, Amelia; mother; and daughter, Maddy. | Credit: EWTN News screenshot Jan 17, 2026 / 11:00 am (CNA). Father Travis Moger has been a Catholic priest for just nine months, and his journey to ordination was a unique one. A former Baptist pastor and Navy chaplain, he was ordained in May 2025 in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, seven years after he, his wife, and his son entered the Catholic Church.“I didn’t come into the Church in order to be a priest; God used prayer to draw me to the Catholic Church,” Moger told EWTN News reporter Julia Convery.During a military campaign as a Navy chaplain, Moger; his wife, Amelia; and his son, Mark, all separately began to feel the call toward Catholicism. While Moger was away, his wife had begun attending RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, which is now called OCIA — the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults).Father Thomas Falkenthal, Moger’s former Navy chaplain supervisor, witnessed the seeds being planted in Moger’s heart.“He was connecting with the liturgy. The Catholic Mass was certainly far from his tradition. I could tell it was touching him,” Falkenthal shared with Convery.“He didn’t realize it, but all the way back home in the United States his wife, Amelia, was going to RCIA and preparing to join the Catholic Church. So when he came home from that deployment, they both had something to share with each other. Now I think that’s an amazing movement of the Spirit to keep that couple so close," Falkenthal said.“It was definitely a God thing definitely to draw her towards the Catholic Church,” Moger added.After a five-year journey of study and conversion, Moger, his wife, and his son were received into the Catholic Church on Easter Sunday 2018.“I entered the Church not knowing if there would be a path to the priesthood for me,” Moger shared.Bishop Mark Brennan of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston explained that Pope Francis eventually granted Moger a dispensation from the usual requirement of celibacy for the Catholic priesthood, allowing him to be ordained a priest. The bishop also pointed out that he believes having a desire for a family is a trait that makes a good priest.“When I was a vocations director, I always looked for would this man make a good husband and father? If he would, then he’d probably make a good priest,” Brennan said.Moger also highlighted this trait as one that allows him to have a unique perspective into his now-spiritual fatherhood.“There’s something about being able to bring a child into the world and then nurture them and you’re fully invested in another person. And I think that experience does inform the way you look at spiritual fatherhood and the way you look at God’s fatherhood,” Moger said.Moger’s son, Mark, told EWTN News that his father’s newly found spiritual fatherhood has brought a “deeper spirituality” into their family.Maddy Cordle, Moger’s daughter, added: “I’ve had the privilege of watching his conversion from the beginning — same with my mom and my brother —and I just got to watch how it brought them so much closer to each other in their marriage, together as a family, but also really, really strengthened their relationship with God.”“To him there’s nothing more important than the impoverished and the cast aside. That’s his charism and you’ll see it throughout his ministry,” Mark added.Despite his unconventional journey to the priesthood, Moger sees it as the result of saying “yes” to God.“God honors it when we start moving in the direction that he’s leading us, trusting that he’s going to work it out,” he said.
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From Baptist pastor to Catholic priest: A unique journey to priesthood #Catholic Father Travis Moger on the day of his ordination alongside his son, Mark; wife, Amelia; mother; and daughter, Maddy. | Credit: EWTN News screenshot Jan 17, 2026 / 11:00 am (CNA). Father Travis Moger has been a Catholic priest for just nine months, and his journey to ordination was a unique one. A former Baptist pastor and Navy chaplain, he was ordained in May 2025 in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, seven years after he, his wife, and his son entered the Catholic Church.“I didn’t come into the Church in order to be a priest; God used prayer to draw me to the Catholic Church,” Moger told EWTN News reporter Julia Convery.During a military campaign as a Navy chaplain, Moger; his wife, Amelia; and his son, Mark, all separately began to feel the call toward Catholicism. While Moger was away, his wife had begun attending RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, which is now called OCIA — the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults).Father Thomas Falkenthal, Moger’s former Navy chaplain supervisor, witnessed the seeds being planted in Moger’s heart.“He was connecting with the liturgy. The Catholic Mass was certainly far from his tradition. I could tell it was touching him,” Falkenthal shared with Convery.“He didn’t realize it, but all the way back home in the United States his wife, Amelia, was going to RCIA and preparing to join the Catholic Church. So when he came home from that deployment, they both had something to share with each other. Now I think that’s an amazing movement of the Spirit to keep that couple so close," Falkenthal said.“It was definitely a God thing definitely to draw her towards the Catholic Church,” Moger added.After a five-year journey of study and conversion, Moger, his wife, and his son were received into the Catholic Church on Easter Sunday 2018.“I entered the Church not knowing if there would be a path to the priesthood for me,” Moger shared.Bishop Mark Brennan of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston explained that Pope Francis eventually granted Moger a dispensation from the usual requirement of celibacy for the Catholic priesthood, allowing him to be ordained a priest. The bishop also pointed out that he believes having a desire for a family is a trait that makes a good priest.“When I was a vocations director, I always looked for would this man make a good husband and father? If he would, then he’d probably make a good priest,” Brennan said.Moger also highlighted this trait as one that allows him to have a unique perspective into his now-spiritual fatherhood.“There’s something about being able to bring a child into the world and then nurture them and you’re fully invested in another person. And I think that experience does inform the way you look at spiritual fatherhood and the way you look at God’s fatherhood,” Moger said.Moger’s son, Mark, told EWTN News that his father’s newly found spiritual fatherhood has brought a “deeper spirituality” into their family.Maddy Cordle, Moger’s daughter, added: “I’ve had the privilege of watching his conversion from the beginning — same with my mom and my brother —and I just got to watch how it brought them so much closer to each other in their marriage, together as a family, but also really, really strengthened their relationship with God.”“To him there’s nothing more important than the impoverished and the cast aside. That’s his charism and you’ll see it throughout his ministry,” Mark added.Despite his unconventional journey to the priesthood, Moger sees it as the result of saying “yes” to God.“God honors it when we start moving in the direction that he’s leading us, trusting that he’s going to work it out,” he said.

