"I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do."
These alone were the most powerful words of the day, a day that showcased some of the most formidable men and women in the country.
The memorial service for Charlie Kirk was unlike anything I had witnessed, a gathering both somber and hopeful, a place of grief yet filled with resolve. The word ‘revival’ was on everyone’s lips. I agree. That’s what it was. That’s what is taking place. These are my thoughts on what it felt like, and what I believe we are being called to do in the wake of Charlie’s life and death.
Vigil, Memory, and Peace
Doors were supposed to open at 8 a.m., they opened at 7 a.m. I got off my Uber at around that time, but it took me until 8:38 a.m. to make my way through the sea of people attempting to enter the arena. I heard some people arrived as early as 1 a.m., others camped out overnight. In the end, there were about 100,000 people within the main arena and the overflow space next door. They came not simply as supporters of Charlie, but as witnesses to a man who became a voice for truth, conviction, and courage. In the air was a mix of grief, respect, and hope.
I have not met a more courageous woman than Erika Kirk. As everyone knows, also present were President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and many others who had known Charlie from different seasons of his life. Particularly touching to me were the testimonials from the Turning Point USA leadership and staff who knew him well. Their witness made clear, Charlie talked the talk and walked it too. He was a servant of God, a servant leader, whose brilliance was overshadowed only by his humility.
Charlie’s Witness
In the speeches, what struck me most was not simply the listing of Charlie’s achievements, but the witness of his life, his willingness to speak even when speaking cost him. He believed deeply that truth cannot be compromised, that the fundamental dignity of persons, the importance of family, and freedom of speech were worth defending, even amid hostility. His life was public, bold, often controversial, but always rooted in a sense of mission.
But above all, what every guest speaker in attendance, made abundantly clear was that Charlie’s life had been a life of faith. I am one who watches politicians speak often, and I can say I have never seen or heard state officials mention God with such a freedom and sincerity as I felt they did during the memorial. It is as if Charlie Kirk had given the country permission to be blunt about faith. And it was not just some random faith they were speaking of; they were all spelling out Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior, the foundation of Charlie’s life.
To Tepeyac Leadership as a global Catholic apostolate and to the TLI family, Charlie’s example resonates profoundly. He embodied bold Christian leadership in civil society. Though he had not yet embraced Catholicism, his steadfast commitment to truth and virtue reflects precisely what TLI strives for: to lead well, to lead faithfully, to lead with charity but to lead with conviction.
His Movement Grows
Since his tragic assassination at Utah Valley University, something remarkable has happened. Charlie’s death has not silenced his message. If anything, the movement he founded, Turning Point USA, youth outreach, debates, new campus chapters, has only gained momentum. The registration for new local chapters, young people stepping forward, the surge in energy among those who once listened from the margins but now feel compelled to participate, all this is growing in the hours, days, and weeks after his death. The void is felt deeply, but the inheritors of his vision are multiplying.
Erika Kirck, standing before the crowd, spoke of grief, yes, but also of forgiveness, and the responsibility to carry Charlie’s legacy forward, to be faithful to the values he held, truth, courage, freedom, love of God, neighbor, and country. And in her words and in the faces gathered, you could see how many have accepted the challenge.
But even more importantly, Erika explained to those in attendance beyond doubt, that the most important mission her husband had, the most important mission she has and the most important mission we all have is the family. She challenged both men and women to become the spouses, fathers and mothers they were called to be. This was to me one of her most powerful messages.
Hope in Our Calling
To the TLI family, and particularly to the Tepeyac Leaders who have been formed in faith and conviction, Charlie’s life and death is a call. It is a call to not recoil from the political and cultural work that seems divisive, but to step into it more fully, more thoughtfully. As Catholics called to be leaven in society, we see in Charlie’s life both the strengths and the perils of public witness. But we also see the promise, that a Christian can engage in civil society with clarity, zeal, humility, and charity.
We are called to build institutions, to form minds, to shape culture, to evangelize through truth and beauty, not to remain spectators. This is the call of the laity. We are called to uphold life, defend the dignity of every human being, advocate for the family, commit to what is just even when countercultural. We are called to leadership in our professions, in politics, in the arts, in nonprofits, in education, and at every table where decisions are made and values are expressed.
Throughout the memorial, people sang. Prayers were offered. There were moments of silence. But even amid tears, my own included, there was resolve. We will press forward. We will forgive, but not forget. We will lead so that Charlie’s witness is not an end, but a seed.
A Fruitful Legacy
Charlie Kirk’s legacy will endure not just in speeches or institutions, but in transformed lives. Already, we have seen many stepping into roles they had thought beyond them. We are seeing cross-ideological admiration, people from different faiths and backgrounds saying his witness calls to something true. And we have seen the moral imagination of young people embrace hope and responsibility.
In that stadium, I sensed a communion, people of faith, people committed to the public good, people who believe that civil society needs witness and example. It is what we at Tepeyac Leadership try to cultivate, what Charlie, in his life, embodied, in his death, has enshrined.
Key Reflections
Grief is real. Loss is sharp. But what we saw on Sunday, what we felt, is that hope is real too. We belong to a story bigger than any one of us. Charlie lived boldly, believing America’s promise, believing youth could be formed, believing that truth was worth defending at any cost.
Let us honor Charlie by being courageous in our own spaces. Let us build well. Let us lead ethically. Let us speak truth in love. Let us be lay Catholic leaders who do not shrink from the public square but bring Christ into it. In doing so, in living faithfully, we ensure that this day of sorrow becomes a turning point, not of despair, but of renewal.
May Charlie rest in peace and his legacy inspire us to be the leaders the world so badly needs,
P.S. Click below to register for THL2025 now!