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Father Travis Moger on the day of his ordination alongside his son, Mark; wife, Amelia; mother; and daughter, Maddy. | Credit: EWTN News screenshot

Jan 17, 2026 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Father Travis Moger has been a Catholic priest for just nine months, and his journey to ordination was a unique one. A former Baptist pastor and Navy chaplain, he was ordained in May 2025 in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, seven years after he, his wife, and his son entered the Catholic Church.

“I didn’t come into the Church in order to be a priest; God used prayer to draw me to the Catholic Church,” Moger told EWTN News reporter Julia Convery.

During a military campaign as a Navy chaplain, Moger; his wife, Amelia; and his son, Mark, all separately began to feel the call toward Catholicism. While Moger was away, his wife had begun attending RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, which is now called OCIA — the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults).

Father Thomas Falkenthal, Moger’s former Navy chaplain supervisor, witnessed the seeds being planted in Moger’s heart.

“He was connecting with the liturgy. The Catholic Mass was certainly far from his tradition. I could tell it was touching him,” Falkenthal shared with Convery.

“He didn’t realize it, but all the way back home in the United States his wife, Amelia, was going to RCIA and preparing to join the Catholic Church. So when he came home from that deployment, they both had something to share with each other. Now I think that’s an amazing movement of the Spirit to keep that couple so close," Falkenthal said.

“It was definitely a God thing definitely to draw her towards the Catholic Church,” Moger added.

After a five-year journey of study and conversion, Moger, his wife, and his son were received into the Catholic Church on Easter Sunday 2018.

“I entered the Church not knowing if there would be a path to the priesthood for me,” Moger shared.

Bishop Mark Brennan of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston explained that Pope Francis eventually granted Moger a dispensation from the usual requirement of celibacy for the Catholic priesthood, allowing him to be ordained a priest.

The bishop also pointed out that he believes having a desire for a family is a trait that makes a good priest.

“When I was a vocations director, I always looked for would this man make a good husband and father? If he would, then he’d probably make a good priest,” Brennan said.

Moger also highlighted this trait as one that allows him to have a unique perspective into his now-spiritual fatherhood.

“There’s something about being able to bring a child into the world and then nurture them and you’re fully invested in another person. And I think that experience does inform the way you look at spiritual fatherhood and the way you look at God’s fatherhood,” Moger said.

Moger’s son, Mark, told EWTN News that his father’s newly found spiritual fatherhood has brought a “deeper spirituality” into their family.

Maddy Cordle, Moger’s daughter, added: “I’ve had the privilege of watching his conversion from the beginning — same with my mom and my brother —and I just got to watch how it brought them so much closer to each other in their marriage, together as a family, but also really, really strengthened their relationship with God.”

“To him there’s nothing more important than the impoverished and the cast aside. That’s his charism and you’ll see it throughout his ministry,” Mark added.

Despite his unconventional journey to the priesthood, Moger sees it as the result of saying “yes” to God.

“God honors it when we start moving in the direction that he’s leading us, trusting that he’s going to work it out,” he said.

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Massive Stars Make Their Mark in Hubble Image – This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the blue dwarf galaxy Markarian 178 (Mrk 178) against a backdrop of distant galaxies in all shapes and sizes. Some of these distant galaxies even shine through the diffuse edges of Mrk 178.
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Massive Stars Make Their Mark in Hubble Image – This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the blue dwarf galaxy Markarian 178 (Mrk 178) against a backdrop of distant galaxies in all shapes and sizes. Some of these distant galaxies even shine through the diffuse edges of Mrk 178.

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This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the blue dwarf galaxy Markarian 178 (Mrk 178) against a backdrop of distant galaxies in all shapes and sizes. Some of these distant galaxies even shine through the diffuse edges of Mrk 178.

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